Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures [1 ed.] 9781628941166, 9781628941142

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Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

Motion Picture Biographies

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved. Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Motion Picture Biographies The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

John W. Cones

Algora Publishing New York

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

© 2015 by Algora Publishing. All Rights Reserved www.algora.com No portion of this book (beyond what is permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976) may be reproduced by any process, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the express written permission of the publisher.

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Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

Cones, John W. Motion picture biographies : the Hollywood spin on historical figures / by John W. Cones. pages cm Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-62894-114-2 (soft cover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-62894-115-9 (hard cover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-62894-116-6 (ebook) 1. Biographical films—United States—History and criticism. 2. Motion pictures and history. I.x Title. PN1995.9.B55C66 2015 791.43’651—dc23 2015002603

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Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest



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For the moviegoers and history lovers who know what a tremendous educational resource is being wasted (1) by the over-commercialization of the modern-day motion picture, and (2) by the continued control of this important communications medium in the hands of a narrowly-defined interest group who frequently use the film medium as their own private propaganda machine.

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved. Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents Introduction

1

Chapter 1. The Early Years Revisited

5

Chapter 2. Biopics of the 1930s

9

Chapter 3. Motion Picture Biographies of the 1940s

29

Chapter 4. The Peak Mid-Century Years

53

Chapter 5. Motion Picture Biographies of the Turbulent 1960s

83

Chapter 6. Biopics of the 1970s

95

Chapter 7. Movie Biographies of the 1980s

107

Chapter 8. Biopics of the Early 1990s

119

Chapter 9. Concluding Observations

131

Endnotes

143

Selected Bibliography

175

Articles, Films, Media Reports and Papers Books

175 181

About the Author

189

Other Books by the Same Author

191

ix

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved. Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

Introduction This work grew out of the observed frustration of film industry critics who have chosen to criticize specific Hollywood movies over the years only to be rebuffed by the overly simplistic studio executive arguments that such films reflect the real world, and that the studios just make the movies that audiences want to see (i.e., moviegoers significantly influence the choices relating to which movies are made by voting with their pocket books at the theatre box office). After all, if it can be shown that consistent patterns of bias exist in the choices Hollywood studio executives make with respect to the movies they produce and release, as well as in the specific content of those movies, and that same bias is not reflected in our general population, it becomes obvious that Hollywood is selectively portraying reality, and that moviegoers only have limited options among all of the possibilities that could be portrayed on the silver screen. Thus, the moviegoers themselves could not possibly be significantly influencing such executive-level motion picture choices, since they have never been given the freedom to choose from a comprehensive slate of possibilities. One body of films that provides an excellent opportunity to explore the question of whether Hollywood movies exhibit certain patterns of bias is that entire body of work referred to as “biopics,” (i.e., motion picture biographies). The Hollywood biopics are particularly suited for such a study, because there can be little pre-selection by a film industry observer as to which films are to be included in the research sample (i.e., the studio executives and filmmakers themselves have already decided which subjects they deemed worthy of a film biography). Thus, once these films are isolated, they can be examined to determine if there seems to be a Hollywood preference for certain types of people, (e.g., political liberals as opposed to conservatives, Europeans as opposed to people from other parts 1

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Motion Picture Biographies

of the globe, recent immigrants to the U.S. versus those whose families have been in the U.S. for longer periods of time, people with a Jewish heritage as opposed to those who do not have a Jewish heritage, and so forth). This book builds upon the earlier work of George F. Custen, who in 1992 published a study of Hollywood biopics under the title Bio/Pics—How Hollywood Constructed Public History. Custen’s book clearly illustrated that a Hollywood slant on history is apparent from viewing that particular body of films.1 Custen’s study reviewed “291 biopics produced by the major studios and independent production companies during the period 1927–1960.”2 This work is a follow-up to the Custen study. It attempts to extend the time period covered by the study of motion picture biographies, to include more recent biopics (through the early ’90s) and to raise additional important questions not pursued (i.e., avoided) by Custen. This current study includes synopses or reviews for 443 such films released during the period from 1912 through 1994.* As Custen points out, some “characteristics of the films . . . are available without a close viewing of the particular film.”3 Of course, the flip side of that statement is that some characteristics of the biopics cannot be determined without viewing the films.** Thus, since neither Custen’s nor this study of Hollywood biopics can claim to have viewed each of the films in the study, these reports should not be considered the final word on this subject, (i.e., there is room for more work to be done in this area). Specifically, it is not always clear as to whether a particular portrayal is positive or negative when merely reading reviews or synopses of films, although in most instances, that editorial slant can be ascertained. This more current biopic study included a review of synopses of most of the films in the Custen study in addition to other biopics identified for the years 1961 through 1994. Seventeen (17) of the films listed at Appendix C of the Custen book were not described in synopsis form by Custen, Martin, Scheuer, or Walker (the primary sources for this study). Thus, those films are not included in this analysis, for most purposes. For the benefit of future researchers writing on this topic, those omitted films include Jesse James (Paramount–1927), Madame Pompadour (Paramount–1927), Kit Carson (Paramount–1928), The Viking (MGM–1928), The Royal Box (Warner Bros.–1929), The Devine Lady (Warner Bros.–1929), The Mad Empress (Warner Bros.–1939), The Star Maker (Paramount–1939), The Flying Irishman (RKO–1939), The Hamilton Woman (UA–1941), The Return of Daniel Boone (Columbia–1941), Song of My Heart (Allied Artists–1948), Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (UA–1950), Young Daniel Boone (Monogram–1950), The Law and Billy the Kid (Columbia–1954), Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer (Republic–1956) and Villa! (TCF–1958). Note that seven (7) of these films fall into the category of American/ Westerns. ** Custen defines the biopic as a film that depicts the life of a historical person, past or present. Although all of the biopics considered in the Custen study and current study are based on the lives of persons who actually existed, not all of them attempt to depict the life, meaning the entire life, of that historical person. Thus, there may be some reasonable disagreement as to the inclusion or exclusion of certain films in these and future biopic studies.

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*

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Introduction

As noted above, brief synopses of Hollywood biopics produced and/or released during the years covered from 1912 through 1994 provide the basis for the discussion and analysis contained in this book. The more limited conclusions drawn by Custen and those based on the extended study are set forth, along with some comparative analysis of both. Ultimately, the questions raised come down to: does this entire body of work (the biopics) show a Hollywood bias toward certain kinds of people in terms of the number of portrayals, who is portrayed and how? The evidence developed through this survey of motion picture biographies and set forth herein requires an affirmative answer to that question. In addition, of course, when this Hollywood biopic study is read in conjunction with the companion volume Who Really Controls Hollywood, it can be viewed as providing further evidence in support of the established fact that the small group of politically liberal, not very religious Jewish* males of European heritage, and who also control Hollywood do, in fact, engage in the pervasive nepotism, favoritism, cronyism and other forms of discrimination observed by the numerous writers of the Hollywood scene cited herein (see also Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry). As Who Really Controls Hollywood reveals, a significant number of observers of the Hollywood scene have, independent of each other, concluded that Hollywood is controlled by a small group of Jewish males of European heritage (or more precisely, a small group of Jewish males of European heritage who are politically liberal and not very religious). As noted in that book, it is also significant that none of the writers in the bibliographies for either of these volumes made an affirmative statement that any other religious, ethnic, cultural or racial group controls Hollywood. Also, as set forth in Who Really Controls Hollywood, the studies of the industry literature and other surveys are consistent with the above-stated observations regarding the Hollywood control group. In addition, as can be seen from the material presented in the companion book Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry, (i.e., dealing with the question of how the Hollywood control group gained and maintained its position of power), nepotism and its broader, but related forms of discrimination (favoritism and cronyism) have long been pervasive in the U.S. film industry. * Many Hollywood observers avoid issues relating to the religious/cultural backgrounds of those who dominate the film business for various reasons. However, in the view of this author such avoidance is not only intellectually dishonest, it overlooks an important element that helps determine the kinds of movies we see. After all, movies to a large extent tend to mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers. In this book, people with names that are commonly considered of Jewish origin are not counted as persons of Jewish heritage for purposes of the statistical calculations presented (only those persons who have been identified as persons of Jewish heritage in published sources are counted), thus such calculations are likely to be more conservative than would otherwise be the case.

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Motion Picture Biographies

These two important observations, taken together, underlay the clear relevance of the studies set forth in of this book series dealing with the results of such control, and more specifically with the issue of whether the favoritism demonstrated by the Hollywood control group, has resulted in an unfair advantage for producers, directors, screenwriters, actors and actresses with similar backgrounds (i.e., there is no level playing field in the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry). These observations also form the basis for determining and reporting here (to the extent possible and based on the limited information available), how many of such persons have what appears to be one of the essential elements qualifying them as beneficiaries of such favoritism, (i.e., a Jewish heritage). For these reasons, the following discussion of Hollywood biopics will also include designations, where appropriate (and when available from published sources), of the religious/ cultural background of the filmmakers and studio executives involved. Again, to the extent that this material demonstrates that a disproportionately high number of Jewish actors, actresses, screenwriters, directors and producers were given the opportunity to participate in the making of this body of films, this observed phenomenon adds support for the contention that the Hollywood control group routinely engages in nepotism, favoritism, cronyism and other forms of employment discrimination in selecting who gets to work on these movies (see Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry). In addition, to the extent that this study demonstrates that a disproportionate number of Hollywood motion picture biographies focus on so-called Jewish subjects (particularly of Jewish males, who are politically liberal and not very religious), such a separate phenomenon tends to add further support for the fact reported in Who Really Controls Hollywood that the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry is, and has long been, controlled by a small group of Jewish males of European heritage who are politically liberal and not very religious. In addition, this second phenomenon further supports the underlying thesis of another of this book’s companion volumes, Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies (Algora, 2012), i.e., that movies mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers. In other words, without the benefit of being able to read the minds of those who were responsible for making the choices that resulted in the Hollywood biopics, the next best evidence of the motivation behind such choices is the observation and analysis of patterns of apparent bias in the overall record established. This book exposes those patterns of bias with respect to motion picture biographies. Enjoy! John Cones

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Chapter 1. The Early Years Revisited This chapter provides an overview of the Hollywood motion picture biographies released from 1912 to 1929 and points out several of the earliest patterns of bias in this category of film. One of the earliest films to be released in the U.S. was a biopic, the Britishmade Queen Elizabeth (1912). As the Katz Film Encyclopedia reports, “receipts from this film’s distribution in the U.S. provided [Jewish studio executive] Adolph Zukor4 with the funds to found Paramount.”5 French actress Sarah Bernhardt, described by the Standard Jewish Encyclopedia as a “half-Jewess” starred in the film.6 This early biopic represents the very beginning of a long series of films released in the U.S. marketplace that focus on European history. One of the Warners’ earliest commercial successes, and possibly the first American-made biographical motion picture, came with “a biopic of the American ambassador to Germany, My Four Years in Germany (1918).”7 It may immediately strike many people odd that, with all of the other available subjects from thousands of years of history, a major studio would first choose to make a biopic on such a topic. This was clearly a film that was of ideological interest to the filmmakers and that is most likely why this subject was chosen over all others, during a time coinciding with the American participation in World War I against Germany and its partners in war. Paramount followed in the biopic category in 1923 with its release of The Ten Commandments, a “two-phase silent version of the Book of Exodus and the application of the Ten Commandments in modern life. In part one, set in ancient times, Moses leads the Israelites into the promised land. Part two, set in the modern period (1923 San Francisco), two brothers show the power of prayer and truth.”8 The script was written by Jeanie MacPherson. Cecil B. de 5

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Motion Picture Biographies

Mille (Episcopalian father and mother of Jewish descent)9 directed for San Francisco-born Jewish producer Jesse L. Lasky.10 Another of Warner Bros.’ early efforts was Beau Brummell (1924), a film that tells the story of a “Regency dandy [who] becomes the right-hand man of the Prince of Wales, but falters through his own arrogance.” The script was written by Dorothy Farnum. The film was directed by Harry Beaumont. It starred John Barrymore, Mary Astor (originally Lucille Vasconcellos Langhanke), Jewish actress Carmel Myers11 and Willard Louis. Another version of the same story (which is of questionable interest to American moviegoers) was released in 1954.12 In other words, it is fair to ask, “Were these movies produced and released because Americans were voting with their pocketbooks, as is often suggested by Hollywood studio executives, or were these films chosen because they were of interest to the filmmakers, including the studio executives who authorized the films to be produced and/or released? Most likely, the latter.* In the 1927 UA release The Beloved Rogue, fifteenth-century poet and “thief François Villon becomes a friend of the king, but is banished when he falls for a lady of the court.”13 Paul Bern (Levy)14 wrote the script directed by Alan Crosland. The film starred John Barrymore, Jewish actor Conrad Veidt,15 Marceline Day, Mack Swain and Slim Summerville. The following year (1928), the Warner’s Glorious Betsy continued Hollywood’s interest in European subjects. This film focused on Napoleon’s younger brother and his love for an American girl. Alan Crosland directed and the film starred Conrad Nagel, Dolores Costello, John Miljan and Betty Blythe.16 In 1929, Is Everybody Happy? (Warner Bros.) portrays the story of “Jewish performer . . . Ted Lewis (Theodore Friedman),”17 the “life of a clarinetist (and bandleader) who rises from poverty.” The script was written by Joseph Jackson and James A. Starr. Archie Maylor directed. The film featured Ted Lewis himself, along with Alice Day, Ann Pennington and Lawrence Grant.18 The picture represents one of the earliest of a long line of Hollywood biopics featuring Jewish entertainers.

Some of the films in both the Custen study and this more current update of Hollywood biopics were classified as British or Canadian productions, or U.S. coproductions with any one of several countries. Each of those films are included in this study because they were ultimately either released in the domestic marketplace by a U.S. distributor or released to video and thus available for screening in the U.S. marketplace. In addition, in this current study, some of the movies considered were so-called made-for-television-movies. These have been included because in many instances, it is difficult to determine with certainty whether a so-called made-forTV-movie was actually intended from the very beginning to only be shown on TV, or whether it started out just as any other feature film, with the hope that it would be released into the theatrical marketplace, when after the film was completed, it was adjudged merely suitable for showing on television and/or going direct to video.

*

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Chapter 1. The Early Years Revisited

That same year (1929), the Warner Bros. release Disraeli, focused on the efforts of the “Prime Minister of England (described by Steven Scheuer as ‘wily and brilliant’) as he “paves the way for the Suez Canal.”19 The film included “[f]ictionalized episodes in the life of the Victorian statesman, including his activities as a matchmaker.” Alfred E. Green directed. The film starred George Arliss, Joan Bennett, Florence Arliss, Anthony Bushell, David Torrence, Ivan Simpson and Doris Lloyd.20 The film’s subject, Benjamin Disraeli (the Earl of Beaconsfield), had a Jewish heritage and is listed as Jewish by the New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia.21 On the other hand, Disraeli was baptized in the Anglican Church (1817) in England supposedly because his Jewish father “had a low opinion both of Judaism and of Jews.”22 In addition, however, “Jews were not legally admitted to parliament until 1858, and without his baptism Disraeli could never have become Prime Minster.”23 Also, “Disraeli never took the defensive line that Jews were no worse than other men. He thought they were better . . . Disraeli preached the innate superiority of certain races . . . He was descended, he said . . . ‘in a direct line from one of the oldest races in the world, from that rigidly separate and unmixed Bedouin race who had developed a high civilization at a time when the inhabitants of England were going half naked and eating acorns in the woods’.”24 In the film, Disraeli not only had to fight the opponents of British imperialism, but also had to face up to those who opposed him simply as a Jew. As Patricia Erens points out, the film provides a favorable portrayal of Disraeli and concludes that “the [Jewish] outsider has more loyalty and love for his country than the native Englishman.”25 In summary for these early years, it can be accurately observed that five of the eight biopics released in the U.S. during this period (from 1912 through 1929) focused on the lives of European historical figures. Also, six of the eight either featured a Jewish actor or actress, or focused on the life of a Jewish historical figure. In addition, the only biopic relating to a specific religious figure portrayed the life of a prominent Jewish religious leader (Moses). Thus, this brief survey of the early biopics clearly demonstrates that a bias in favor of European as well as Jewish-related subjects and actor/actresses was apparent from the early days of movies in America. As this work moves forward, an effort will be made to observe whether such early trends continue. Based on the results of this initial survey, it would seem negligent for anyone studying Hollywood biopics to comment on one of these patterns of bias while overlooking the other.

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Chapter 2. Biopics of the 1930s Hollywood offered 67 biopics during the decade of the ’30s. The clear trend of the decade was a continuing emphasis on European subjects. Thirty-three (nearly 50%) focused on Europeans, including 13 motion picture biographies relating to European royalty (nearly 20%). Each year of the decade, except one, witnessed the release of such a film, with as many as three being released in each of two years. Once again, the Hollywood studio executives would argue that they were only presenting the kinds of movies the people wanted. It is much more likely that such films were being offered because they tended to deal with subjects of interest to the film community, many of whom had European backgrounds. European Royalty — The first of the decade was UA’s Du Barry, Woman of Passion (1930). It was produced by and starred Norma Talmadge, wife “of the influential [Jewish] producer Joseph Schenck,26 who took charge of her career in 1916.” The film purportedly portrays “[i]ncidents in the life of the mistress of Louis XV”27 who was “guillotined for crimes against the state by a Revolutionary tribunal.”28 Sam Taylor directed. Others appearing in the film included William Farnum, Hobart Bosworth, Conrad Nagel and Alison Spikeworth.29 Jewish* producer Irving Thalberg30 then produced an MGM release for release in 1932, Rasputin and the Empress. This movie told the “story of the last years of the Russian court, when a sinister monk gained influence over the empress.”31 In that * Some may argue that it is unfair to focus on the backgrounds of Jewish studio executives and creative personnel to the exclusion of others. On the other hand, whenever the facts demonstrate that African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Arab-Americans, ItalianAmericans, Christians, Muslims, Whites from the South or some other religious, ethnic, cultural or racial group dominates Hollywood, then the focus could rightfully shift to that or those groups. Meanwhile, the facts must lead us where they will, Hollywood smokescreens notwithstanding.

