Carl Laemmle

Fans of old movies know the name of Carl Laemmle as the poor emigrant who became a successful merchandiser, then went into the movie business at the age of 40, who fought the Patents Trust successfully, founded Universal Studios, was instrumental in moving the industry to Hollywood. Perhaps you know that he was among the first to give actors star billing, that he gave his son, Carl Jr., control of the studio as a 21st birthday present, and they lost the studio when receipts didn't cover the money they poured into SHOW BOAT, which turned out to be a smash hit. He died in 1939, at the age of 72.

But there was a third act to Laemmle's life. This documentary from James L, Freeman tells the audience how, from 1932 on, he devoted his energy and fortune to raising awareness of the Nazi menace, and getting as many Jews out of Germany as possible. The U. S. State Department fought him, but in the end he got 150 families into the US by personally guaranteeing they would not become charges on the government.

Laemmle was not just generous to his family, giving relatives like William Wyler their starts. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people owe their survival, and their descendants their existence, to that generosity. The documentary ends with the narrator quoting Ogden Nash's couplet "Uncle Carl Laemmle has a very large faemmle", and the names of the people he saved.

Carl is the smallest of 11 children in a Jewish German family who leaves Germany for the USA and goes on to found universal studios, establish Hollywood as the movie capital of the world, and rescue many family and friends from the rise of nazi-ism. The trailer intrigued me and the film didn't disappoint. It's rags to riches. It's about family, fighting bullies, about backing people. It's about backing yourself. I found it fascinating. You know what they say about the truth in Hollywood: don't let it get in the way of a good story. I can't say how sanitized this is. I hesitated to see it but I am glad I bought my ticket. It was definitely worth the admission.

"Carl Laemmle" is a very well made documentary about the man who created Universal Pictures. However, it's not just about the studio but deals with many aspects of Laemmle's life that make you admire the man very much for his daring and heart. In addition to founding the studio, his efforts to create independent movie studios and his efforts to get Jews out of Germany in the 1930s make for an extremely compelling story. Well crafted and never dull, this is a film not just for film fanatics but for anyone wanting to learn about a truly interesting and decent man. Through the use of photos, interviews and film footage, the story is well told and is among the best of the film biographies I've seen...and I've seen a lot!

Fairly straightforward documentary about a film visionary and morally good person (extraordinarily so if you're going by Hollywood exec standards). It also taught me stuff I didn't know, namely that Edison was not such a morally good person (i.e. Litigious, monopolistic old cob, wasn't he?) and that weather was not the only reason studios moved from East to West coast (i.e. They wanted to physically separate from Edison's grip and the appeals court in California was anti trust). A few quibbles. I would have liked to know more about the less sterling qualities of Laemmle like his associations with the Jewish mafia and why he promoted his feckless son's ineptitude in business to the point where Universal was run into the ground. And there are some odd omissions, like listing every single creative force behind "All Quiet" but leaving out Lew Ayres. And I could have done without Bogdanovich using Laemmle's story to promote a not very good film of his ("Nickelodeon"). But these are fairly minor niggles in what is an informative and entertaining film. Give it a B.

Documentary currently showing on turner classics. Think oskar schindler. Written and directed by james freedman. Laemmle had founded universal studios by merging a bunch of smaller studios. Interesting to learn that there was a stigma against the jewish people in germany dating back to the 1700s. I had though that had started in the 1900s. Laemmle had come to the states in the 1880s. Before telephones, movies, before so many inventions. He took on edison's "patent trust", which was actually a monopoly. Instead of paying edison's patent fee, laemmle just started making his own films. And was among the first to allow actors to be credited in the film. Even had many women in positions of power, which was rare in those days. He enjoyed making the horror movies, when most studios were scared to touch them. It's educational, interesting, and fun to watch. One improvement I would have made, is to always show who is speaking. There are many times when someone is speaking, either with or without a picture of the speaker, and we aren't sure who it is. This story outlines the various battles and monopolies that laemmle had to fight. In addition to his contributions to film, he helped many jews to leave germany. He also donated time, money, and much effort to rebuild his hometown in laupheim, germany after the war. Really interesting to watch. What a life! Cousin to william wyler.