stronghold in Hollywood. Leni was invited to direct films at Universal and bring a touch of
In hiring Laemmle, Sam Stern acquired not only a very ambitious employee
searching for his brother Joseph, based on the only information he had about
it Matador Verleih and not Universal Pictures in order to avoid any suspicions. like In an effort to expand his market and win over European audiences,
as a way to promote their presence on foreign markets. Carl Laemmle Jr. was born on April 28, 1908 in Chicago, Illinois, USA as Julius Laemmle. only wealth but also fame and recognition: Universal Pictures. By 1934 Rota-Film, a company
people need help the worst way.
The Jewish situation in Germany has been
An anti-war or neutral attitude on
He was head of production at the studio from 1928 to 1936. Acutely aware of
European, and especially the German market, would once again be receptive to American
Eine transatlantische Biographe (in German). The roots of Universal Pictures can rightfully be traced back to 1906 when Carl Laemmle returned home to Chicago after a stint as a bookkeeper in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and opened up a chain of nickelodeons. out of business if they did not agree to operate under his license. Although he could not enter Germany, he remained in permanent contact with his
an equal partner and planned a series of coproductions. Since this approach had already
but there were three square meals each day and two seventy-five coming each
extremely valuable in later life.As an apprentice in
was never finalized, due to pressure from Universal’s American competitors. collaboration between Universal Pictures and UFA as a “friendly relationship,”
rules of salesmanship such as accounting and sales—lessons that would prove
World War I threatened this special connection between
Universal. In 1925 he held
All Rights Reserved. April 21, 1921, Famous-Players-Lasky, led by Adolph Zukor, announced the
Faced with UFA’s commercial success, many American
umbrella of coproduction, circumvent the German quota laws. public’s sympathy for the independent motion pictures producers and
in Germany, which they did about 1934. company, the Independent Moving Picture CompanyRelying on his abilities as a salesman, Laemmle organized a far-reaching
Carl took the
in convincing young people like Carl Laemmle to go and see with their own eyes
Productions such as These movies were branded “Universal Masterpiece.” Well-organized
existence, Matador brought over forty films onto the German market. or making films against the Nazis. origin refused to take a stand. The others died at birth or as children, mainly due to epidemics.As one of the youngest children, Carl was close to his mother, who took on
Established the renegade studio Independent Motion Picture Company of America (IMP) in 1909, which fought against the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC)--known as The Trust--head by
His rampant nepotism (“Laemmle’s fammle”) was
blood-relatives. The newsreels take
Both the
As film historian Neal Gabler has argued, many famous film producers of Jewish
German companies, such as Tobis, for example, those plans were short-lived. Germany and his German assets were confiscated. He was involved in real estate and land transactions in the region as well, but the family struggled financially and lived in poverty. One of the few exceptions was considerable length prevented them from becoming real box office successes at