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Motion Picture Biographies

film, “Princess Irina Alexandrovna Yussoupov was shown as the willing sexual partner of the evil monk of the film’s title. And, of course, it would be fair to characterize the film’s presentation of the non-Jewish religious figure (the monk) as a negative portrayal, making this picture one of the first of a long line of Hollywood films that negatively portray non-Jewish religious figures (see Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies). “Alleging that the film libeled her, [Princess Irina] . . . sued MGM in a British court, and was awarded substantial damages. In the United States, a substantial out-ofcourt settlement (reported . . . to have been in the neighborhood of $1 million) was reached with the wronged Romanovs.”32 Richard Boleslawski directed. The film starred John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Diana Wynyard, Ralph Morgan (originally Raphael Kuhner Wupperman),33 and C. Henry Gordon.34 The following year (1933), Queen Christina (MGM) was produced by the Jewish studio executive Walter Wanger (Feuchtwanger).35 In this biopic, the “queen of 17th-century Sweden, distressed at the thought of a political marriage, goes wandering through her country in men’s clothes and falls in love with the new Spanish ambassador.” Russian-born Jewish director Rouben Mamoulian36 (of Armenian descent)37 directed. The film starred Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith, Lewis Stone, C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Owen and Elizabeth Young.38 A total of three European royalty films came out in 1934. The Scarlet Empress (Paramount — 1934) was [a] fantasia on the love life of Catherine the Great,”39 Czarina of Russia. She was the Russian leader who divided “Russia into provinces and classifie[d] . . . their inhabitants into various categories.” She classified “rich Jews as merchants to be included within the guild, while other Jews [were] . . . classified as burghers. Thus, Russia [became] . . . the first European country in which Jews [were] . . . permitted to elect or to be elected to guild councils and municipalities.”40 Viennaborn Josef Von Sternberg (from an Orthodox Jewish family)41 directed. The film starred Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Jewish actor Sam Jaffe,42 Louise Dresser (Kerlin), C. Aubrey Smith, Gavin Gordon and Jameson Thomas.43 That same year (1934), Warner Bros. provided a second telling of the “life of the legendary courtesan at Versailles” in Madame Du Barry, regardless of whether the public wanted to see the story again or not. German-born William Dieterle directed. The film starred Dolores del Rio, Reginal Owen, Victor Jory, Anita Louise, Osgood Perkins and Verree Teasdale.44 Also in 1934, Jewish producer Alexander Korda45 produced Catherine the Great for release in 1934, by United Artists. The film tells “[h]ow Catherine married the mad prince and slowly conquered the Russian court.” Director Paul Czinner was born in Budapest and moved to England before emigrating 10

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Chapter 2. Biopics of the 1930s

to the U.S. after the Nazis came to power in 1933.46 The film starred Jewish actress Elisabeth Bergner,47 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., (grandson of a prominent Jewish lawyer), 48 Flora Robson, Gerald du Maurier, Irene Vanbrugh, Griffith Jones, Joan Gardner and Diana Napier.49 Then in 1935, the UA release Nell Gwyn, starred Anna Neagle, Cedric Hardwicke, Jeanne de Casalis, Murial George, Miles Maileson, Esme Percy and Moore Marriott. The film purportedly tells about the “affair of Charles II (the King of England, Scotland and Ireland who reigned during the Restoration and the return of the constitutional monarchy to Great Britain)50 and an orange seller.”51 According to Judah Gribetz, “[r]estoration of the Stuart monarchy [brought] . . . a challenge to the newly reestablished Jewish community in London when King Charles II [was] . . . petitioned to expel them. The fact that Jewish cloth merchants (were) underselling established London merchants [was] . . . brought as proof that Jews endanger[ed] the economy.” Charles II, however, rejected the petition.52 In addition, Gribetz reports that when the Earl of Berkshire attempted to extort a large sum of money from the Jewish community of England by threatening to apply the Coventicle Act to Jewish worship, the Jews appealed to the king and were reassured that the law would not be used against them.53 Thus, it is fair to observe that King Charles II was somewhat of a hero to many Jews. The ostensible reward was to be favorably portrayed in a Hollywood movie. Irish-born Herbert Wilcox produced and directed. The 1936 European royalty offering was Mary of Scotland (RKO), in which “Mary Stuart refuses to give up her claim to the English throne, and is eventually executed.” The film was directed by John Ford for Jewish producer Pandro S. Berman.54 Historian George MacDonald Fraser called it “the worst historical picture” he had “ever seen.” He says it “romanticizes or distorts the characters beyond recognition.” Fraser further stated that the film portrayed Queen Elizabeth I as “a vicious shrew [and] Mary as a misty-eyed heroine.”55 As an indication of how Queen Elizabeth I related to English Jews of that day, Judah Gribetz points out that a Dr. Rodrigo Lopes, “one of about 80 Marranos* known to live in London during her reign” was the physician to Queen Elizabeth I, and was “executed on a false charge of attempting to poison the queen.” Also, Gribetz reports that Lopes’ fate caused “the Marrano community [in London] to dwindle away.”56 Gribetz reports further, that during the reign of Elizabeth I, and for some years afterwards, Jews could be and were arrested and fined for “failure to attend the Church of England.”57 It is therefore not surprising that a Jewish producer (Berman) might be motivated to portray Queen Elizabeth I in a * “Term applied in Spain and Portugal to the descendants of baptized Jews suspected of secret adherence to Judaism.” [Wigoder, 631].

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Motion Picture Biographies

feature film in such a negative manner. The power to produce and release a film biography may include the ability to exact a certain measure of revenge on an individual’s historical portrayal. The people who control the production and distribution of movies have that power. The film Mary of Scotland starred Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Donald Crisp, Florence Eldridge, Douglas Walton, John Carradine, Robert Barrat, Monte Blue (part Cherokee Indian),58 Moroni Olsen, Frieda Inescort and Alan Mowbray.59 The 1937 film Victoria the Great (RKO) presents “[e]pisodes in the life of Queen Victoria”60 the queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901. She was a friend of Jewish leader Moses Montefiore (whom she later knighted), and Paul Johnson suggests Sir Montefiore was “probably responsible for her marked Judophilia.”61 During her reign the British government intervened on behalf of Jews in Switzerland (1856), in the Balkans, and at the Congress of Berlin in 1876.62 The film was directed and produced by the Irish-born Herbert Wilcox. It starred Anna Neagle, Jewish actor Anton Walbrook (born Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbruck in Vienna)63 British actor H.B. Warner, Walter Rilla and Mary Morris.64 The next year (1938), in Paramount’s If I Were King, “[the] 14th-century poet and rascal François Villon matches wits with [the French King] Louis XI and leads an uprising of the people.”65 The script was written by Preston Sturges (born Edmond P. Biden in Chicago). Frank Lloyd produced and directed. The film starred Ronald Coleman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee, Henry Wilcoxon and Sidney Toler. Also in 1938, Marie Antoinette (MGM) portrayed the “last days of the French court before the revolution” that resulted in the abolition of the French monarchy and the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in 1793.66 Fraser suggests that “one of the high points in the picture is [the recitation by Jewish actor Joseph Schildkraut]67 “of popular grievances.”68 The emancipation of the Jews of France from numerous disabilities came about as a result of the French Revolution. The script for the film was written by Claudine West, Donald Ogden Stewart and Ernest Vajda. W. S. Van Dyke directed for producer Hunt Stromberg. The film also starred Norma Shearer (who, as noted earlier, had converted to Judaism)69 Tyrone Power, John Barrymore, Robert Morley and Gladys George.70 Finally, in 1938, RKO’s Queen of Destiny (aka Sixty Glorious Years) again presents “[s]cenes from the life of Queen Victoria”71 friend of the Jews.72 The script was written by Robert Vansittart, English-born Miles Malleson and Charles de Grandcourt. Herbert Wilcox (originally from Ireland) produced and directed. The film starred Anna Neagle, Jewish actor Anton Walbrook73 and C. Aubrey Smith.74

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Chapter 2. Biopics of the 1930s

In the last year of the decade, 1939, Warner Bros. released The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. In this biopic, “Elizabeth I [the Queen of England] falls in love with the Earl of Essex, but events turn him into a rebel and she has to order his execution.”75 As noted earlier, Elizabeth I “succeeded the Catholic Mary I and reestablished Protestantism in England.”76 Her ascension to the throne also resulted in the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. As noted earlier, with respect to the film Mary of Scotland, Queen Elizabeth I’s reign marked a time of difficulty for Jews in England.77 In any case, the historian Fraser observes that the film “plays false with history.”78 The script for this film was written by Pennsylvania-born Norman Reilly Raine and Aeneas Mackenzie. Michael Curtiz (born in Budapest, of Jewish parentage)79 directed for Chicago-born producer Robert Lord. The film starred Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Donald Crisp. Some again may suggest that the Hollywood moviemakers were merely responding to the movie going desires of the American public with such offerings. However, this book provides an additional or alternative motivation, and that is the interests and background of the filmmakers or studio executives themselves (i.e., their own fascination with their European heritage is at least part of the explanation for so many biopics focusing on European royalty). In contrast to the favored royals of Europe, royalty in that section of the world that we might refer to today as the Middle East was almost overlooked by Hollywood during the decade. In 1934, however, Paramount did release Cecil B. de Mille’s Cleopatra. The film focused on the time period “[a]fter Julius Caesar’s death, [when] Cleopatra turns her attention to Mark Antony”80 who had been “given control of the Near East” including the traditional Jewish homeland incorporating Palestine, Judea and Jerusalem.81 The film starred Claudette Colbert, Henry Wilcoxon, Warren William, Gertrude Michael, Jewish actor Joseph Schildkraut,82 Ian Keith, C. Aubrey Smith, Leonard Mudie, Jewish actor Irving Pichel83 and Arthur Hohl. De Mille, whose father (as noted earlier) was Episcopalian and mother was of Jewish descent,84 produced and directed. Entertainers — The second largest area of biopic interest for the Hollywood moviemakers in the 1930s was entertainers (i.e., their own industry). Eight of the motion picture biographies of the ’30s focused on persons in the entertainment field. A European flavor continued to be apparent. Exactly half of the entertainer subjects of the biopics in this decade had European backgrounds. A Lady’s Morals was released by MGM in 1930. In this biopic, “[t]he ‘Swedish nightingale’ [Jenny Lind] learns that love is more important than a singing career.”85 After singing several arias, in this “early musical . . . [the 13

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Lind character ends] up with a blind concert pianist.”86 Sidney Franklin directed. The film starred Grace Moore, Reginald Denny, Wallace Beery and Jobyna Howland. A few years later, in 1934, the 20th Century-Fox release The Mighty Barnum relates “the life and times of the legendary showman.”87 Halliwell’s calls it a “fictionalized biopic of the great showman of the nineties.” The film starred Wallace Beery, Virginia Bruce, Adolphe Menjou, Janet Beecher and Rochelle Hudson.88 Tennessee-born Walter Lang directed for producer Darryl F. Zanuck (of Swiss-Protestant heritage). In 1936, MGM’s The Great Ziegfeld provides a musical salute to the Jewish U.S. theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld89 referred to by Steven Scheuer as “the master showman.”90 As Patricia Erens reports, the film “makes no mention of Ziegfeld’s Jewish origins.”91 The film was directed by Chicagoborn Robert Zigler Leonard for producer Hunt Stromberg. It starred William Powell, Vienna-born Jewish actress Luise Rainer,92 Myrna Loy, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Nat Pendleton and Virginia Bruce. Three additional films also treat Ziegfeld’s “legendary career”93 directly, including I’ll See You in My Dreams (1951), The Story of Will Rogers (1952), and The Eddie Cantor Story (1953), all discussed below. Presumably, if the Hollywood film community decides, for whatever reasons, to portray a person’s life in four feature films, the adjective “legendary” would actually become a self-fulfilling prophesy, regardless of the true-life accomplishments of the individual (i.e., the films themselves contribute significantly to the construction of the legend). The following year, in 1937, Warner Bros. released The Great Garrick a motion picture biography of the “British actor and theater manager who was considered the foremost Shakespearean player of his time (1717–1779).”94 In this film “[w]hen Garrick goes to act in Paris, members of the Comédie Française take over a wayside inn and try to teach him a lesson, but the plan goes awry.” The film starred British-born actor Brian Aherne, Edward Everett Horton, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill and Melville Cooper. The English-born James Whale directed for Jewish producer Mervyn LeRoy95 (from San Francisco). Then in 1938, The Great Waltz (MGM) presented the “screen biography of Johann Strauss.”96 In the film, “[y]oung Johann Strauss becomes Vienna’s waltz king.”97 Strauss was the “founder of the famous Viennese musical family (and) . . . the son of a baptized Jewish innkeeper in Budapest.”98 The script was written by Vienna-born Walter Reisch and Russian-born Samuel Hoffenstein. The French-born Julien Duvivier directed for producer Bernard Hyman.99 In the final year of the decade, in The Great Victor Herbert (Paramount — 1939) the “famous composer plays cupid to two young singers [at the 14

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Chapter 2. Biopics of the 1930s

turn of the century].”100 Herbert was an “American musician, composer, and conductor particularly known for his comic operas, including Babes in Toyland (1903).”101 Author and film critic Steven Scheuer labels the biopic “[i]naccurate. . .”102 The script was written by Russel Crouse and Robert Lively. California-born Andrew L. Stone produced and directed. The film starred Walter Connolly, Allan Jones, Mary Martin, Susanna Foster and Lee Bowman. Also in 1939, Swanee River (TCF) portrayed the “life and loves of Stephen Foster”103 whose “works . . . including ‘Oh! Susannah’ (1848), reflect the sentiment of pre-Civil War America.”104 Oddly enough, “although his songs drew their inspiration from Southern life and did much to create the popular romantic image of that life, he himself had no firsthand knowledge of the South beyond that gathered on a single brief visit to New Orleans in 1852.” Foster was born in Pennsylvania, then lived and worked in Cincinnati and New York.105 The script for this biopic was written by John Taintor Foote and New York-born Philip Dunne. Chicago-born Sidney Lanfield directed for producer Darryl F. Zanuck. The film starred Don Ameche, Jewish actor Al Jolson,106 Andrea Leeds, Felix Bressart and Russell Hicks. Finally, in 1939, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (RKO) portrayed the “husband and wife dance team who had their first success in Paris and became influential international celebrities before he was killed as a flier in World War I”107 Vernon Castle was born in Britain.108 The script was written by Richard Sherman and Jewish lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II.109 New York-born H. C. Potter directed for Jewish producer Pandro S. Berman110 and George Haight. The film starred Fred Astaire (originally Frederick Austerlitz),111 Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver, Walter Brennan, the Jewish comedian and actor Lew Fields (originally named Lewis Maurice Schanfield),112 Etienne Girardot and Donald MacBride. Political Figures — Political figures formed the next most popular biopic category for the ’30s with five, although that same number of motion picture biographies were released for crime-related and western figures. In 1930, D.W. Griffith produced and directed UA’s Abraham Lincoln, an “account of Lincoln’s entry into politics and his years of power.”113 The film starred Walter Huston, Una Merkel, Edgar Dearing, Russell Simpson and Henry B. Walthall. The following year, in 1931, the Warner Bros.’ feature Alexander Hamilton focused on the “life of America’s 18th-century financier.” John G. Adolfi directed. The film starred George Arliss, Doris Kenyon, Montague Love, Dudley Digges, Lionel Belmore, Ralf Harolde and Alan Mowbray.114

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Two years later, in 1933, The Man Who Dared (Fox) featured the “life of a local politician, based on Mayor Cernak of Chicago.” The script was written by Charles Grayson and Sy Bartlett. The film was directed by Lewis R. Foster and starred Lewis Stone, Tom Brown, Barbara Read, Marjorie Main and Forrester Harvey.115 In Parnell (MGM — 1937) “[a] 19th-century Irish politician comes to grief through his love for a married woman.” The film tells the “[s]tory of the great Irish [statesman and] patriot [Charles Steven Parnell] . . .”116 who became “involved in a scandalous divorce trial.”117 The “Irish nationalist leader . . . served as a member of the British parliament (1875–1891) and led Ireland’s Home Rule Movement.”118 According to Custen, the Parnell biopic was also a plea “for political and ethical tolerance,”119 one of the long-standing preferred themes for Hollywood films. This biopic was produced and directed by the New York-born Jewish director John M. Stahl.120 It starred Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Edmund Gwenn, Edna May Oliver and Alan Marsha.121 Then, in 1939, the 20th Century-Fox release Young Mr. Lincoln again portrays Abraham Lincoln, this time “as a young country lawyer (who) stops a lynching and proves a young man innocent of murder.”122 This was at least the second Hollywood film to this point touching on the life (or death) of Abraham Lincoln. It combines Hollywood’s interest in Lincoln with another favored theme (i.e., the study of mob psychology or the prevention of mob killings). The script was written by Georgia-born Lamar Trotti. John Ford (born in Maine as Sean Aloysius O’Feeney) directed for the Harvardeducated producer Kenneth MacGowan (originally from Massachusetts). The film starred Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Richard Cromwell, Donald Meek and Arleen Whelan.123 Crime-Related Subjects — As noted above, Hollywood released as many crime-related biopics in the ’30s as motion picture biographies on political figures and westerns. As the decade opened, Paramount’s Street of Chance (1930) began the long line of Hollywood gangster/outlaw biopics. The film starred William Powell, Kay Francis, Regis Toomey and Jean Arthur. In the film, Powell “plays a de-ethnicized character based on Arnold Rothstein, a (New York, Jewish) gambler about town124 who falls afoul of the boys when he takes his kid brother to the gaming table to teach him a lesson. Sonny cleans out the pros and the fat is in the fire.”125 In real life, “Rothstein was the first Jew to win significant influence” with the Tammany Hall political machine in New York, and “he became the first of the bootleg tycoons.”126 He was also primarily responsible for the 1919 fix of the baseball world series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. John Cromwell directed the film for Jewish producer David O. Selznick.127

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One of the more intriguing aspects of this biopic is that its subject, Arnold Rothstein was, according to Patricia Erens, a notorious Jewish criminal “known during the twenties as ‘the J.P. Morgan of the underworld,’” but, as reported above, the ethnicity of Rothstein was so obliterated that the film was not even included in Erens’s book The Jew in American Cinema. Thus, in the years to come, when the ethnic backgrounds of Italian and Irish criminals were openly portrayed in Hollywood films, the Jewish background of Rothstein (in this film) was so completely annihilated that an expert on the subject of Jews in film does not even recognize this film as an example of Jews in Cinema. Again, the people who control the movie making apparatus have the power to choose to openly depict the ethnicity of other groups when portraying criminals and choose to hide the ethnicity of their own fellows. In 1932, Warner Bros. released I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. The film, produced by Jewish producer Hal B. Wallis128 portrayed an “innocent man [who was] . . . convicted and after brutal treatment with the [Southern] chain gang becomes a vicious criminal on the run.” This film represents one of the early examples of a long Hollywood preference for portraying most things Southern in a negative or stereotypical manner. Jewish director Mervyn LeRoy directed.129 The film starred Jewish actor Paul Muni,130 Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson and Preston Foster.* Two years later, (1934) Now I’ll Tell once again presented the “story of (Jewish gangster) Arnold Rothstein, gambler/racketeer of the twenties, this time as told by his widow.”131 Edwin Burke wrote and directed for producer Winfield Sheehan. The film starred Spencer Tracy, Helen Twelvetrees, Hobart Cavanaugh, Alice Faye, G.P. Huntley, Jr., Shirley Temple and Leon Ames. Finally, in 1934, Jewish producer David O. Selznick132 portrayed a crimefigure of a different variety in producing Viva Villa! for release by MGM. The film portrays “[t]he career of a Mexican rebel.” Jack Conway directed the script written by Jewish writer Ben Hecht133 (the son of Jewish immigrants from South Russia).134 The film starred Wallace Beery, Fay Wray, Leo Carrillo and Donald Cook. This is the first of only three Hollywood biopics focusing on Mexicans or Mexican-Americans during the period of the study (two about revolutionaries and one about an entertainer). In another variation on the crime figure category, Paramount released, The Buccaneer, in 1938. In this film, French “pirate Jean Lafitte helps President Andrew Jackson to repel the British . . . [d]uring the 1812 war.” The script was written by Jeanie Macpherson, New York-born Jewish writer Edwin Justus Mayer135 and Harold Lamb. Cecil B. de Mille (mother of Jewish descent)136 * This film represents one of the early examples of an incredible series of Hollywood films that consistently portray people, places and things of the American South in a negative or stereotypical manner (see Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content).

