The history of the influence of Eastern European Jewish Emigre culture has had on Hollywood and the films created in its golden age.The history of the influence of Eastern European Jewish Emigre culture has had on Hollywood and the films created in its golden age.The history of the influence of Eastern European Jewish Emigre culture has had on Hollywood and the films created in its golden age.
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- 1 nomination
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Hasia Diner
- Self
- (as Prof. Hasia Diner)
Richard Koszarski
- Self
- (as Richard Kozarski)
Judy Balaban
- Self
- (as Judith Balaban)
Cass Warner
- Self
- (as Cass Warner Sperling)
Robert Rosen
- Self
- (as Prof. Robert Rosen)
Les Friedman
- Self
- (as Prof. Les Friedman)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsThe film gives a montage of clips from films made by Hollywood to bolster American war efforts in the wake of Pearl Harbor. Included is Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), which was not made until 1949, four years after the war had already ended.
- ConnectionsFeatures Fights of Nations (1907)
Featured review
A Tale of Jews, but not Jewishness
This is a vivid portrayal of Hollywood's Jewish history, emphasising the importance of Jewish pioneers in the development of film, but possibly trying too hard to connect the early film-scripts to the East European shtetls (racial enclaves) from which most of them had emigrated.
So, for example, the Westerns, with so many native Americans being hunted down by the cavalry, are supposed to reflect the Cossacks terrorising Jewish villages. Yet not every Jewish producer was particularly fixated on the politics of old Russia. Most of them were just wanting to make a buck, and recognised that Western dramas were close to the heart of the cinemagoing public.
It is true that these pioneers were mightily glad to escape the big cities whose clubs and hotels were officially closed to them, the City Fathers of New York especially loathing the film industry for its brash arrogance. And Hollywood gives us quite a panorama of Jewish themes, from Al Jolson and Warner Brothers leading the Talkie revolution to America's reluctance to upset their German market in the 30's, to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) quizzing many of the original pioneers, trying to suggest a possible link between Jewishness and Communism.
Altogether, I think the film is right to question the over-used term 'Golden Age of Hollywood' to denote the ascendancy of the studios. It just meant pre-TV.
So, for example, the Westerns, with so many native Americans being hunted down by the cavalry, are supposed to reflect the Cossacks terrorising Jewish villages. Yet not every Jewish producer was particularly fixated on the politics of old Russia. Most of them were just wanting to make a buck, and recognised that Western dramas were close to the heart of the cinemagoing public.
It is true that these pioneers were mightily glad to escape the big cities whose clubs and hotels were officially closed to them, the City Fathers of New York especially loathing the film industry for its brash arrogance. And Hollywood gives us quite a panorama of Jewish themes, from Al Jolson and Warner Brothers leading the Talkie revolution to America's reluctance to upset their German market in the 30's, to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) quizzing many of the original pioneers, trying to suggest a possible link between Jewishness and Communism.
Altogether, I think the film is right to question the over-used term 'Golden Age of Hollywood' to denote the ascendancy of the studios. It just meant pre-TV.
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- Goingbegging
- Aug 13, 2022
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- Hollywood: An Empire of Their Own
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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