Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

Page 1 1 The Southern Israelite The Phe no men a / Rise of Carl Laemmle, Jr. By GRACE JAFFE M-n-cn usually tells extravagant tales—the dashing youth in a shining racing to easy success and a happy ending. Reel life and real life differ ; t l»ly: this is a commonplace that needs no elaboration. But sometimes - outdo the screen. Just think of the Trotzky career, the Lindbergh recent dramatic coup d’etat of King Carol of Rumania. These have glamor of fantastic romance and surpass the achievements of screen Cut if 1 were to tell you that a twenty-one-year-old youth, who in this . is supposed to he one of the rah-rah boys and hip-flask artists, has ! a business position which in responsibility rivals that of a cabinet you might feel tempted to laugh it off and retort: “Tell me another!" ail Laemmle, Jr., is that very man; at the age of twenty-one he is the studio manager and associate producer Universal Picture Corporation. \inerican motion picture industry is a 1m t and grim business. Some of the best in American business are directing its Ihspite European opposition it has actu- Mit n d the world film market. Jewish abil- s commonly known, has played a most ■ lit part in this continually mounting suc- I be Loews, Foxes, Zukors, Laemmles have a a >t ii ui picture history. They have developed i rt n from its nickelodeon stage to a top- ' nit rtaiument. All that is well known, the movie dynasty having been written up a of times. Only recently, when John ’•\uter, the eminent biographer, decided to tbr epic of the movie art, he selected the ui Laemmle—the father of the hero of this o the personality that best symbolizes the Shadowland. ' as I said before, this tale concerns Carl mle, lr., known to his friends and business - a> "Junior". Junior never attended a although at one time he was preparing to 'lie University of Pennsylvania. As a high lad lie never amazed his teachers with his brilliance; his achievements belonged to 'ah tic field. He was a first-class basketball and i|uite a decent baseball pitcher. He 1 d all around. As the son of the Laemmle • i d some rather embarrassing prominence, a llow he managed to make his pals forget was the son of a rich and famous father, movies always attracted him. And small It is said that the inside workings of the duction companies are more thrilling than ■reen products. At the age of ten, I am ni'*r wrote, acted in, cut and subtitled a '<1 picture. His father did not pay much " to the hoy’s movie production, but '"hied at his young son’s earnestness. One "de s intimates, however, called attention r n one-reel film and said: “Junior already "-re about the movies than several of our thousand-a-year men. The boy made his cording to a planned schedule, and it isn’t any worse than some of our releases.” The most interesting thing about Juniors first picture was ad not tried to imitate other films. It was all his own. r > Jewishness did not cause him any difficulties. He was, apparently, a • merican youth who just happened to be born of Jewish parentage. Oik r i"tic, however, set him apart from other boys: he was always on the s 'de and fighting for the underdog. Besides, he showed a remarkable practical things and an uncanny faculty for organization. Whenever !lts °f his preparatory school wanted to put over a show or some other :i "g. Junior was put in charge. The easy-going schoolboy then suddenly himself a stern executive, a very good listener, and an untiring worker. Just as he was about to enter upon his collegiate career his father fell almost fatally ill. < hi the spur of the moment the eighteen-year-old youth packed his trunks and rushed to Hollywood. "I’m going to help you, dad," he said, very seriously. 1 he sick father smiled wanly and advised him to return to college. But the young Laemmle meant business. (hi the very tirst day he told the executive hoard of Universal Pictures: I want you to forget that I am my father’s son. I don’t want you to ’yes’ me just because my father is the president of the firm." And Junior immediately plunged into work. He looked around the lot, watched some of the current productions, held conferences with the various technical experts, and announced that he was going to produce a series of twelve pictures. Here again the young Jewish lad was wary of following in the footsteps of his seniors and of attempting to work on ma terial unfamiliar to him. lie had seen little of real life. All he knew was the campus life of the ( lark School and, of course, the collegiate atmos phere. His idea was a series of pictures on col legiate life, which he called "The Collegians.” He wrote the stories, selected the cast, supervised the production, edited the films, and actually suc ceeded in transplanting the campus atmosphere onto the screen. It was Junior’s "Collegians" that started the tremendous vogue of pictures on col legiate life. At the age of eighteen he had opened a new chapter in movie production. "The Colle gians" was a tremendous box office success, the cost being comparatively low. Other successes followed. After "We Ameri cans”, "Lonesome”, and "The Last Warning" Laemmle, Sr., who had miraculously recuperated, appointed his son associate producer. Junior hail just celebrated his nineteenth birthday. When Junior, in collaboration with Paul Fejot, produced "Broadway”, one of Universal’s most ambitious and successful productions, his father told him: "Your apprenticeship is ended. Go ahead, and don’t let your youth stop you. Follow your impulse." And young Laemmle surely did follow his impulse, frightening the executive board of Universal to such an extent that they wanted to stop him, for they believed that "Junior had gone wild.” It happened about a year ago. Remarque’s novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front,” was setting the literary world agog. Published in almost every civilized language—including Hebrew —it had shattered all records with a sale of more than two and a half million copies. The moving picture producers set out on the trail of Remarque Junior acquired the screen rights to "All Quiet on the Western Front.” The trade merely shrugged its shoulders and whispered: "That boy is riding for a heavy fall. There is no plot or box office interest in the book unless it is put there." As for the executives of Universal—they were badly scared, and for once agreed with their competitors. Junior, however, said nothing and set to w’ork, investing millions in his venture. The rest is history. “All Quiet on the Western Front” was produced, Carl Laemmle, Jr., adhering strictly to Remarque’s condition that the story must not be changed. And—youth triumphed. The film became the biggest success of the year. Carl Laemmle, the twenty-one-year-old movie producer, had demonstrated that the American public was sick and tired of box office formulas and wanted real life for a change. Today Junior is virtually the head of one of the largest business organizations in the United States. Believe it or not, Carl Laemmle, Sr., is boasting these days that he is the father of Carl Laemmle, Jr. (Copyright, 1*^30, by S.A.F.S.) (JARL LAtMMLtt dRj. J v • Miss Jaffe here tells of a Jewish youth of twenty-one who today is acknowledged one of the master minds of the American motion picture industry. I he story of Carl Laemmle, Jr., producer of the out standing success of 19"SO, “All Quiet on the Western Front,” reads like one of those fantastic scenarios one enjoys with out believing.—The EDITOR. ^ —r