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produced and directed. The film starred Fredric March, Franciska Gaal, Jewish actor Akim Tamiroff137 and Margot Grahame.138 Westerns — Hollywood has also demonstrated some partiality to glamorizing the lives of outlaws from the western era. In 1930, MGM released Billy the Kid, the story of a “young western outlaw [who] is relentlessly pursued by Sheriff Pat Garrett.” King Vidor directed. The film starred Johnny Mack Brown, Wallace Beery, Kay Johnson, Karl Dane and Roscoe Ates.139 Also, in the ’30s decade, 20th Century-Fox released Jesse James (1938). In this film, the two James “brothers take to train robbing when railroad employees harass their family . . . [a]fter the Civil War.”140 The film was directed by Virginia-born Henry King for producer Nunnally Johnson (from Georgia). It starred Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Nancy Kelly, Jane Darwell and Randolph Scott. Fraser says the film provides “a very sympathetic treatment” of the James Boys,141 who are outlaws nonetheless. The desire by Hollywood moguls to portray outlaws in a sympathetic way may be traced to their own roots as outlaw producers. Many of the founders of Hollywood started their careers as independent producers using cameras obtained from the Edison Trust, for which they failed to pay contractual royalties. In an effort to escape the collection efforts of the Edison Trust (which admittedly went too far) many of these outlaw producers moved their operations as far away from the East Coast as possible (i.e., to Hollywood). But, then they used their films about outlaws to explore and portray their sometimes sympathetic motives. Sol M. Wurtzel had struck a blow for the good guys a few years earlier with his production of Frontier Marshal for release by 20th Century-Fox (1933). In this film, “Wyatt Earp cleans up Tombstone.” The script was written by Sam Hellman. Allan Dwan directed. The film starred Randolph Scott, Nancy Kelly, Cesar Romero and Binnie Barnes.142 This same Wyatt Earp story was redone as My Darling Clementine in 1946. Interestingly, there is a Jewish connection with the Wyatt Earp pictures. As Howard Sachar reports, “[a]fter the Civil War, several [Jewish men] won election . . . as mayors, of Rosedale, Wichita, and Dodge City. Adolph Cluck, a Dodge City councilman, liked the looks of a promising young marksman, Wyatt Earp, and appointed him to enforce the law. Earp in turn liked the looks of a visiting San Francisco Jewish woman, Sarah Marcus, and made her his common-law wife. Upon his death many years later, she had him buried in a Jewish cemetery.”143 Another western hero came in the form of the RKO release Daniel Boone (1936). This story of the “early American frontier features rugged outdoor star George O’Brien in the title role and evil John Carradine as a renegade who aids the marauding Indians.”144 Interestingly enough, frontiersman 18

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Boone was an employee of the mostly Jewish-owned Transylvania Company (the three Hart brothers and a Richard Henderson) that purchased a twentymillion-acre stretch of Kentucky land south of the Kentucky River for development. In addition, Boone “recruited a Jewish lad (Samuel Sanders) as his assistant.”145 David Howard directed the film in which Heather Angel also makes an appearance.146 As noted above, three other films focusing on various aspects of Daniel Boone’s life were released in 1941, 1950 and 1956. Thus, the legend of Daniel Boone is another in which film portrayals played a hand. Women Subjects — The biopics of the 1930s featured a total of 18 women subjects, a healthy sounding number, although only 27% of the total motion picture biographies for the decade. In addition, of course, ten of the eighteen were of European Royalty, suggesting more interest by Hollywood in Royalty that happened to be female, than the other way around. In 1932, MGM’s Mata Hari takes us back to European politics, telling the story of the “famous lady spy of World War I” who used sex to get the secrets she wanted. George Fitzmaurice directed. The film starred Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, C. Henry Gordon, Karen Morely, Blanche Frederici.147 The film was remade in 1985. Hollywood’s second portrayal of a woman as the focus of a biopic in the ’30s was about a woman obsessed with money. In 1934’s You Can’t’ Buy Everything (MGM) “[a] woman obsessed by her mounting bank balance almost ruins the lives of her family.” Minneapolis-born Charles F. Reisner directed. The film starred May Robson, Jean Parker, Lewis Stone, Mary Forbes and Reginald Mason.148 In 1935, RKO presented a female heroine in Annie Oakley. Cliff Reid produced this “historical story, more or less, of the lady later immortalized in Annie Get Your Gun (1950).”149 California-born George Stevens directed. The film starred Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, McIvyn Douglas, Moroni Olsen, Pert Kelton, Andy Clyde and Chief Thunderbird. The following year (1936), The White Angel (Warner Bros.) portrayed the life of Florence Nightingale, the “British nurse who [in 1854] organized and directed a unit of field nurses during the Crimean War and is considered the founder of modern nursing.”150 During the Crimean War (1853–1856) “a coalition of English, French, and Turkish troops defeated the Russian forces, although Crimea itself did not change hands.”151 Crimea is the Russian peninsula in the Black Sea where Jewish settlements date from the first century before the so-called Christian era.152 Again, the Germanborn William Dieterle directed for producer Henry Blanke. The film starred Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, Donald Wood, Nigel Bruce, Donald Crisp, Henry O’Neill, Billy Mauch and Halliwell Hobbes.153 19

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That same year, in the 1936 MGM release The Gorgeous Hussy, the “love life of Peggy O’Neal”154 was featured. She was actually Peggy O’Neal Eaton “the daughter of a tavern keeper whose inn was frequented by (Washington D.C.) political figures.” She was the center of a controversy over her supposed relationship with Senator John H. Eaton of Tennessee (whom she later married) while her first husband was at sea. President Andrew Jackson (a close friend of Eaton), “was outraged and became the (social) champion of the Eatons.”155 Clarence Brown directed for Jewish producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz.156 The film starred Joan Crawford, Lionel Barrymore, Franchot Tone, Melvyn Douglas (Hesselberg; whose father was Jewish)157 and Robert Taylor. Also in 1937, MGM’s Conquest focused on the “life of Napoleon’s most enduring mistress.” The script was written by the Russian-born Samuel Hoffenstein, Salka Viertel and S.N. Behrman. Clarence Brown directed for producer Bernard Hyman. The film starred Greta Garbo, Charles Boyer, Reginald Owen, and Alan Marshall.158 This film represents one of the earliest but repeated expressions of interest from Hollywood filmmakers in the life of Napoleon and such interest may stem from the fact that Napoleon “ended the public trading of Jews, Moors and Turks in Malta in the late 1790s.159 During this same period he “liberated many of the Italian ghettos, [with] French troops, young Jews and local enthusiasts tearing down the crumbling old walls with their bare hands.”160 As France’s First Consul, Napoleon also “tried hard to bring the Jews into society . . . as solid citizens.”161 In effect, Napoleon attempted to solve the so-called “Jewish problem” in Europe,162 thus, for many, he was a legitimate Jewish hero. Nurse Edith Cavell (RKO — 1939) was the 2nd movie version of the “story of a British nurse executed as a spy during World War I”163 and the second nurse biopic of the 30’s decade. Nurse Cavell “remained in Brussels after the German occupation (1915) to help smuggle Allied troops to the Dutch border. She was caught by the Germans and executed.”164 Her life was “previously filmed in 1930 as Dawn with Sybil Thorndike.”165 The script for the 1939 version was written by Michael Hogan. The Irish-born Herbert Wilcox directed. The film starred Anna Neagle, George Sanders, May Robson, Edna May Oliver and Alan Marshal.166 In the ’30s, Hollywood’s portrayals of women as subjects for motion picture biographies fell into six narrow categories: European royalty, nurse, mistress, Western gun-toting entertainer, a lady spy who used sex as a weapon and a woman obsessed with money. Doctors — Another category of biopics appearing in the ’30s portrayed doctors. All three of these films were released in the same year, 1936. The Prisoner of Shark Island (TCF) was directed by John Ford (of Irish background)167 for 20

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producer Darryl F. Zanuck. The film told the “[t]rue story of the doctor who innocently set Booth’s injured leg after the Lincoln assassination.” According to Steven Scheuer, the “doctor was given a prejudiced trial and sent to Shark Island.”168 The film once again focuses on the preferred Hollywood theme of the wrongfully accused. The film starred Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart, Joyce Kay, Claude Gilingwater, Douglas Wood, Harry Carey, Paul Fix and John Carradine.169 In the 20th Century-Fox release The Country Doctor (1936) a “rural physician becomes famous when quintuplets are born to one of his patients.” The film is a “[f]ictionalization of the birth of the Dionne Quintuplets.” Henry King directed for producer Darryl F. Zanuck. The film starred Jean Hersholt, the Dionne Quins, Dorothy Petersen, June Lang, Slim Summerville, Michael Whalen and Robert Barrat.170 A sequel appeared later in the same year (Reunion) and another in 1938 (Five of a Kind). In Reunion (also TCF), the “doctor retires, [and] the townsfolk reunite him with many of the children he has brought into the world.” This film was the “second attempt [in one year] to cash in on the Dionne Quintuplets.” It was directed by Norman Taurog for producer Darryl Zanuck. The script was written by Sam Hellman, Gladys Lehman and Sonya Levien. The film starred Jean Hersholt, Rochelle Hudson, Helen Vinson, Slim Summerville, Jewish actor J. Edward Bromberg,171 and Sara Haden.172 Miners — The Hollywood biopic list for the ’30s provided two films portraying miners (people who struck it rich mining in the West) as their primary subjects. In 1932, Silver Dollar starred Jewish actor Edward G. Robinson (Emanuel Goldenberg),173 Bebe Daniels, Aline MacMahon and Robert Warrick in a biopic “about the man (H.A.W. Tabor) who helped change a mining town into a major city, Denver, Colorado.”174 The Warner Bros. release told the story of a “poor farmer (who) goes to Colorado for the gold rush, strikes it rich and learns that money doesn’t bring happiness.” Alfred E. Green directed.175 This movie reminds us that all movies communicate messages of one sort or another. Consequently, whoever has the power to determine which movies will be produced and distributed to the vast majority of Americans has the power to determine which messages are going to be communicated through this powerful communications medium (see Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies). Certain patterns of bias are also apparent from this review of motion picture biographies, and again, such biases tend to mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of the filmmakers (including the studio executives who have green-light authority). In 1936, Sutter’s Gold (Universal) told the story of “an immigrant [who] has to fight for his rights when [during the California gold rush] a strike 21

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starts on his land.” The film was directed by James Cruze. It starred Edward Arnold, Lee Tracy, Binnie Barnes, Katherine Alexander, Addison Richards, Montagu Love and John Miljan.176 In addition, to focusing on the miner as a subject, this film becomes part of another Hollywood favored theme, stories about immigrants. Most of the Hollywood moguls were either immigrants or the direct descendants of recent immigrants. Journalists — Hollywood also provided two portrayals of journalists in its motion picture biographies that decade. In the 1938 20th Century-Fox release Five of a Kind, “[t]wo reporters compete for the best stories about the Dionne Quintuplets. This film was the third effort to exploit the famous quints, then four years old”; thus the journalist angle seemed to be more of an excuse to exploit the quintuplets once again. The script was written by Lou Breslow and John Patrick. It was directed by New York city-born Herbert I. Leeds and starred Jean Hersholt, Claire Trevor, Cesar Romero, Slim Summerville and Henry Wilcoxon.177 A slightly more substantive portrayal of a journalist came with the 1939 20th Century-Fox release of Stanley and Livingstone, although the film was actually about the search for a missionary-explorer. In this film, “the intrepid (British) journalist Henry M. Stanley . . . goes [to Africa] searching for {Scottish] missionary-explorer David Livingstone.”178 The script was written by New York-born Philip Dunne and Julien Josephson. Virginia-born Henry King directed for producer Kenneth MacGowan. The film starred Spencer Tracy, Cedric Hardwicke, Richard Greene, Nancy Kelly and Walter Brennan. Religious Figures — Hollywood also offered a pair of biopics in the ’30s focusing on religious figures. The 1935 UA release Cardinal Richelieu told of the “plots and intrigues of the wily cardinal, the power behind the throne of France.”179 Halliwell’s called the film a “[f]ictionalized biography of the unscrupulous cardinal who was the grey eminence behind Louis XIII.”180 Judah Gribetz reports that “[u]nder the influence of Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII dismisse[d] . . . charges of Judaism against New Christians in France”; and that during “this half-century French crypto-Jews”* were able “to practice Judaism more openly.”181 Thus, he may be considered a legitimate Jewish hero by many. Ohio-born Rowland V. Lee directed for 20th CenturyFox producer Darryl F. Zanuck. The film starred George Arliss, Maureen O’Sullivan, Edward Arnold and Cesar Romero.182 MGM’s 1938 film Boys Town (MGM) told the “story of Father Flanagan and his school for juvenile delinquents.”183 The film includes portrayals of two Jewish characters, “Sidney Miller . . . plays a tenement delinquent . . . named Mo Kahn.” However, according to Patricia Erens, “the more * According to Wigoder (p. 249), Crypto-Jews are “[p]ersons who, while outwardly professing another religion (generally adopted by themselves or their ancestors under compulsion), continue to adhere secretly to Judaism.”

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interesting Jewish character is David Morris (played by Henry Hull), a skeptical pawnbroker who provides the money to help Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) found Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska.”184 The script was written by the Canadian-born John Meehan and Dore Schary (described by Gabler as “a committed Jew”)185 Chicago-born Norman Taurog directed for producer John W. Considine, Jr. The film also featured Mickey Rooney (born Joe Yule, Jr. in Brooklyn) and Gene Reynolds. Writers — The 30’s saw the beginning of a long-standing Hollywood preference to feature writers as subjects of motion picture biographies, offering two such biopics for the decade. In the 1934 release The Barretts of Wimpole Street (MGM), an “[i]nvalid Elizabeth Barrett plans to marry poet Robert Browning, against her tyrannical father’s wishes.”186 According to Judah Gribetz, the “writings of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra influence[d] the English poet, Robert Browning (1812–1889)” and Browning’s “most famous poem” focused “on a Jewish theme.” Gribetz also reports that Browning was “strongly sympathetic to the Jews.”187 The film was directed by Sidney Franklin. It starred Norma Shearer, (who had converted to Judaism when she married Jewish producer Irving Thalberg in 1927),188 Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Sullivan, Katherine Alexander and Una O’Connor. Shearer’s Jewish husband Irving Thalberg189 produced. The story was also retold, once again on film, in a 1957 remake. Then in 1937, the Warner Bros. release the Life of Emile Zola starred Jewish actor Paul Muni190 as a continuation of the falsely accused theme. In this film, the Jewish actor Joseph Schildkraut191 played “the falsely accused Captain Dreyfus.” The German-born William Dieterle again directed for producer Henry Blanke. As Paul Johnson reports on the historical incident, the inquiries of the French Jewish writer Bernard Lazare192 into the Dreyfus matter convinced writer Emile Zola that “Dreyfus was innocent and the victim of a frame-up. At the end of 1896 (Lazare) . . . published, in Brussels, a pamphlet” raising “the anti-Semitic issue for the first time on the Jewish side . . . To Lazare, Dreyfus was the archetype Jewish martyr.” The “nonJewish radical . . . Zola, then France’s most popular writer . . . investigated the [Dreyfus] case, wrote an enormous article in defense of Dreyfus and gave it to the rising politician Georges Clemenceau, who ran the story on the front page of his “liberal paper . . . under the headline ‘J’Accuse!’ That was the real beginning of the Dreyfus affair . . . Four days later anti-Semitic riots broke out . . . The army, asked to admit it had made a mistake refused and closed ranks . . . Zola was tried and had to flee the country . . . The Dreyfus affair convulsed France for an entire decade . . . The left [then] won an overwhelming electoral success in 1906.” Ultimately, “Dreyfus was rehabilitated and made a general.”193 23

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According to Patricia Erens, Dreyfus is only identified as a Jew in the film through an entry in a ledger. She also points out that Warner Bros. totally evaded “the anti-Semitic sentiments that motivated the Dreyfus case.” Erens further observes that one of the themes of the film, which will appear again in later movies, is that of the Jewish character providing “the means whereby Gentile characters hone their spiritual soul.”194 Miscellaneous European Occupations — In the ’30s, Hollywood also offered seven more biopics focusing on the lives of Europeans of various occupations, including explorer, scientist, empire builder, philosopher, engineer, banker and romantic. All were men. European Philosopher — In 1933 Warner Bros. (a studio controlled by the four Jewish Warner brothers)195 released the film Voltaire. It portrayed the “life and times of the 18th-century French wit.”196 Judah Gribetz describes Voltaire as “the French philosopher and leading critic of European society before the French Revolution” who, in his “Complete Works,” purportedly made the very anti-Semitic statement regarding Jews: “We find in them only an ignorant and barbarous people, who have long united the most sordid avarice with the most detestable superstition and the most invincible hatred for every people by whom they are tolerated and enriched.”197 Without benefit of seeing the actual film, it cannot be determined from the available reviews, whether the portrayal of Voltaire in this movie was favorable or not, but it does not appear likely. John Adolfi directed the film for producer Ray Griffith. The film starred George Arliss, Doris Kenyon, Margaret Lindsay, Reginald Owen, Alan Mowbray, and David Torrence. The script was written by Paul Green. European Bankers—In 1934, 20th Century-Fox/UA released The House of Rothschild. This film is described by critic Steven Scheuer as “[y]our basic boring Arliss (actor George Arliss) historical vehicle with the stagy ham being his wily self . . . Loretta Young as his daughter, Robert Young as her suitor, (Boris) Karloff as the villain, and the Napoleonic wars.”198 The film provides the “chronicles of the famous [European-based Jewish] banking family199 at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.”200 According to Patricia Erens this movie, “more than any other film of the period, confronts Old World anti-Semitism and depicts the long history of German hatred toward the Jew.”201 Albert L. Weker directed for Jewish producer William Goetz202 and Raymond Griffith. C. Aubrey Smith and Arthur Byron also appeared in the film. It is disingenuous indeed for anyone to suggest that such films were being made because that’s what American audiences demanded or wanted. It would be much more honest for the Hollywood establishment to admit that movies do tend, to a large extent, to mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers, and that because (as pointed 24

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Chapter 2. Biopics of the 1930s

out in the study Who Really Controls Hollywood) this cinematic institution has been controlled for its approximate 100-year history by a small group of politically liberal, not very religious, Jewish males of European heritage, the shared backgrounds of such individuals has in fact influenced their choice of movies over the years. Thus, in order to bring more balance to the ideas and subjects being presented through this important communications medium, it is essential that greater diversity be brought about at all levels in the film community, particularly at the top. European Romantic — That same year (1934), Darryl F. Zanuck produced Affairs of Cellini as a combined 20th Century-Fox and United Artists project. The film portrays the “complex amours of a 16th-century Florentine rake.”203 Gregory La Cava directed. The film starred Fredric March, Constance Bennett, Frank Morgan (originally Francis Phillip Wupperman),204 Fay Wray, Vince Barnett, Louis Calhern and Jessie Ralph. European/British in India — Another 20th Century-Fox production released by United Artists in 1935, Clive of India, told of the “life of the 18thcentury (British) empire builder, with special emphasis on his marriage.”205 The film also explores the “British empire’s adventures in exotic India.”206 Richard Boleslawski (born in Warsaw) directed for Jewish producer William Goetz,207 along with Darryl F. Zanuck and Raymond Griffith. The film starred Ronald Coleman, Loretta Young, Colin Clive, Francis Lister, Montagu Love, Robert Greig, Leo G. Carroll, C. Aubrey Smith and Mischa Auer (originally Mischa Ounskowski, from Russia).208 European Scientist — The following year, 1936, Warner Bros. released The Story of Louis Pasteur. The film tells “[h]ow the eminent 19th-century French scientist overcomes obstacles in finding cures for various diseases.”209 According to Dr. Geoffrey Wigoder the “profoundly religious . . . Jewish bacteriologist . . . Waldemar Mordecai Wolff Haffkine (from Odessa, Russia) actually discovered the . . . serum against cholera and bubonic plague . . . while working . . . at the Pasteur Institute” in Paris.210 The reviews of the film do not make it clear whether a Mordecai character appeared in the film. The German-born William Dieterle directed for German-born producer Henry Blanke. The film starred Jewish actor Paul Muni (Weisenfreund) who was originally from Austria,211 Josephine Hutchison, Anita Louise, Donald Woods, Fritz Leiber, Henry O’Neil, Porter Hall, Jewish actor Akim Tamiroff212 and Walter Kingsford.213 European Explorer — In the 1938 UA release The Adventures of Marco Polo (UA), the “medieval Italian (Venetian) explorer discovers China, fireworks, and a beautiful maiden.”214 Wigoder reports that the explorer made reference in his writings “to a Jewish community in China”215 and that the Catalan Atlas, an important work of cartography” was prepared in 1376 by Jewish 25

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map makers “Abraham and Judah Crescas in Spain using data provided by Marco Polo.” The script for the film was written by New York-born Robert E. Sherwood for Jewish producer Samuel Goldwyn (Gelbfisz).216 Another New York native, Archie Mayo directed. The film starred Gary Cooper, Sigrid Gurie, Basil Rathbone and Ernest Truex. European Engineer — The 1938 20th Century-Fox release Suez portrayed the “career of French engineer [and diplomat] Ferdinand de Lesseps, who [supervised the construction of] . . . the Suez Canal.”217 As noted earlier, the British Prime Minister Disraeli [of Jewish heritage]218 was instrumental in getting the canal built (see earlier discussion of the 1929 film Disraeli). Thus, this film represents the 2nd time the Hollywood film community has portrayed this important event in film. The script for Suez was written by New York-born Philip Dunne and Julien Josephson. Canadian-born Allan Dwan directed for producer Gene Markey. The film starred Tyrone Power, Annabella, Loretta Young, Hungarian-born Jewish actor J. Edward Bromberg219 and Jewish actor Joseph Schildkraut.220 Miscellaneous U.S. Occupations — Finally, Hollywood portrayed six additional U.S. occupations or “roles” in its motion picture biography slate for the decade of the ’30s, including sportsman/millionaire, Wall Street financier, boxer, inventor, military figure and Native American leader. Again, all were men. Sportsman/Millionaire — In 1935, Universal’s Diamond Jim provided a “fantasia on the life of the nineties millionaire (sportsman and man-abouttown ‘Diamond Jim’ Brady) who sailed pretty close to the wind in business, adored (American comic opera star) Lillian Russell, and developed a gargantuan appetite”221 for food. A. Edward Sutherland directed for producer Edmund Grainger. The film starred Edward Arnold, Jean Arthur, Binnie Barnes, Cesar Romero and Eric Blore.222 Wall Street Financier — In The Toast of New York (RKO–1937) “[a] 19thcentury medicine showman [Jim Fisk] becomes a notorious Wall Street Financier.”223 Fisk was the “American railroad financier and speculator who attempted in 1869 to corner the gold market with Jay Gould leading to Black Friday, a day of nationwide panic.”224 The film was directed by Ohio native Rowland V. Lee for New York-born producer Edward Small. It starred Edward Arnold, Cary Grant, Frances Farmer, Jack Oakie, Donald Meek, Clarence Kolb and Thelma Leeds. Athlete/Boxer — That same year (1937), the little known film Keep Punching showcased “boxer Henry Armstrong”“225 who along with Joe Louis is mentioned by Howard Sachar as the only two boxers to outrank the “preeminent Jewish boxer of the 1930s,” Barney Ross (Barnet Rosofsky).226 Inventor — In the final year of the 1930s, 20th Century-Fox released The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, in which the “inventor of the telephone marries 26

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Chapter 2. Biopics of the 1930s

a deaf girl.”227 Wigoder credits the Jewish U.S. inventor Emile Berliner with refining Bell’s newly invented telephone and making it “practical for longdistance use.”228 The script for the film was written by Georgia-born Lamar Trotti. New York-born Irving Cummings directed for producer Kenneth MacGowan. The film starred Don Ameche, Henry Fonda, Loretta Young, Charles Coburn and Gene Lockhart. Military Figure/Texan — Also in 1939, Man of Conquest presents the “story of Sam Houston, soldier, statesman, hero of Texas.”229 This film appears to represent one of the rare exceptions to the Hollywood tendency to portray most things Southern in a negative or stereotypical manner (see the chapter “Hollywood’s Rape of the South” in Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies). The script was written by Wells Root and E. E. Paramore, Jr. George Nicholls, Jr. directed for New York-born producer Sol C. Siegel. The film starred Richard Dix, Joan Fontaine, Gail Patrick, Edward Ellis and Victor Jory.230 Native American Leader — In the 1939 Paramount release Geronimo, the “seventh cavalry gives the Indians a run for their money.” New York-born Paul H. Slone wrote and directed. The film starred Ellen Drew, Preston Foster, Andy Devine (born Jeremiah Schwartz),231 Gene Lockhart, Ralph Morgan and William Henry.232 As noted earlier, the most obvious Hollywood preference expressed through its biopics during the decade of the ’30s was the emphasis on European subjects. Hollywood also demonstrated a clear preference for male subjects as opposed to women. In fact, except for European royalty, only five other occupational categories featured women. In addition, two of those were in service of men (nurses during war and mistress). Another was for entertaining, presumably both male and female audiences. The fourth used sex to get information from men and the fifth had a severe character flaw: she was obsessed with money. Other than the U.S. and Europe, the settings for this body of ’30s biopics were very limited. Cleopatra was the only film set in the Middle-East and Africa (areas of the world nearest Europe). Another, Stanley and Livingstone, featured two Europeans in Africa. Still another, (Suez) focused on a European’s contribution to the construction of the Suez Canal. In The Adventures of Marco Polo, a European discovers China, and Clive of India, featured a European in India. Finally, Mexico was the only other country serving as a setting for the ’30s biopics, but again, the story (Viva Villa!) was directly related to Pancho Villa’s activities in or influence on the U.S. Thus, none of the Hollywood biopic offerings for the ’30s could completely remove themselves from the ambit of the U.S. or Europe. A pattern of heavy Jewish involvement also emerged in the ’30s biopics with at least 38 of the 67 films (57%) containing some important Jewishrelated element (i.e., subject, hero, character, studio executive, producer, director, writer, actor/actress, historical connection or some combination thereof). 27

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Chapter 3. Motion Picture Biographies of the 1940s Hollywood produced or released some 96 biopics in the ’40s, substantially more than its 67 biopics of the ’30s. Some of the previously established trends in biographical motion pictures produced or released by Hollywood film entities, changed dramatically in the 1940s. Others remained persistent (see further discussion at end of chapter). The emphasis on European subjects and settings, although still higher than any other part of the world (other than the U.S.), was decisively replaced by U.S. subjects and settings in the 1940’s biopics. Out of a total of 96 biopics of the ’40s, 21 were about European subjects or settings. In addition, the popularity among Hollywood filmmakers of the motion picture biographies of the lives of European Royalty dropped from 13 to 2. The new leader for ’40s biopics was the entertainer category. Entertainers were featured in 28 motion picture biographies of the 1940s (29%). Western figures came in at a distant second with 14. Athletes, political figures/issues and criminal figures then followed in order. Entertainers — In the first year of the 1940s, the film Lillian Russell (TCF) told of the “life and loves of the famous nineties entertainer”233 who was originally from Iowa and was born Helen Louise Leonard. “Her early training in voice and violin was supplemented by a year of opera study in New York City under (the Jewish musician and violinist)234 Leopold Damrosch.”235 The script for the film was written by William Anthony McGuire. New York-born Irving Cummings directed for producer Gene Markey. The film starred Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Edward Arnold, Warren William, Henry Fonda, Helen Westley and Dorothy Peterson.236 Also in 1940, The Lady With Red Hair (Warner Bros.) presented the “life of actress Mrs. Leslie Carter and her association with Jewish237 impresario David 29

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Belasco.”238 The script was written by Charles Kenyon, Milton Krims, N. Brewster Morse and Norbert Faulkner. German-born Curtis Bernhardt (who had emigrated to France when the Nazis came to power and then to Hollywood in 1940)239 directed for producer Edmund Grainger. The film starred Miriam Hopkins, Claude Rains, Richard Ainley, John Litel, Laura Hope Crews, Helen Westly and Fritz Leiber. The following year, in the 1941 UA release The Great Awakening (aka New Wine), Franz Schubert “seeks the patronage of Beethoven and sacrifices his love life to music.”240 Franz Peter Schubert was an “Austrian composer who perfected the form of the German art song in his more than 600 compositions for voice and piano. He also composed symphonies and chamber music.”241 The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven was considered the “greatest composer of his day.”242 These were the “good Germans” that Custen talked about in his book. The script for the film was written by Howard Estabrook and Nicholas Jory. German-born Reinhold Schunzel directed. The film starred Alan Curtis, Ilona Massey, Albert Basserman, Binnie Barnes and Sterling Holloway. Also in 1941, the Warner release The Man Who Came to Dinner presented a “caricature of Alexander Woollcott,” the drama critic who contributed regularly to the New Yorker magazine and was a member “of the famed literary ‘Round table’ at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.”243 In the film, the “acid-tongue radio celebrity (and American drama critic and journalist) breaks his hip while on a lecture tour, and terrorizes the inhabitants of the suburban home where he must stay for several weeks.”244 The script was written by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein. Philadelphia-born William Keighley directed for producers Jack Saper and New York-born Jewish producer Jerome Irving “Jerry” Wald.245 The film starred Monty Woolley, Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan and Jewish performer Jimmy Durante.246 In 1942, the 20th Century-Fox release My Gal Sal presented the “career and romances of (Gay Nineties) songwriter Paul Dreiser.” The script was written by Seton I. Miller, Darrell Ware and Karl Tunberg (originally from Washington state). New York-born Irving Cummings directed for producer Robert Bassler. The film starred Rita Hayworth, Victor Mature, John Sutton, Carole Landis, James Gleason, Jewish actor Phil Silvers,247 Walter Catlett, Mona Maris and Frank Orth.248 The next year, 1943, Is Everybody Happy? (Columbia) was a remake of the 1929 Warner Bros. release of the same name, and again “[b]ased on the career of [‘Jewish performer’249 and] band leader Ted Lewis.” The film “tells of the ups and downs of [the Ted Lewis jazz band].250 To this point in the history of Hollywood motion picture biographies, only two films had been produced about an American band leader. Both focused on the life of the 30

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Chapter 3. Motion Picture Biographies of the 1940s

same individual and he was Jewish. Clearly, a large number of better known big-band leaders of the era had to be overlooked to re-do the story of Ted Lewis on the screen. The script was written by Monte Brice. California native Charles Barton directed. The film starred Lewis, Jewish actor Larry Parks (Samuel Lawrence Klausman Parks),251 Michael Duane and Nan Wynn.252 The 1943 Paramount release Dixie portrayed “the life of old-time minstrel man Dan Emmett,” the Ohio-born composer of “Dixie’s Land,” the song which became the unofficial anthem of the (Confederate) rebellion.”253 Steven Scheuer described the film as “fictitious.”254 The script was written by Karl Tunberg (originally from Washington state) and Darrell Ware. London-born A. Edward Sutherland directed for producer Paul Jones. The film starred Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Marjorie Reynolds and Lynne Overman.255 Also in 1943, Yankee Doodle Dandy (Warner Bros.) told the “life story of dancing vaudevillian George M. Cohan”256 who was formerly married to “Jewish vaudeville star Ethel Levey.”257 The script was written by Virginiaborn Robert Buckner and Edmund Joseph. Jewish director Michael Curtiz258 directed for Jewish producer Hal B. Wallis259 and William Cagney. The film starred James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Rosemary de Camp, Richard Whorf, George Tobias, Jeanne Cagney, Irene Manning and S.Z. Sakall. The next year (1944), Shine On, Harvest Moon (Warner Bros.) portrayed the “life and times of (Jewish) vaudeville singer Nora Bayes (originally Dora Goldberg).”260 The script was written by Sam Hellman and Richard Weil and Francis Swan and James Kern. San Francisco-born David Butler directed for producer William Jacobs. The film starred Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Irene Manning, S.Z. Sakall, Marie Wilson and Robert Shayne.261 Also in 1944, Irish Eyes Are Smiling (TCF) presented the “life and times of a nineties songwriter, Ernest R. Ball. The script was written by Earl Baldwin, John Tucker Battle. The Russian-born Gregory Ratoff (who also performed with the Yiddish Players in New York)262 directed for producer Damon Runyon. The film starred Dick Haymes, June Haver, Monty Woolley, Anthony Quinn, Beverly Whitney, Jewish actor Maxie Rosenbloom,263 Boston-born Veda Ann Borg and Clarence Kolb.264 At mid-decade, the Warner Bros. release Rhapsody in Blue (1945) starred Robert Alda, Jewish actor Oscar Levant,265 Charles Coburn and Alexis Smith in the life story of the “famous Jewish composer” George Gershwin. The film, however, “hardly” mentions “the composer’s ethnic background.”266 In addition, according to Halliwell’s, the film is “[n]o more trustworthy on factual matters than other Hollywood biopics of its era.”267 The script

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was written by Howard Koch and Elliot Paul. London-born Irving Rapper directed for the Jewish producer Jesse L. Lasky.268 The 1945 20th Century-Fox release The Dolly Sisters portrayed the “lives of a Hungarian sister act in American vaudeville.”269 The film “featured S.Z. Sakall as their Jewish agent.”270 Although, no “attention is given to the Jewish origins of either man, the sisters also meet the Jewish character Harry Fox (played by John Payne) who “eventually guides their careers and introduces them to (Jewish composer) Oscar Hammerstein271 [played by Roger Middlemass].”272 The script was written by John Larkin and Marian Spitzer. The New York-born Irving Cummings directed for the Jewish producer/ entertainer George Jessel.273 The film also starred Betty Grable, June Haver, Reginald Gardiner, Frank Latimore, Gene Sheldon and Sig Rumann.274 Another 1945 release, Incendiary Blonde, starred Betty Hutton in “a fictitious screen biography of famous (Prohibition era) speakeasy hostess, Texas Guinan.”275 The film features “guns, girls and gangsters as well as songs.”276 The script was written by Chicago-born Claude Binyon and British-born Frank Butler. George Marshall (also from Chicago) directed for producer Joseph Sistrom. The film also featured Arturo de Cardova, Charles Ruggles, Albert Dekker, Barry Fitzgerald and Bill Goodwin. A Song to Remember (Columbia – 1945) starred Jewish actor Paul Muni,277 Cornel Wilde and Merle Oberson in the story “of (Polish-born French) composer Chopin, and his tragic love for George Sand.”278 Charles Vidor (born in Budapest) directed for producer Louis F. Edelman. The script was written by Minnesota-born Jewish writer Sidney Buchman.279 Also appearing were Stephen Bekassy, Nina Foch, George Coulouris, Sig Arno and Howard Freeman.280 In 1946, MGM’s Till the Clouds Roll By portrays the “life and times of (another famous Jewish composer) . . . Jerome Kern.”281 This time, the film never mentions “the composer’s ethnic background.”282 Massachusetts-born Richard Whorf directed for South Carolina-born Jewish producer Arthur Freed (Arthur Grossman).283 The script was written by Miles Connolly and Jean Holloway. The film starred Robert Walker, Judy Garland, Lucille Bremer, Jewish actor Tony Martin (Alvin Morris),284 Van Heflin, Mary Nash, Jewish actress Dinah Shore (Frances Rose Shore)285 and Van Johnson. The 1946 Warner Bros. release Night and Day presented the “life of Cole Porter . . . [actually, according to Halliwell’s] a fictitious story about a composer who happens to be called Cole Porter.”286 The script was written by Charles Hoffman, Leo Townsend and William Bowers. Michael Curtiz (born in Budapest of Jewish heritage)287 directed for New York-born producer Arthur Schwarz. The film starred Cary Grant, Alexis Smith, Monty

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Chapter 3. Motion Picture Biographies of the 1940s

Woolley, Mary Martin, Ginney Simms, Jane Wyman, Even Arden and Victor Francen.288 That same year (1946), a Columbia release, The Jolson Story, presented the film biography of the popular “Jewish performer” and singer Al Jolson289 “from his boyhood to his success on the stage and in talkies.”290 In the film, “Asa Yoelson, son of a cantor, becomes Al Jolson, the great entertainer of the twenties, but showbiz success brings marital difficulties.”291 Californianative Alfred E. Green directed for producer Sidney Skolsky. The script was written by Stephen Longstreet. The film starred Jewish actor Larry Parks,292 William Demarest, Evelyn Keyes, Jewish actor Ludwig Donath,293 Tomara Shayne and Bill Goodwin.294 The following year, the 1947 film, My Wild Irish Rose (Warner Bros.) portrayed the “ups and downs of Irish tenor Chauncy Olcott and his encounters with Lillian Russell.”295 The script was written by Peter Milne. San Francisco-born David Butler directed for producer William Jacobs. The film starred Dennis Morgan, Arlene Dahl, Andrea King, Alan Hale and George Tobias. Also in 1947, The Magic Bow was a British produced biopic released in the U.S. “of famed violinist Paganini, as portrayed by Stewart Granger. Off screen violin solos (are) played by (Jewish) concert artist Yehudi Menuhin.”296 The script was written by Norman Ginsbury and Roland Pertwee. British-born Bernard Knowles directed. Also appearing were Jean Kent, Phyllis Calvert, Dennis Price and Cecil Parker. In another 1947 biopic, The Fabulous Dorseys, “[t]wo quarreling bandleader brothers are reunited on the death of their father.”297 The Dorseys were “known for their swing bands that were particularly popular in the 1930s and 1940s.”298 The script was written by Richard English, Art Arthur and Curtis Kenyon. California native Alfred E. Green directed for producer Charles R. Roger. The film starred Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Janet Blair, Paul Whiteman and William Lundigan.299 Song of Love (MGM — 1947) was a “musical biopic focusing on the romance between Robert and Clara Schumann and their relationship with the young (German composer) Johannes Brahms.”300 Robert Schumann was also a “German composer” who actually “encouraged and influenced [both] Chopin and Brahms.”301 Unfortunately, Schumann “suffered a mental breakdown in 1844 but [supposedly] recovered.” He later attempted suicide “in a fit of depression . . . Boatmen in the Rhine pick[ed] Schumann up after he jump[ed] from a bridge, he [was] . . . committed to an asylum 5 days later . . . [and died] there in 1856 at age 46.”302 The script for the biopic was written by Ivan Tors (originally from Budapest), Irmgard Von Cube, Allen Vincent and Robert Ardrey. Massachusetts-born Clarence Brown produced and directed. 33

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The film starred Katharine Hepburn, Paul Henreid, Robert Walker, Henry Daniell and Leo G. Carroll. A biopic of Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov was presented in the 1947 Universal release Song of Scheherazade. The film includes a portrayal of the time (1865) when as a “naval cadet Rimsky-Korsakov falls in love with a dancer.” The script was written and directed by the Vienna-born Walter Reisch for producer Edward Kaufman. The film starred Yvonne de Carolo, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Brian Donlevy, Eve Arden, Charles Kullman and John Qualen.303 Film critic Steven Scheuer calls the 1947 Universal release The Perils of Pauline a “[f]abricated biography of Pearl White, the queen of silent-movie serials.”304 George Marshall directed. The film starred Betty Hutton, John Lund and Bill de Wolfe, William Demarest and Constance Collier. The script was written by P.J. Wolfson. (Pamela Austin later portrayed Pearl White in another “loose” screen biography in 1967. It was also titled The Perils of Pauline.305) In that same year (1947), the 20th Century-Fox release I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now portrayed the “career of nineties songwriter Joseph E. Howard.”345 The script was written by Missouri-born Lewis R. Foster. California-native Lloyd Bacon directed for Jewish producer/entertainer George Jessel.346 The film starred Mark Stevens, June Haver, Martha Stewart, Reginald Gardiner and Lenore Aubert.347 In 1948, MGM’s Words and Music focuses on the “songwriting collaboration of (Jewish composer) Richard Rodgers306 (who also collaborated with Jewish musician Oscar Hammerstein II)307 and (American lyricist) Lorenz Hart.” The script was written by Massachusetts-born Fred Finklehoffe. Chicagoborn Norman Taurog directed for South Carolina-born Jewish producer Arthur Freed.308 The film starred Tom Drake, Mickey Rooney, Perry Como, Jewish performer Mel Torme,309 Betty Garrett, June Allyson, Lena Horne, Ann Southern and Allyn McLerie.310 In the 1949 UA release Black Magic, “Orson Welles revels in the role of famous 18th-century charlatan Count Cagliostro — born Joseph Balsamo, a peasant with imagination and a flair for magic, hypnosis, and the power of superstition.” The film told about “his tempestuous life and career,” his “attempt to gain influence and clout in Italy using his strange and sinister talents,”311 and the “plot to supply a double for (the Queen of France) Marie Antoinette.”312 The script was written by Charles Benett. The Russian-born Gregory Ratoff (who appeared in New York with the Yiddish Players) produced and directed. The film also starred Nancy Guild, Jewish actor Akim Tamiroff313 (also from Russia), Valentina Cortese, Margot Grahame and Charles Goldner.

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Also in 1949, 20th Century-Fox’s Oh, You Beautiful Doll was a “biopic of Fred Fisher.”314 In the film, “Fisher wants to write opera but is more successful with pop songs.”315 The script was written by Albert and George Lewis. New York-born Jewish director John M. Stahl316 directed for Jewish producer/ entertainer George Jessel.317 The film starred S.Z. Sakall, Mark Stevens, June Haver, Charlotte Greenwood, Jay C. Flippen and Gale Robbins. Look for the Silver Lining (Warner Bros. — 1949) told the “life story of twenties stage star Marilyn Miller.”318 The script was written by Jewish writers Phoebe and Henry Ephron,319 Marian Spitzer, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. David Butler directed for producer William Jacobs. The film starred June Haver, Ray Bolger, Charles Ruggles, Gordon Macrae, Rosemary de Camp, S.Z. Sakall and Walter Catlett.320 Judy Garland also played Marilyn Miller in Till The Clouds Roll By (1946). With the 1949 Columbia release Jolson Sings Again, Minnesota-born Jewish writer Sidney Buchman321 wrote and produced a biopic of the Jewish entertainer’s “later career and second marriage to a nurse he met while entertaining troops in World War II.” This film provided the 2nd film portrayal of the Jewish entertainer in one decade. New Jersey-born Henry Levin directed. The film again starred Jewish actor Larry Parks,322 Barbara Hale, William Demarest, Jewish actor Ludwig Donath,323 Bill Goodwin, Tamara Shayne and Myron McCormick.324 A clear majority (21) of the entertainer biopics of the ’40s featured American entertainers. The other 7 were European, thus none were from outside the U.S.-European talent pool. Westerns — The second most commonly chosen motion picture biographical subject for the 1940s was the western figure. Fourteen of such films appeared on the screens during the 1940s, up from 4 in the previous ten years. Hollywood also continued to show partiality toward the glamorization of the western outlaws as opposed to other available biopic subjects from the West. Eight of the 14 western biopics of the ’40s featured outlaws. The Return of Frank James (TCF — 1940) was a “sequel to ‘Jesse James’ [in which] Jesse’s brother avenges his murder.” The script was written by Sam Hellman. The Vienna-born Jewish director Fritz Lang325 directed for producer Darryl F. Zanuck. The film starred Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Jackie Cooper, Henry Hull, Hungarian-born Jewish actor J. Edward Bromberg326 and John Carradine.327 That same year (1940), When the Daltons Rode (Universal) presented the “[a]dventures of the Dalton Gang.” The script was written by Harold Shumate, Stuart Anthony and Jewish writer Lester Cole.328 George Marshall directed. The film starred Randolph Scott, Kay Francis, Brian Donlevy, Andy Devine, George Bancroft and Stuart Erwin.329

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Also in 1940, the 20th Century-Fox release Brigham Young — Frontiersman, told a Hollywood version of the “story of the Mormons and Brigham Young’s struggle to find a place to live.”330 This picture may also be considered a contribution to the religious figure category of motion picture biographies. However, as Custen points out, “romance was one of the foundations upon which almost all [Hollywood] films were constructed” and “[e]ven in Brigham Young — Frontiersman, a film depicting the foundation of a new religion [Mormonism], Zanuck wanted to make sure that the serious subject matter was leavened with romance and low comedy.”331 California native Henry Hathaway directed for producer Kenneth MacGowan. The 1940 UA release Kit Carson portrayed the “[a]dventures of the pioneer Indian scout”332 who was originally from Kentucky. George B. Seitz (from Boston) directed for New York-born producer Edward Small. The film starred Jon Hall, Lynn Bari, Dana Andrews, Harold Huber, Ward Bond, Renee Riano and Raymond Hatton.333 The following year, 1941, the MGM release Billy the Kid was a remake of an earlier version and according to Halliwell’s Film Guide was “equally false.”334 Gene Fowler wrote the script. The film was directed by David Miller for producer Irving Asher and it starred Robert Taylor, Brian Donlevy, Ian Hunter, Mary Howard, and Gene Lockhart.335 Also in 1941, in Jesse James at Bay, Roy Rogers presented “a fictionalized Jesse James who rides not against the railroads, but against one evil bunch misrepresenting the railroad and stealing the land of poor, honest farmers.”336 Thus again, Hollywood filmmakers presented the Western outlaw in a sympathetic light. California native Joseph Kane directed. The film also features George “Gabby” Hayes and Sally Payne. The 1941 20th Century-Fox release Belle Starr portrayed (according to Halliwell’s Film Guide) the “life of the west’s most notorious female outlaw.”337 Her real name was Myra Belle Shirley, and according to the American Heritage Dictionary her “Oklahoma cabin became a hideout for fugitives from justice,” although her “criminal exploits are largely unsubstantiated.”338 The script for the film was written by Georgia-born Lamar Trotti. New York-born Irving Cummings directed for producer Kenneth MacGowan. The film starred Gene Tierney, Randolph Scott, Dana Andrews, Shepperd Strudwick and Elizabeth Patterson. Hollywood then skipped a couple of years before coming out with another Western biopic. In 1944, Buffalo Bill (TCF) presented what Halliwell’s called a “moderately fictitious account of the life of William Cody, from buffalo hunter to wild west showman.” The script was written by Aeneas Mackenzie, Clements Ripley and Cecile Kramer. Massachusetts-born William Wellman directed for producer Harry Sherman. The film starred 36

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Joel McCrea, Maureen O’Hara, Linda Darnell, Thomas Mitchell, Edgard Buchanan, Anthony Quinn and Moroni Olsen.339 Following another year’s layoff, 20th Century-Fox presented another version of Wyatt Earp “cleans up Tombstone and wipes out the Clanton gang at the OK corral”340 in the 1946 release My Darling Clementine. As noted earlier with respect to the 1933 film Frontier Marshall, Wyatt Earp was hired by a Jewish Dodge City councilman; his common-law wife was Jewish and he was buried in a Jewish cemetery,341 although apparently none of this historical information is brought out in the film. The script was written by New York-born Samuel G. Engel (who also produced) and Winston Miller. John Ford (originally Sean Aloysius O’Feeney of Maine) directed. The film starred Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, Linda Darnell and Cathy Downs. Also, in the 1946 Universal release The Daltons Ride Again, the “outlaw gang’s last raid is complicated when one of them falls in love.” Halliwell’s calls the biopic “unhistorical.”342 The script was written by Roy Chanslor and Paul Ganglin. Ray Taylor directed for producer Howard Welch. The film starred Alan Curtis, Jewish actor Kent Taylor,343 Lon Chaney, Jr., Noah Beery, Jr., Martha O’Driscoll and John Litel. In a subsequent 1947 release, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic), a “reformed Jesse James tries to go straight.”344 Fred C. Brannon directed. The film starred Clayton Moore, Linda Sirling, Roy Barcroft and Tristram Coffin. More western outlaws are portrayed in the 1948 Republic release The Adventures of Frank and Jesse James. This time the “[s]upposed outlaws pay back the money their gang has stolen.”348 Fred Brannon directed. The film starred Yakim Canutt (originally from Washington state), Clayton Moore, Steve Darrell and Noel Neill. In the last year of the 1940s, Carl K. Hittleman produced (for Screen Guild Productions), I Shot Jesse James. The film presented the “story of Bob Ford, who gunned down the famous outlaw.” Halliwell’s describes the film “[d]oubtfully historical.”349 The script was written and directed by Massachusetts-born Samuel Fuller. The film starred Preston Foster, John Ireland, Barbara Britton, Reed Hadley, the Hungarian-born Jewish actor J. Edward Bromberg,350 Victor Kilian and Tom Tyler.351 That same year (1949), a Warner Bros. release, The Younger Brothers, provides what the Halliwell’s Film Guide refers to as a “whitewashed version of the career of the legendary outlaws, who wind up expecting pardons.”352 The script was written by Edna Anhalt. New Jersey-born Edwin L. Marin directed for producer Saul Elkins. The film starred Wayne Morris, Janis Paige, Bruce Bennett, Jewish actress Geraldine Brooks (Stroock),353 Robert Hutton, lan Hale and Fred Clark. 37

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Athletes and Athletic Endeavors — The third most commonly chosen Hollywood biopic subject category during the 1940s related to athletics. In 1940, Knute Rockne — All American (Warner Bros.) starred Pat O’Brien and Ronald Reagan in a screen “biography of the Notre Dame football coach”354 who had originally emigrated to the U.S. with his family from Norway in 1893.355 California-born Lloyd Bacon directed for producer Robert Fellows. The script was written by Virginia-born Robert Buckner. The film starred Albert Basserman, John Qualen, Gale Page and John Sheffield. The following year, in 1941, the legendary Michigan football hero (later sportscaster) Tom Harmon played himself in the Columbia release Harmon of Michigan.356 In 1942, the Warner Bros. release Gentleman Jim tells the story of the “rise to fame of boxer Jim Corbett” and features his upset win over “the invincible John L. Sullivan.”357 The script was written by Vincent Lawrence and Horace McCoy. New York-born Raoul Walsh directed for producer Virginia-born Robert Buckner. The film starred Errol Flynn, Alan Hale, Alexis Smith, John Loder, Jack Carson and Ward Bond.358 Also in 1942, RKO’s release The Pride of the Yankees starred Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright and Walter Brennan in a “biopic of baseball legend Lou Gehrig.”359 Philadelphia-born Sam Wood directed for Jewish producer Samuel Goldwyn.360 The script was written by Russian-born Jo Swerling and Herman J. Mankiewicz (born in New York City to assimilated GermanJewish immigrants).361 The Iron Major (RKO — 1943) told the “[l]ife story of Frank Cavanaugh, famous football coach and World War I hero.”362 Indiana-born Ray Enright directed. The script was written by Aben Kandel and Warren Duff. The film starred Pat O’Brien, Ruth Warrick, Robert Ryan and Leon Ames.363 Women “in the life of prizefighter John L. Sullivan”364 provided the focus of UA’s 1945 release The Great John L., the “Boston Strong Boy” who “knocked out Jake Kilrain in the 75th round of the last bare-knuckle bout in professional boxing.”365 The script for the film was written by James Edward Grant, who co-produced with Frank Mastroly. New York-born Frank Tuttle directed. The film starred Greg McClure, Linda Darnell, Barbara Britton, Lee Sullivan, Otto Kruger and Wallace Ford. The 1948 Allied Artists release The Babe Ruth Story presented the “biography of a baseball player who was thought of as something of a saint.”366 The script was written by Bob Considine and George Callahan. Philadelphia-born Roy del Ruth produced and directed. The film starred William Bendix, Claire Trevor and Charles Bickford. Finally, in 1949, in MGM’s The Stratton Story, an “amateur baseball enthusiast becomes a famous professional, but suffers an accident which involves the amputation of a leg.”367 This film biography was “based on the 38

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Chapter 3. Motion Picture Biographies of the 1940s

true story of baseball pitcher Monty Stratton who lost his leg in a hunting accident.”368 The script was written by Douglas Morrow and Guy Trosper. Philadelphia-born Sam Wood directed for Canadian-born Jewish producer Jack Cummings (the son of Jewish studio executive Louis B. Mayer’s sister Ida).369 The film starred James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Morgan, Agnes Moorehead and Bill Williams. Political Figures — The next most commonly chosen biopic subject during the 1940s was the political figure. Seven Hollywood biopics featured such individuals in the ten-year period. Five were U.S. political figures, although the story about one of those was primarily based in Europe. The remaining two political figures were actually European historical figures. Abe Lincoln in Illinois (RKO — 1940) presented the fourth movie bio­ graphical treatment of the life of the former President, this one featuring episodes in his “political and domestic life.”370 As noted by Judah Gribetz, President Lincoln had responded favorably in 1863 to a delegation of Jews and rescinded the order of General Ulysses S. Grant “expelling the Jews ‘as a class’ from the area under the jurisdiction of the Union Army’s Department of Tennessee.” Grant was reportedly “seeking to curb trade with the Confederate enemy and” according to Gribetz had succumbed “to the antiJewish prejudice of military officers and civilian officials.”371 Gribetz also notes, however, that just prior to the Civil War “most of the more than 16,000 peddlers in the U.S. [were] . . . Jews.”372 The script for this film was written by Grover Jones. Ohio-born John Cromwell directed for producer Max Gordon. The film starred Raymond Massey, Ruth Gordon, Gene Lockhart, Mary Howard, Dorothy Tree, Minor Watson and Jewish actor Howard da Silva (born Harold Silverblatt).373 During the following year, the 1941 Warner Bros.’ release The Prime Minister was a British production released in the U.S. through Warner Bros. The film was another biopic about the British prime minister Disraeli,374 who honored his Jewish background by asserting the innate superiority of the “race”.375 Warners also released the earlier version (in 1929). The British-born Thorold Dickinson directed the 1941 release for producer Max Milder. The script was written by Brock Williams and Michael Hogan. The film starred John Gielgud, Dianna Wynyard, Will Fyffe, Stephen Murray and Owen Nares.376 Although hundreds, if not thousands of worthy historical figures existed whose lives could serve as suitable bases for motion picture biographies, the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry, in existence at this point for only slightly over 30 years, had already produced and/or released three films* directly focusing on or significantly touching on the life of this one individual, Benjamin Disraeli, who “never ceased to proclaim his sympathy with and * The 1938 release Suez was the third.

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admiration for the Jewish people, to which he was proud to trace his origin” and who also “ascribed exaggerated qualities to the Jewish ‘race’.” MGM’s 1942 release Tennessee Johnson starred Van Heflin, Lionel Barrymore and Ruth Hussey in a “biography of the man (Andrew Johnson) who became President when Lincoln was shot and (later) missed being impeached by one vote.”377 While still a Senator, Johnson had criticized Jewish Louisiana Senator Judah Philip Benjamin, saying Benjamin would sell “out the old [government]; and he would sell out the new if he could in so doing make two or three millions.”378 The attack followed an 1861 editorial in the Boston Transcript characterizing the support of Senator Benjamin of Louisiana and the southern Jews for secession from the union as indicative of the disloyalty of all American Jews.”379 The film was directed by German-born William Dieterle for New York-born producer J. Walter Ruben. The script for the biopic was written by John Balderston and Wells Root. Also in 1942, The Vanishing Virginian (MGM) portrayed a “conservative Virginian (who) finds that he harbours suffragettes in his household.” The script was written by Jan Fortune. Utah-born Frank Borzage directed for Jewish producer Edwin H. Knopf.380 The film starred Frank Morgan, Spring Byington, Kathryn Grayson, Elizabeth Patterson and Louise Beavers.381 The Young Mr. Pitt, released in the U.S. through 20th Century-Fox (1942), told the story of “Britain’s youngest prime minister (as he) quells the threat of invasion by Napoleon.” The script was written by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat (both originally from England). Carol Reed directed for producer Edward Black. The film starred Robert Donat, Robert Morley, Phyllis Calvert, John Mills, Raymond Lovell, Max Adrian, Felix Aylmer and Albert Lieven.382 In 1943, the Warner Bros. release Mission to Moscow portrayed the “Russian career of U.S. Ambassador Joseph E. Davies.”383 The film was one of a series of Hollywood “pro-Russian” films produced during the war which “airbrushed out most of the nasty features of Stalin’s regime, delivered an all-out pummeling to American isolationists and British appeasers, and attributed an almost super-human prescience about world affairs to Roosevelt, Stalin, and (Ambassador) Joseph E. Davies.”384 This was clearly one of the so-called Hollywood propaganda films, but it would be inaccurate to suggest that other propaganda films did not precede it, after all, propaganda is nothing more than the spreading of ideas, information or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, cause or person. Thus, all films that spread ideas for the purpose of helping or injuring a cause or person are propagandistic. The script was written by Howard Koch. Jewish director Michael Curtiz385 directed for Virginia-born producer Robert Buckner. The film starred Walter Huston, Ann Harding, Vienna-born Jewish actor Oscar 40

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Homolka,386 George Tobias, Gene Lockhart, Eleanor Parker, Richard Travis and Helmut Dantine (Guttman) who was the son-in-law of Jewish studio executive Nicholas Schenck.387 The following year, 1944, the 20th Century-Fox release Wilson starred Alexander Knox, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Charles Coburn, Cedric Hardwicke and Vincent Price in a “[b]iography of our WWI President . . .” Democrat Woodrow Wilson.388 Howard Sachar reports that Wilson was quite supportive of Jewish interests having nominated Louis D. Brandeis to the Supreme Court,389 appointed Wall Street financier (and major contributor to the Wilson presidential campaign) Bernard Baruch chairman of the War Industries Board,390 directed that antisemitic statements relating to the supposed non-patriotism of Jews be stricken from a military manual,391 expressed sympathy for Zionism,392 ultimately approved the Balfour Declaration,393 and condemned Henry Ford (who saw Jews as the power behind the Wilson presidency) for publishing “vulgar attacks” on the Jewish people.394 The script for the film was written by Georgia-born Lamar Trotti. Henry King (originally from Virginia) directed for producer Darryl F. Zanuck (of Swiss-Protestant heritage).395 Oddly enough no other Hollywood motion picture biographies featuring political figures were released for the balance of the decade. Military Figures — A category of motion picture biography that might be expected to flourish during the war years of the ’40s and shortly thereafter is that of the military figure or hero. Hollywood released only six of these during the decade, although many other more purely fictional war pictures were made available. The 1941 Warner Bros. release Sergeant York told the “story of the (gentle) Tennessee hillbilly who captured over a hundred Germans single-handed[ly]” and became “World War I’s greatest hero.”* The timing of the release provided inspiration for those in and about to be in the military during the early years of World War II. Indiana-born Howard Hawks directed for the Jewish producer Jesse L. Lasky.396 The script was written by Abem Finkel, Harry Chandler, Howard Koch and John Huston. The film starred Gary Cooper, Joan Leslie, Walter Brennan, George Tobias and David Bruce.397 The next biopic featuring a military figure or hero was not released until 1944. Paramount’s The Story of Dr. Wassell portrayed the “adventures of [an elderly] . . . naval doctor who heroically saved men [from the Japanese in Java] during the Pacific war.” The film was supposedly an “account of real events.”398 The script was written by Alan le May (originally from Indianapolis) and British-born Charles Bennett. Cecil B. de Mille (Episcopalian father and mother of Jewish descent)399 produced and directed. The film starred Gary * Walker, 969 and Scheuer, 699.

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Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso (born Signe Larsson in Stockholm) and Dennis O’Keefe. The 1944 20th Century-Fox release The Sullivans told about “[f]ive sons of the same family [who] are killed in World War II.” The biopic is referred to in Halliwell’s as an “[i]Inspirational true story.”400 The script was written by Mary C. McCall, Jr. Lloyd Bacon directed for New York-born Jewish producer Sam Jaffe401 (who had appeared with his mother, Ada Steinberg Jaffe, on the Yiddish stage, as a youngster).402 The film starred Anne Baxter, Thomas Mitchell, Selena Royle, Edward Ryan and Trudy Marshall. The next year, in 1945, the Warner Bros. release Pride of the Marines presented the story of “Al Schmid, the marine who was blinded by a grenade after killing two hundred Japanese.” The film is actually “an account of his adjustment to blindness.”403 The Jewish character in the film, Lee Diamond . . . articulates the film’s liberal, humanitarian position.” At one point in the film Diamond “lecture(s) his dispirited comrades about why they fought the war . . . On the way home with Al, Lee teaches him some simple Hebrew words, shalom aleichem (peace unto you), along with a lesson in American democracy.” Thus, the film’s San Francisco-born director Delmar Daves “used Diamond as a spokesman for the film’s sentiments.” As Lester Friedman, explains, the Diamond character “epitomizes the reflective Jew who fights when necessary and understands why he and others were called upon to make such sacrifices.”404 The script was written by New York-born Albert Maltz (son of Jewish immigrants)405 for Jewish producer Jerome Irving “Jerry” Wald,406 The film starred Jewish actor John Garfield (Jacob Garfinkle),407 Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark, John Ridgely, Rosemary de Camp, Ann Doran and Warren Douglas. Jerome Irving “Jerry” Wald is “said to have provided at least a part model for (Jewish writer) Budd Schulberg’s408 What Makes Sammy Run?”409 the novel about a “Jewish hustler” and Hollywood studio boss.410 The other often mentioned model for the character was Columbia’s Harry Cohn.* Also in 1945, the Warner Bros. release God is My Co-Pilot portrayed “Pacific air adventures during World War II.”411 Steven Scheuer calls the film a “[t]ribute to the famous Flying Tigers.”412 The script was written by Peter Milne and New York-born Abem Finkel. Robert Florey (originally from Paris) directed for Virginia-born producer Robert Buckner. The film starred Dennis Morgan, Dane Clark, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale and Andrea King.

* It is both revealing and consistent with the underlying theories of this book and its companion volumes to note that Hollywood has consistently refused to make Budd Schulberg’s novel What Makes Sammy Run? into a movie. As Patricia Erens reports, “[the] novel documents the rise of [a Jewish character] Sammy Glick from scriptwriter to studio executive through the ruthless exploitation of his friends.” [Erens, 237.]

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That same year (1945), Captain Eddie (TCF) portrayed the time when Eddie Rickenbacker was “adrift on a life raft after a plane crash in the Pacific (and he) . . . thinks back on his adventurous life in aviation.”413 Rickenbacker was “the most decorated combat pilot of World War I.”414 The script was written by John Tucker Tattle. California native Lloyd Bacon directed. The film starred Fred MacMurray, Lynn Bari, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Nolan and Charles Bickford. During this period, Hollywood tended to be supportive of going to war even before many others in the nation were ready to do so, used films to promote U.S. intervention and then honored World War II heroes through film presentations. Crime Figures — Unfortunately for moviegoers and the nation, Hollywood chose to glamorize nearly as many crime figures (5) as military heroes (6) in the 1940s. Of course, if the western outlaws are combined with crime figures, the Hollywood preference for promoting criminals over military figures becomes clear. In Queen of the Mob (Paramount — 1940) a “murderess and her three sons are captured by the FBI.” The film is “based on the exploits of Ma Barker.”415 In real life, “Federal agents kill[ed] Fred and ‘Ma’ Barker of the notorious Karpis-Barker gang January 16, (1935) outside Ocklawaha, Florida.”416 The script was written by Horace McCoy and William R. Lipmann. The Massachusetts-born James Hogan directed. The film starred Blanche Yurka, Ralph Bellamy, Jack Carson, Richard Denning, Paul Kelly and Hedda Hopper (Elda Fury).417 A few years later (1944), 20th Century-Fox released Roger Touhy, Gangster, a biopic about a rather obscure “associate of Al Capone [who] is finally cornered by the FBI.”418 Steven Scheuer, called it a “crime film” that was only “loosely based on Touhy’s career.”419 The script was written by New Yorkborn Crane Wilbur and Jerry Cady. Robert Florey (originally from Paris) directed. The film starred Preston Foster, Victor McLaglen, Lois Andrews, Jewish actor Kent Taylor (Louis Weiss),420 Anthony Quinn and Henry Morgan.421 The next year (1945), a crime figure of a different era was portrayed. In the UA release Captain Kidd, a “pirate tricks [Britain’s] King William III into giving him royal orders, but enemies he believes dead return to see him hanged.”422 The script was written by Norman Reilly Raine. Ohio-born Rowland V. Lee directed for producer Benedict Bogeaus. The film starred Charles Laughton, Randolph Scott, Barbara Britton, Reginald Owen, John Carradine, Gilbert Roland and Jewish actor Sheldon Leonard.423 Back in the U.S., Dillinger (Monogram — 1945) told the “[s]tory of the 20th century’s most notorious public enemy”424 who was shot by the police in 43

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1934”425 as he left the Biograph Theater in Chicago. He had been betrayed by a woman friend, the mysterious “Lady in Red.”426 Polish-born Max Nosseck directed for producers Frank and Maurice King. The film starred Lawrence Tierney, Edmund Lowe, Anne Jeffreys. Warren Oates later appeared in a 1973 version of the same story. The 1946 UA release A Scandal in Paris (aka Thieves’ Holiday) portrayed a European criminal, the “[a]dventures of Vidocq, a 19th-century rogue (and thief) who . . . cleverly talks his way into becoming . . .427 [the] . . . Paris chief of police.”428 The script was written by Ellis St. Joseph. Danish-born Douglas Sirk (Detlef Sierck)429 directed for producer Arnold Pressburger. The film starred George Sanders, Signe Hasso, Carole Landis, Jewish actor Akim Tamiroff430 and Gene Lockhart.431 Writers — Four writers were memorialized in Hollywood biopics during the ’40s, double the number offered in the previous decade. In 1942, 20th Century-Fox released The Loves of Edgar Allen Poe in which the “famous writer marries his childhood sweetheart but becomes an alcoholic.”432 The script was written by the Russian-born Samuel Hoffenstein and Tom Reed. Harry Lachman (originally from Illinois) directed for producer Bryan Foy. The film starred John Shepperd, Linda Darnell, Virginia Gilmore, Jane Darwell, Frank Conroy and Henry Morgan. The next year (1943), UA’s Jack London presented the “biographical adventure story of the illustrious career of Jack London (American writer).”433 In the film, London seeks “various kinds of adventure, writes a book about the Klondike, and warns the world of the Japanese menace.”434 Mick Martin and Marsha Porter describe the film as “fictionalized” and suggest that it was “[h]eavily influenced by the anti-Japanese sentiment rampant at the time of its release.” They also describe the film as a “colorful and tragic tale of the poor boy who gained and alienated the love of America.”435 Judah Gribetz reports that in 1909 Jack London wrote Martin Eden, a “semi-autobiographical novel about a writer’s struggles in which he associates ‘ghetto’ Jews with the ‘weak races’. He describes a Jew seen at a Socialist meeting as ‘a symbol . . . of the whole miserable mass of weaklings and inefficients who perished according to biological law in the ragged confines of life. They were the unfit.”436 Thus, Hollywood filmmakers may have had reason to portray London in a negative light. Webster’s American Biographies also reports that London himself was a “Marxian Socialist,” that he was “[b]eset by alcoholism . . .” and ultimately “took his own life.”437 The script for the film was written by Ernest Pascal. The film starred Michael O’Shea, Susan Hayward, Osa Massen, Harry Davenport, Virginia Mayo and Jonathan Hale. San Francisco-born Alfred Santell directed for producer Samuel Bronston, who was originally from Rumania. Without 44

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actually having seen this picture, the above rather incomplete and seemingly inconsistent information merely raises questions as to whether the picture could reasonably be considered a positive or negative portrayal of Jack London and whether it was produced by people who were sympathetic to him or antagonistic to him. The Adventures of Mark Twain (Warner Bros. — 1944) supposedly portrayed the “life of America’s foremost humorous writer, from a Mississippi river boat to his becoming an honorary fellow of Oxford University.”438 Judah Gribetz reports that in 1899 Twain wrote “the essay ‘Concerning the Jews’ in Harper’s Magazine,” in which he asserted that “their contributions to commerce, the arts, science, and learning are way out of proportion to their numbers. The essay also contain[ed] . . . [a] stereotype that the Jews have an unpatriotic disinclination to stand by the flag as a soldier, a charge” Twain retracted in 1904.439 The script for the film was written by Harold M. Sherman, Alan Le May (originally from Indianapolis) and Harry Chandler. The Londonborn Irving Rapper directed for Jewish producer Jesse L. Lasky.440 The film starred Fredric March, Alexis Smith, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, C. Aubrey Smith and John Carradine.441 That same year (1946), the Warner Bros. release Devotion provided a “highly romanticized account of the lives of (a family of British novelists and poets) the Bronte sisters and their brother Branwell.” The script was written by Keith Winter. The German-born Curtis Bernhardt (who emigrated to France and eventually to Hollywood after the Nazis came to power)442 directed for Virginia-born producer Robert Buckner. The film starred Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland, Nancy Coleman, Arthur Kennedy, Montagu Love and Paul Henreid.443 Religious Figures — Hollywood offered four biopics of religious figures in the 1940s, two males and two females. In 1941, the Courageous Mr. Penn told the “story of William Penn the Quaker, and how he pioneered the American wilderness while seeking religious freedom.”444 Religious freedom is, of course, another of the favored Hollywood themes. The script was written by Russian-born Anatole de Grunwald. Lance Comfort (born in England) directed. The film starred Clifford Evans, Deborah Kerr, Denis Arundell, Aubrey Mallalieu, Henry Oscar and Max Adrian.445 Also in 1941, One Foot in Heaven (Warner Bros.) focused on the “small-town doings of a Methodist minister.” The script was written by Casey Robinson (the biography was of his father) and Hartzell Spence. London-born Irving Rapper directed and co-produced with Chicago-born Robert Lord. The film starred Fredric March, Martha Scott, Beulah Bondi, Gene Lockhart, Elisabeth Fraser and Ernest Cossart.446

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The 1943 20th Century-Fox release The Song of Bernadette was about a “peasant girl [who] has a vision of the Virgin Mary at what becomes the shrine of Lourdes (in southwest France).”447 The script was written by Indiana-born George Seaton. Virginia-born Henry King directed for producer William Perlberg. The film starred Jennifer Jones (born Phyllis Isley), William Eythe, Charles Bickford, Vincent Price, Jewish actor Lee J. Cobb (Leo Jacoby),448 Gladys Cooper, Anne Revere and Roman Hohnen. Also in 1948, RKO released Joan of Arc, “based on the life of the French farm girl who (in 1429) led the French armies against England and was later tried as a heretic.”449 Joan of Arc was supposedly “[i]nspired and directed by religious visions (when), she organized the French resistance that forced the English to end their siege of Orleans (1429),” thus changing the course of history. “The same year she led an army of 12,000 to Rheims and had the dauphin (heir to the throne) crowned Charles VII. Captured and sold to the English by the Burgundians (1430), she was later tried for heresy and sorcery and was burned at the stake in Rouen.”450 The script was written by Pennsylvania-born Maxwell Anderson and Andrew Solt. California native Victor Fleming directed for the Jewish producer Walter Wanger (Feuchtwanger).451 Another version of the story was released as Saint Joan in 1957. Inventors — Three biopics based on the lives of inventors were released in the ’40s, although two of them were on the same man. In 1940, MGM’s Young Tom Edison became the “[f]irst of a two-parter tracing Edison’s first experiments.” The script was written by Bradbury Foote, the Jewish screenwriter/director/producer Dore Schary452 and the Canadian-born Hugo Butler. Chicago-born Norman Taurog directed for producer John Considine, Jr. The film starred Mickey Rooney, Eugene Pallette, George Bancroft, Fay Bainter, Virginia Weidler and Victor Kilian.453 Later that same year, MGM followed with Edison the Man starring Spencer Tracy in a “tribute to Edison’s genius . . . the most famous of all American inventors.”454 The script was written by Jewish screenwriter, director/ producer Dore Schary,455 Talbot Jennings, Bradbury Foote and Hugo Butler. Clarence Brown directed for producer John W. Considine, Jr. Interestingly, and many years later, Christopher Rawlence attempted to demonstrate through evidence presented in his book The Missing Reel456 that Thomas Edison was the person primarily responsible for the death of the original inventor of the motion picture camera and that Edison stole ideas from that early camera, then used those ideas to establish early control over the U.S. film industry. The Edison Trust was then defeated (also partly through the use of illegal means — see “The Outlaw Producers” in Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry) by the 46

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Chapter 3. Motion Picture Biographies of the 1940s

independents of that period, some of the same companies that later became the major studio/distributors of today. The only other inventor portrayed in the ’40s through Hollywood biopics had a European connection and was best known for his contributions to war. The 1946 Universal film, So Goes My Love portrayed the “domestic life of inventor Hiram Maxim,”457 the “American-born British inventor of an automatic, recoil-operated machine gun (1884), which was widely used during World War I.”458 The script was written by James Clifden and Bruce Manning (who co-produced with the Pennsylvania-born Jack H. Skirball). Ohio-born Frank Ryan directed. The film starred Myrana Loy, Don Ameche, Rhys Williams, Bobby Driscoll and Richard Gaines. Aviation — A couple of motion picture biographies relating to historical figures involved in aviation appeared in the ’40s. One featured a well-known woman — the other a little-known inventor. The 1943 RKO release Flight for Freedom was “[l]oosely based on the life of (American aviator) Amelia Earhart,”459 who is referred to in Webster’s American Biographies as “an inspiring example for the cause of feminism.”460 The film “recounts the story of an aviatrix who breaks world flying records and ultimately gets involved in patriotic spy efforts before crash landing her plane in the Pacific.”461 According to Halliwell’s the film suggests that “her final disappearance was on a government mission.” The script was written by Oliver H.P. Garrett and S.K. Lauren. Lothar Mendes (originally from Berlin) directed. The film starred Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray, Herbert Marshall, Eduardo Ciannelli and Walter Kingsford.462 Columbia’s Gallant Journey (1946) starred Glenn Ford in a biography “of the man who contributed to aviation by experimenting with glider planes.”463 Halliwell’s reports that the film is about the “life of an early American aviation pioneer . . . an inventor so obscure as to be virtually fictitious.”464 The script was written by Byron Morgan and William A. Wellman. Wellman also produced and directed. The film also starred Janet Blair, Charles Ruggles, Henry Ravers and Arthur Shields. Journalists — The ’40s also presented two biopics about the lives of journalists. Again, one was from Europe. The other made his name in Europe during the war. The 1940 Warner Bros. release A Dispatch from Reuters told the “story of the man who provided Europe’s first news service.”465 “Baron Paul Julius von Reuter [was a] . . . German-born British journalist who founded (1848) Reuter’s, one of the first international news agencies.”466 As Paul Johnson notes, “Jews by mid-century were already turning from banks to wireservices. [Thus,] Paul Julius Reuter (1816–99), whose name was originally Israel Beer Josaphat, left his uncle’s bank in Gottingen to set up the world’s 47

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greatest news-agency,” partly to better serve the news-gathering and information needs of the Jewish banking family, the Rothschilds.467 Although considered Jewish by The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, the publication claims Reuter “had no connection with the Jewish community.”468 The script for this biopic was written by Milton Krims. German-born William Dieterle directed for producer Henry Blanke. The film starred Jewish actor Edward G. Robinson,469 Edna Best, Eddie Albert (Albert Heimberger), German-born Albert Basserman (forced to flee the Nazi regime in 1933),470 Gene Lockhart and Otto Kruger. In the 1945 UA release The Story of G.I. Joe (UA), “[j]ournalist Ernie Pyle follows fighting men into the Italian campaign.” The script was written by Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore and Philip Stevenson. Massachusetts-born William A. Wellman directed for producer David Hall. The film starred Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele, Wally Cassell, Jimmy Lloyd and Jack Reilly.471 Scientists — Hollywood offered two biopics relating to scientists during the ’40s, and both were about Europeans. In 1940, the Warner Bros. release Dr. Erlich’s Magic Bullet told the story of the “German scientist (who) develop[ed] . . . a cure for venereal disease.”472 According to Paul Johnson, Ehrlich was a “German Jew.”473 Custen identifies this biopic as a “plea for political and ethical tolerance,”474 another of the common Hollywood themes. The script was written by the Missouri-born John Huston, Heinz Herald and Norman Burnside. German-born William Dieterle directed for producer Wolfgang Reinhardt. The film starred Jewish actor Edward G. Robinson,475 Ruth Gordon, Otto Kruger, Donald Crisp (from Scotland), Russian-born Maria Ouspenskaya, British-born Montagu Love and the German-born Sig Ruman (Siegfried Albon Rumann).476 The MGM release Madame Curie (1943) starred Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon in the “biography of the discoverers of radium.”477 Madame Curie was a “Polish-born French chemist (originally named Manja Sklodowska).”478 Jewish director Mervyn LeRoy479 directed for producer Sidney Franklin (originally from San Francisco). The script was written by Paul Osborn and Paul H. Rameau. Also appearing were Irish-born Henry Travers, Germanborn Albert Basserman, Robert Walker and C. Aubrey Smith.480 European Royalty — As noted earlier, the popularity among Hollywood filmmakers of European royalty as subjects for motion picture biographies dropped off sharply in the 1940s as compared to earlier periods. Only two appeared in that ten-year time frame. In the Warner Bros. 1940 release All This and Heaven Too, a “19th-century French nobleman falls in love with his governess and murders his wife.” The film was apparently based on a true murder case . . . set in Paris in 1840.”481 The script was written by 48

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Chapter 3. Motion Picture Biographies of the 1940s

Casey Robinson. Anatole Litvak (born in Russia, the son of a Jewish bank manager)482 directed for producers Jack L. Warner and Hal B. Wallis, both of whom were Jewish.483 The film starred Charles Boyer, Bette Davis, Barbara O’Neil, Virginia Weidler, Jeffrey Lynn, Helen Westley and Montagu Love. The 1945 20th Century-Fox release A Royal Scandal portrayed the “illicit loves of Catherine the Great”484 who became Empress of Russia (1762– 1796) after her husband Peter III’s reign, and who increased the territory of the empire through conquest and three partitions of Poland.485 This film was preceded by a silent version entitled Forbidden Paradise and the 1934 Paramount release The Scarlet Empress; thus Hollywood appears to have been fond of portraying selected aspects of the life of Catherine the Great on screen. As noted in the earlier discussion of that latter film, Catherine’s polices were oppressive to Jews.486 Thus again, the Hollywood moviemakers had a motive to portray Catherine the Great in a negative manner. The script was written by New York-born Jewish writer Edwin Justus Mayer.487 The Jewish producer/director/actor Otto Preminger488 directed for Germanborn Jewish producer Ernst Lubitsch.489 The film starred Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Coburn, Anne Baxter, William Eythe, Vincent Price, German-born Sig Rumann, Mischa Auer (Mischa Ounskowski) and Vladimir Sokoloff, the latter two originally from Russia. Asian Royalty — Anna and the King of Siam (TCF — 1945) represented the first Hollywood motion picture biography of royalty from Asia. The only other royalty that had been portrayed, thus far in the history of Hollywood biopics (outside of Europe) was Cleopatra. In this latest effort “an English governess arrives in Bangkok (in 1862) to teach the 67 children of the king.”490 Ohio-born John Cromwell directed for producer Louis D. Lighton. The script was written by Talbot Jennings and Sally Benson. The film starred Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Gale Sondergaard, Jewish actor Lee J. Cobb491 and Mikhail Rasumny (a cantor’s son from Odessa, Russia).492 Party Girls — A couple of Hollywood biopics of the 1940s were devoted to exploring the good times of young women in the twenties. In the 1944 Paramount release Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, “[t]wo wellto-do (American) flappers of the twenties find fun and romance in Paris.” This biopic was “based on a popular biography.” The script was written by New York-born Sheridan Gibney (who also produced). British-born Lewis Allen directed. The film starred Gail Russell, Diana Lynn, Charles Ruggles, Dorothy Gish, Beulah Bondi and James Brown.493 In the 1946 Paramount release Our Hearts Were Growing Up (a sequel to Our Hearts Were Young and Gay), the “two heroines experience their college days during the roaring twenties.”494 The script was written by Norman Panama and Jewish writer Melvin Frank.495 William D. Russell directed for producer 49

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Daniel Dare. The film again starred Gail Russell, Diana Lynn and James Brown, who were joined by Brian Donlevy, William Demarest, Bill Edwards, Billy DeWolfe and Sara Haden. Horses — Hollywood even sought to exploit biographies of horses in the ’40s with UA’s The Great Dan Patch (1949). The film portrayed the “career of a famous racehorse at the turn of the century.” The script was written by John Taintor Foote. Joseph Newman (originally from Utah) directed for producer W.R. Frank. The film starred Dennis O’Keefe, Gail Russell, Ruth Warrick, Charlotte Greenwood, Henry Hull, John Hoyt and Arthur Hunnicutt.496 Also, that same year, The Story of Seabiscuit starred Lon McCallister, Shirley Temple and Barry Fitzgerald.497 David Butler directed for producer William Jacobs. This script was also written by John Taintor Foote. Medical — Another pair of Hollywood motion picture biographies were offered during the ’40s relating to medical specialists. The first was about the life of a little known dentist. The Great Moment (Paramount — 1944) told the story of the “Boston dentist (Dr. W.T.G. Morgan) who was the first to use ether.”498 Chicago-born Preston Sturges (Edmond P. Biden) wrote and directed. The film starred Joel McCrea. Betty Field, William Demarest, Harry Carey, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall and Grady Sutton.499 The second medical offering , the 1946 RKO film, Sister Kenny portrays the career of “the Australian nurse who fought polio in the bush. Her pioneering treatment methods finally prevailed over a skeptical, medical community jealous of allowing her recognition.”500 Ohio-born Dudley Nichols produced, directed and wrote the script (with Alexander Knox and Mary McArthy). The film starred Rosalind Russell, Alexander Knox, Dean Jagger, Philip Merivale, Beulah Bondi and Dorothy Peterson. Women in Miscellaneous Roles — The last three Hollywood biopics of the 1940s, to be considered, all relate to women, whose roles do not easily fall within any of the previously established categories. Orphanage Founder — In Blossoms in the Dust (MGM — 1941) a “woman who loses her husband and child founds a state orphanage.” The Halliwell’s Film Guide says the biopic “distorts the facts”.501 The script, based on the life of Edna Gladney, was written by California native Anita Loos. Mervyn LeRoy (born in San Francisco, of Jewish parents)502 directed for producer Irving Asher. The film starred Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt, Fay Holden and Samuel S. Hinds.503 The Lady from Cheyenne (Universal — 1941) was about “a schoolmistress (who) fights for women’s rights (in 1860 Wyoming).” The script was written by Kathryn Scola and Warren Duff. Frank Lloyd produced and directed. The film starred Lorretta Young, Robert Preston, Gladys George, Edward Arnold, Frank Craven and Spencer Charters.504 50

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Independent Woman — Then in 1945, Roughly Speaking (Warner Bros.) told “the life of Louise Randall Pierson, a woman who was able to make her way . . . independent of male dominance.”505 In this film, the “[a]mbitious wife struggles to aid her ne’er do-well husband in his business schemes, while raising a large family.”506 Jewish director Michael Curtiz507 directed for the German-born producer Harry Blanke. The script was written by Louis Randall Pierson. The film starred Rosalind Russell, Jack Carson, Robert Hutton, Jean Sullivan and Alan Hale. In sum, only 22 of the 96 Hollywood biopics of the 1940s (23%) focused primarily on the lives of women. That actually represents a slight drop in the percentage of motion picture biographies of women’s lives as compared to the previous decade. Again, historical figures from the U.S. and Europe dominated the genre. Also, consistent with previous patterns, only two of the 96 Hollywood biopics of the ’40s featured historical figures from outside the U.S. or Europe. One related to Asian Royalty (Anna and the King of Siam). The other portrayed the career of an Australian nurse (Sister Kenny). Another significant trend that continued through the biopics of the ’40s was the heavy involvement of persons of Jewish heritage, a factual observation that Custen does not report. At least 53 of the 96 Hollywood biopics of the decade (55%) involved Jewish subjects, associates, characters or persons with strong Jewish connections (some positive, some negative); and/or such films incorporated the contributions of Jewish producers, directors, actors, actresses, writers or composers as important elements of the work. Again, since no one has stepped forth to proclaim (and furnish any evidence) of Hollywood being controlled or dominated by any other racial, ethnic, cultural or religious group, such an analysis is both relevant and important in understanding the motivations and choices made by Hollywood filmmakers in this motion picture biography genre. The trend also conclusively demonstrates that persons of Jewish heritage have continued to participate in the Hollywood biopics at a level that is highly disproportionate to their numbers in the general population of the U.S. Since movies tend to a large extent to mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers, it is clear that if Hollywood had been dominated by African-Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Italians, Baptists, Mormons or other groups, we would clearly have seen a different slate of films in each of these decades. Or, better yet, if Hollywood was not dominated by any particular group, our films would likely exhibit a greater diversity in portrayals and ideas.

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Chapter 4. The Peak Mid-Century Years Hollywood substantially increased its production and distribution of biopics in the 1950s, with a total of 121. In addition, the trend toward portraying an increased number of entertainment figures continued, with 40 of such persons serving as the focus of biopics in the ’50s as compared to 28 in the previous decade (33% in the ’50s versus 29% in the ’40s). Entertainers — In the very first year of the decade (1950), Warner Bros. released Young Man with a Horn. The movie portrayed the “professional and romantic tribulations of a trumpet player.” The film was based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke,508 American jazz composer and musician who was not well known during his own lifetime,509 although he was “the first white musician to be recognized by Black musicians as a luminary of the jazz world.”510 Unfortunately, to this point in its history, Hollywood had chosen not to honor any of the great jazz musicians of African-American descent with a motion picture biography. The script for the film was written by Chicago-born Carl Foreman (son of Jewish immigrants from Russia)511 and New York-born Edmund H. North. Jewish director Michael Curtiz512 directed for Jewish producer Jerome Irving “Jerry” Wald.513 The film starred Jewish actor Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch), Jewish actress Lauren Bacall (Betty Perske),514 Doris Day and Hoagy Carmichael. That same year, in The Daughter of Rosie O-Grady (Warner Bros. — 1950) a “girl determines to follow in her dead mother’s musical comedy footsteps against the wishes of her still-grieving father.” The script was written by Ohio-born Jack Rose, New York-born Mel Shavelson (the author of How to Make a Jewish Movie, a book about his misadventures while filming Cast a Giant Shadow in Israel)515 and Peter Milne. San Francisco-born David Butler directed for producer William 53

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Jacobs. The film starred June Haver, Gordon Macrae, James Barton, S.Z. Sakall, Gene Nelson, Debbie Reynolds, Sean McClory and Jane Darwell.516 Also in 1950, MGM released Three Little Words, a film biography about lyricist, screenwriter Bert Kalmar (portrayed by Fred Astaire) and (composer) Harry Ruby (Rubinstein) played by Red Skelton.517 The script was written by New York-born George Wells. Kansas native Richard Thorpe (Rollo Smolt Thorpe) directed for Jewish producer Jack Cummings.518 The film starred Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, Vera-Ellen, Arlene Dahl, Keenan Wynn (son of Jewish actor Ed Wynn),519 Gale Robbins, Gloria de Haven, Phil Regan and Debbie Reynolds. The next year, in 1951, Hollywood released four biopics on entertainers. In Valentino (Columbia — 1951) an “Italian immigrant to the U.S. becomes a world-famous romantic film star but dies young.”520 Valentino was born in Italy although in Hollywood he was typically cast as a Latin lover. As Leonard Maltin reports, when Valentino first came to America in 1913, he worked “as a landscape gardener, dishwasher, writer, gigolo, and petty criminal before establishing a minor career as a ballroom dancer.”521 Valentino actually “got into trouble with the law and was booked by the New York police on a number of occasions on suspicion of petty theft and blackmail.”522 He had been befriended by the Russian-born Jewish actress Alla Nazimova,523 and after she helped to get him out of jail, he left New York and they toured together on stage524 before he finally arrived in Hollywood. He also appeared in a version of Camille (1921) with Nazimova in the leading role,525 thus, she is credited with playing a pivotal role in his career. The script for the film was written by George Bruce. The British-born Lewis Allen directed for New York-born producer Edward Small. The film starred Anthony Dexter (Walter Reinhold Alfred Fleischmann),526 Eleanor Parker, Richard Carlson, Patricia Medina and Otto Kruger.527 Two additional versions of the life of Valentino appeared in 1975 and 1977. The Great Caruso (MGM — 1951) was the screen “biography of the noted [Italian] operetta tenor.”528 Halliwell’s refers to the film as a “[s]emi-fictional biography.”529 Kansas-born Richard (Rollo Smolt) Thorpe directed for Jewish producer Joseph Pasternak,530 who was originally from Hungary. The script was written by the Russian-born Sonya Levien and William Ludwig (from New York). The film starred Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jamilia Novotna and Carl Benton Reid.531 The 1951 20th Century-Fox release Golden Girl told the “story of Lotta Crabtree, who after the Civil War determined to become a great musical star.” The script was written by Walter Bullock, Charles O’Neal and Gladys Lehman. Lloyd Bacon directed for the Jewish producer/entertainer George Jessel.532 The film starred Chicago-born Mitzi Gaynor (born Franceska Mitzi 54

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Gerber), Dale Robertson, Dennis Day, James Barton, Una Merkel, Raymond Walburn and Gene Sheldon.533 Also in 1951, I’ll See You in My Dreams (Warner Bros.) portrayed the “domestic and professional life of songwriter Gus Kahn.”534 The film was also one of three films released in the early ’50s providing a treatment of the Jewish theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld.535 As Erens reports, “[i] n all three films Ziegfeld is played by William Forrest . . .” and Ziegfeld “[c]onsistently . . . appears as a dignified man of taste and discrimination.” Erens also reports that in none of these films “are there features which mark [Ziegfeld] as Jewish.”536 The script for I’ll See You in My Dreams was written by Melville Shavelson (of How to Make a Jewish Movie fame)537 and Jack Rose. Jewish director Michael Curtiz538 directed for producer Louis F. Edelman. The film starred Doris Day, Danny Thomas (born Muzyad Yakhoob to Catholic immigrants from Lebanon),539 Frank Lovejoy, Patrice Wymore and James Gleason.540 Annual entertainer biopic output increased further for 1952 with six. In the 1952 MGM release The Bad and the Beautiful a “director, a star, a screenwriter and an executive recall their experiences at the hands of a gogetting Hollywood producer.”541 “The main character in the film . . . played by (Jewish actor) Kirk Douglas,542 is supposedly patterned after . . . [Jewish studio executive David O. Selznick].543 Charles Schnee wrote the screenplay. Vincente Minnelli directed for producer John Houseman (whose father was of Jewish-Alsatian heritage).544 Also appearing were Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell and Barry Sullivan. In The Story of Will Rogers (Warner Bros. — 1952) a “Wild West performer becomes a Ziegfeld star and pop philosopher.”545 This was the second in the series of early ’50s films noted earlier by Erens for offering a very positive portrayal of the Jewish theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld.546 According to Howard Sachar, Rogers was known for his “snide anti-Semitism”.547 The script for this film was written by Frank Davis and Stanley Roberts. Michael Curtiz (born in Budapest of Jewish parentage)548 for producer Robert Arthur. The film starred Will Rogers, Jr., who as a U.S. Congressman introduced, (along with others), “a congressional resolution (in November of 1943) urging President Franklin D. Roosevelt to establish a commission to save Europe’s remaining Jews.”549 This raises the obvious question as to whether the Hollywood filmmakers were using the Will Rogers biopic as a gesture of thanks for the son’s actions. The film also starred Jane Wyman, James Gleason, Jewish actor Eddie Cantor (originally named Isidore Itzkowitz)550 and Carl Benton Reid.551 Republic’s 1952 release I Dream of Jeannie portrayed the “loves and financial problems of songwriter Stephen Foster,”552 for the second time. The first was 55

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Swanee River in 1939. The current script was written by Indianapolis-born Alan Le May. Canadian-born Allan Dwan (Joseph Aloysius Dwan) directed. The film starred Ray Middleton, Bill Shirley, Muriel Lawrence and Rex Allen. Somebody Loves Me (Paramount — 1952) starred Betty Hutton and Ralph Meeker in a “[biography of song-spinners Blossom Seeley and (Jewish performer) Benny Fields.”553 “First successful in San Francisco at earthquake time, (Blossom) . . . climbs to Broadway success with her partner . . . Fields, then retires to become his wife.”554 Written and directed by Irving Brecher (the New York-born former comedy writer for Jewish performer Milton Berle),555 the film also featured Robert Keith, Adele Jergents, Billie Bird, Jewish actor Sid Tomack556 and Ludwig Stossel. The film was produced by William Perlberg and George Seaton. Also in 1952, With a Song in My Heart (TCF) told the story of “[s]inger Jane Froman [who was] . . . crippled in a plane crash but finally makes a comeback.” Halliwell’s labels the film a “romanticized showbiz biopic.”557 The script was written by Georgia-born Lamar Trotti who also produced. Walter Lang (originally from Tennessee) directed. The film starred Susan Hayward, David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, Thelma Ritter, Una Merkel, Robert Wagner and Helen Westcott.558 In the 1952 20th Century-Fox release Stars and Stripes Forever, John Philip Sousa, “a bandmaster who wants to write ballads (in the 1890s), finds success as a writer of marches.” Georgia-born Lamar Trotti wrote and produced. Jewish director Henry Koster (born Hermann Kosterlitz in Berlin)559 directed. The film starred Clifton Webb, Debra Paget, Robert Wagner, Ruth Hussey, Finlay Curriet, Roy Roberts and Lester Matthews.560 The year 1953 saw Hollywood continue to increase its annual output of motion picture biographies with seven. The 1953 release The Actress presents episodes from Ruth Gordon’s early life as the character Ruth Jones who “becomes an actress against the wishes of her stubborn seafaring father.”561 The script was written by Ruth Gordon herself and was based “on her Broadway play Years Ago.”562 The year after the film’s release, Gordon appeared on stage “as the original Dolly Levi in Broadway’s The Matchmaker (1954), on which the musical Hello Dolly would later be based.”563 She had “married [Jewish] playwright Garson Kanin564 in 1942.” and collaborated with him on a series of screenplays.565 New York-born George Cukor (a leading Jewish director)566 directed The Actress for Chicago-born producer Lawrence Weingarten. The film starred Jean Simmons, Spencer Tracy, Teresa Wright, Anthony Perkins, Ian Wolfe and Mary Wickes. Paramount’s Houdini (1953) presented a “romanticized version of (the life of American magician Harry Houdini).”567 According to Steven Scheuer, the film was “based on the life and loves of the world’s most famous

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magician.”568 The Jewish Houdini was “born in Budapest, Hungary . . . His original name was Erik Weisz.”569 The Halliwell description of the film’s story states that it was about “a fairground magician [who] shows a passionate talent for escapology [in the 1890s] and finally kills himself by undertaking increasingly impossible tricks.” Halliwell’s also called the film a “[s]uperficial biopic with more attention to romance.”570 As Patricia Erens points out, in “this film Jewishness never arises. Although Jewish actor Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwarz)571 was chosen for the starring role (perhaps a subtle reference to Houdini’s real background), no mention is made of religion or ethnic background.”572 Chicago-born George Marshall directed for producer George Pal (originally from Hungary). The script was written by Chicagoborn Philip Yordan. The film also starred Janet Leigh, Torin Thatcher, German-born Sig Rumann and Angela Clarke.573 Another film on the life of Houdini was presented in 1976. The life of “Jewish impresario Sol Hurok . . . was depicted in Tonight We Sing (TCF-1953).” As Patricia Erens reports, “nothing in David Wayne’s portrayal of Hurok indicates his Jewish origin . . .” although his Russian background is shown. Also in the film Anne Bancroft plays Emma Hurok and Jewish concert violinist Isaac Stern plays violinist Eugene Ysaye.574 During his career, Hurok “sponsored a number of concert series in New York City.”575 The script for the film was written by New York-born Harry Kurnitz and George Oppenheimer. Michigan-born Mitchel Leisen directed for Jewish producer/entertainer George Jessel.576 Also appearing in the film were Ezio Pinza, Jewish actress Roberta Peters (Peterman),577 Mamara Toumanova and Jewish actor Jan Peerce (Jacob Pincus Perelmuth).578 The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) told about “a young [British] composer named Arthur Sullivan and a librettist named William Gilbert [who] come together (in 1975) under the auspices of Rupert D’Oyly Carte and write the Savoy Operas.” British-born Sidney Gilliat produced and wrote the script with Leslie Baily. Gilliat also directed and co-produced with the English-born Frank Launder. The film starred Robert Morley, Maurice Evans, Peter Finch and Eileen Herlie.579 The film was a British production released in the U.S. Also in 1953, So This Is Love (Warner Bros.) portrayed “[e]vents leading up to Grace Moore’s debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1928.”580 Moore was a “lyrical soprano of Broadway musicals . . .” (originally from Tennessee) who appeared in two MGM films and others by Columbia and “helped to popularize opera on the screen.”581 The script for this musical biopic was written by John Monks, Jr. New York-born Gordon Douglas directed for producer Henry Blanke (from Germany). The film starred Kathryn Grayson, Merv Griffin, Joan Weldon, Walter Abel, Rosemary de Camp, Jeff Donnell, Douglas Dick, Mabel Albertson and Fortunio Bonanova.582 57

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In The Eddie Cantor Story (Warner — 1953) “[a]fter a tough childhood on New York’s east side, Israel Iskowitz (Eddie Cantor) becomes a famous entertainer.”583 The Jewish performer was “born of Russian immigrants in New York City.”584 According to Patricia Erens, this film “emphasizes his ethnic background, although the word Jew is never used.” As Erens points out, the film focuses on “the sentimentalization of ghetto life, the idealization of Jewish women, and the star’s obsessive need to be loved by millions of adoring fans.”585 This is also another of the films which portrays Jewish theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld.586 The script was written by Jewish writer Jerome Weidman,587 Ted Sherdeman and Sidney Sklosky (who also produced). Alfred E. Green directed. The film starred Keefe Brasselle, Marilyn Erskine, Aline MacMahon, Arthur Franz, Alex Gerry, Gerald Mohr, Williams Forrest (as Ziegfeld), Will Rogers Jr. (as Will Rogers) and Eddie Cantor (who also sings the songs off screen).588 That same year (1953), The I Don’t Care Girl (TCF) portrayed the “life of musical entertainer Eva Tanguay, at her height during World War I, as told by three men in her life.”589 Curiously, studio executive Darryl Zanuck knew and admitted that Eva Tanguay was neither famous nor great, thus a questionable subject for a motion picture biography.590 The script was written by Walter Bullock. California native Lloyd Bacon directed for the Jewish producer/entertainer George Jessel,591 who also starred in the film, along with Mitzi Gaynor, David Wayne, Jewish actor Oscar Levant,592 and Warren Stevens. Hollywood entertainer biopic production dropped off in 1954 to two. In the 1954 MGM release Deep in My Heart, the Hungarian-born Sigmund Romberg, “a [Jewish] composer-waiter593 in New York, is helped by writer Dorothy Donnelly and showman Florenz Ziegfeld to become a famous writer of musicals.” Halliwell’s calls the film a “fictionalized biopic.”594 This makes the fourth Hollywood film that includes a portrayal of the Jewish showman Florenz Ziegfeld.595 The script was written by New York-born Jewish writer Leonard Spigelgass.596 South Carolina-born Jewish director Stanley Donen (Russian-Jewish father and German-Jewish mother)597 directed for Texasborn producer Roger Edens. The film starred Jose Ferrer, Merle Oberon, Paul Henreid, Walter Pidgeon, Helen Traubel, Doe Avedon and Tamara Toumanova.598 The Glenn Miller Story (Universal — 1954) starred James Stewart in the “biography of the famed band leader (and trombonist) who was lost during World War II” when his plane disappeared.599 California native Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundmann) directed for producer Aaron Rosenberg. The script was written by Valentine Davies and Oscar Brodney. The film also

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featured June Allyson, Harry Morgan (Bratsburg),600 Charles Drake, Frances Langford, Louis Armstrong and Gene Krupa. Biopic production on entertainers increased to six in 1955. That year, Aaron Rosenberg produced The Benny Goodman Story (Universal), the story of a “clarinettist from the Jewish section of Chicago,”601 (Jewish entertainer Benny Goodman),602 who “becomes internationally famous.”603 As Patricia Erens reports, information pointing to Goodman’s ethnicity was “concentrated in the opening scenes revolving around the family . . . But once Benny leaves home, all ethnic elements disappear from the film.”604 The script was written and directed by New York-born Valentine Davies. The film starred Steve Allen, Donna Reed, Berta Gersten, Herbert Anderson, Robert F. Simon, Sammy Davis, Sr., Jewish trumpeter, bandleader and actor Harry James,605 Martha Tilton and Gene Krupa.606 Also in 1955, Interrupted Melody (MGM) told the “story of Majorie Lawrence, an Australia opera singer who fell victim to polio.”607 The script was written by New York-born William Ludwig and Russian-born Sonya Levien. German-born Curtis Bernhardt (who, as noted above, emigrated to France, then Hollywood, after the Nazis came to power)608 directed for Canadian-born Jewish producer Jack Cummings.609 The film starred Eleanor Parker, Glenn Ford, Roger Moore, Cecil Kellaway and Stephen Bekassy. The 20th Century-Fox release Prince of Players (1955) starred Richard Burton, Maggie McNamara, Raymond Massey and John Derek in a biopic about the “famous Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth,”610 the “brother of the man who killed Abraham Lincoln.”611 The script was written by New Yorkborn Jewish writer Moss Hart.612 New York-born Philip Dunne produced and directed. Eva Le Galliene, Charles Bickford, Elizabeth Sellars and Ian Keith also appeared. In the 1955 MGM release I’ll Cry Tomorrow, a Broadway/Hollywood star of the early thirties, Jewish actress Lillian Roth (Rutstein),613 becomes an alcoholic. Halliwell’s again labels the pictures as a “fictionalized biopic.”614 The script was written by New York-born Helen Deutsch and Jay Richard Kennedy. New York-born Daniel Mann (Chugerman)615 directed for Chicago-born producer Lawrence Weingarten. The film starred Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Eddie Albert (Albert Heimberger), Jo Van Fleet, Don Taylor, Ray Danton and Margo. In Love Me or Leave Me (MGM — 1955), “Twenties singer Ruth Etting is befriended by a racketeer who pushes her to the top but drives her to drink and despair in the process.”616 James Cagney played Etting’s first husband, Jewish mobster Martin (‘Moe the Gimp’) Snyder, who, in a rage of jealousy, shot the singer’s pianist Myrl Alderman (played by Cameron Mitchell). Alderman became Ruth Etting’s second husband during Snyder’s trial for 59

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attempted murder in 1938.”617 As Erens reports, the film failed to clearly identify Snyder’s Jewish background.618 The script was written by Jewish writer Daniel Fuchs619 and New York-born Isabel Lennart. Charles Vidor [born in Budapest) directed for Hungarian-born Jewish producer Joseph Pasternak.620 The film starred Doris Day, James Cagney, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Deith, Tom Tully, Harry Bellaver and Richard Gaines. In 1955, the Paramount releaseThe Seven Little Foys told the “story of a family vaudeville act.” The script was written by New York-born Melville Shavelson (who wrote How to Make a Jewish Movie in 1971) and Jack Rose (originally from Warsaw). Shavelson also directed and Rose produced. The film starred Bob Hope, Milly Vitale, George Tobias, Angela Clarke, Herbert Heyes and James Cagney.621 The number of entertainer biopics for 1956 dropped off once again to two. The Eddy Duchin Story (Columbia — 1956) presented the “success story of a pianist who died of leukemia.”622 The script was written by Samuel Taylor. New York-born Jewish director George Sidney623 directed for Jewish producer Jerome Irving “Jerry” Wald624 and Jonie Taps. The film starred Tyrone Power, Kim Novak, Victoria Shaw, James Whitmore, Shepperd Strudwick and Frieda Inescort. Also in 1956, the 20th Century-Fox release The Best Things in Life Are Free portrayed “the story of songwriting team De Sylva, Brown and Henderson (from Broadway to Hollywood in the twenties). Gangsters, movie studios and the writing of ‘Sonny Boy’ for [Jewish performer]625 Al Jolson all figure in this . . . musical.”626 The script was written by William Bowers and New Yorkborn Jewish writer Phoebe Ephron (Phoebe Wolkind).627 Michael Curtiz (born in Budapest of Jewish parentage)628 directed for Jewish producer Henry Ephron.629 The film starred Ernest Borgnine, Gordon Macrae, Dan Dailey, Sheree North, Jacques d’Amboise, Norman Brooks and Murvyn Vye. The number of entertainer biopics increased once again in 1957 to five. In the 1957 Paramount release The Joker is Wild, Joe E. Lewis, an obscure “twenties nightclub singer, loses his voice after an attack by gangsters, and becomes a comedian.”630 The script was written by New York-born Oscar Saul. Charles Vidor (born in Budapest) produced and directed. The film starred Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Eddie Albert (Albert Heimberger), Jeanne Crain, Beverly Garland, Jackie Coogan and Ted de Corsia.631 Also in 1957, in the film Jeanne Eagels (Columbia) a “sideshow dancer (from Missouri) becomes a Broadway star of the twenties but dies of drugs.” The script was written by Jewish writer Daniel Fuchs,632 the Russian-born Sonya Levien and John Fante. New York-born Jewish director George Sidney633 produced and directed. The film starred Kim Novak, Jewish actor

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Jeff Chandler (Ira Grossel),634 Agnes Moorehead, Charles Drake, Larry Gates and Virginia Grey.635 In the 1957 Warner Bros. release The Helen Morgan Story, a “young singer rises from vaudeville to Broadway but becomes an alcoholic.” Halliwell’s describes it as a “moderately truthful biopic”.636 The script was written by Dean Reisner, New York-born Oscar Saul, Stephen Longstreet and Nelson Gidding. Jewish director Michael Curtiz637 directed for New York-born producer Martin Rackin. The film starred Ann Blyth, Paul Newman (whose father was Jewish),638 Richard Carlson, Gene Evans, Jewish comedian/actor Alan King (Irwin Alan Kiniberg),639 Cara Williams and Walter Woolf King (as Ziegfeld). This film marks the sixth portrayal of Jewish showman Florenz Ziegfeld, 640 in a Hollywood biopic, making Ziegfeld the most popular motion picture biography subject among Hollywood movie makers. Also that year (1957), Paramount presented The Buster Keaton Story a biopic of “the great silent comedian, with the emphasis on his years of downfall through drink.”641 Chicago-born Sidney Sheldon and Robert Smith wrote and produced. Sheldon also directed. The film starred Donald O’Connor, Rhonda Fleming, Ann Blyth, Jewish actor Peter Lorre (Ladislav Loewenstein),642 Larry Keating, Richard Anderson, and Dave Willock. The James Dean Story (1957) was a “[d]ocumentary compilation (that) recounts the life of the controversial film star . . .”643 who was considered by some to be the “personification of the restless American youth of the mid50s.”644 George W. George and the Kansas-born Robert Altman (of EnglishIrish-German/Catholic heritage) directed. Two more Hollywood motion picture biographies featuring entertainers came out in 1958. In the Paramount release St. Louis Blues, W.C. Handy, “son of a black Memphis preacher, becomes a blues composer.”645 The script was written by Robert Smith (who also produced) and Ted Sherdeman. Allen Reisner directed. The film starred Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, Mahalia Jackson, Ruby Dee, Juano Hernandez and Ella Fitzgerald. Of course, Hollywood biopics focusing on the lives of AfricanAmericans have been quite rare. In the 1958 release Too Much, Too Soon (Warner Bros.), “[y]oung actress Diana Barrymore goes to Hollywood to look after [her] alcoholic father John, but mild success goes to her head and she too turns to drink.”646 In what Patricia Erens calls a “self-reflective twist,” Diana, in the end “trots down to confer with [Jewish] author Gerold Frank . . . (played by Robert Ellenstein), about her autobiography.”647 Diana Blanche Barrymore was born in New York, the daughter of John Barrymore and poetess Michael Strange (Blanche Oelrichs).648 The film was written and directed by Art Napoleon for Germanborn producer Henry Blanke. The film starred Dorothy Malone, Errol Flynn, 61

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New York-born Jewish actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Neva Patterson and Martin Milner.649 The final year of the 1950s feature two more Hollywood biopics of entertainers. The 1959 Paramount release The Five Pennies told the “rags-toriches success story of cornet player Red Nichols.” Warsaw-born Jack Rose and New York-born Melville Shavelson teamed up again. Rose wrote the script and produced. Shavelson collaborated on the script and directed. The film starred Jewish actor Danny Kaye (David Daniel Kaminski),650 Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong, Bob Crosby, Harry Guardino, Tuesday Weld and Ray Anthony.651 In the Columbia release The Gene Krupa Story (1959), a “successful jazz drummer is convicted on a drug charge and falls from grace.”652 Gene Krupa was the drummer for the trio organized in 1936 by Jewish jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman. The group played at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1938.653 The script for the film was written by Orin Jannings. Milwaukee-born Don Weis directed for producer Philip A. Waxman. The film starred Sal Mineo, Susan Kohner, James Darren, Susan Oliver, Yvonne Craig, Lawrence Dobkin and Celia Lovsky. Westerns — The second most popular biopic category among Hollywood filmmakers during the 1950s (and for the second decade in a row) was the Western figure. Hollywood produced and/or released 15 of those during the ten-year period. During the first year of the 1950s, MGM released Annie Get Your Gun, in which a “young female hillbilly (Annie Oakley) joins Frank Butler’s sharpshooting act, and is sophisticated by her love for him.” This was the second Hollywood biopic focusing on the life of Annie Oakley. The script was written by Sidney Sheldon. New York-born Jewish director George Sidney (son of Loew’s theatre manager Louis Sidney of Hungarian Jewish descent)654 directed for the South Carolina-born Jewish producer Arthur Freed (Arthur Grossman).655 The film starred Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Edward Arnold, J. Carrol Naish (of Irish descent), and Louis Calhern.656 Also that year (1950), The Return of Jesse James provided a portrayal of “a small time outlaw who bears a striking resemblance to Jesse James. Taking advantage of this, he sets out to prove to everyone that Jesse James, shot and killed by fellow gang-member Bob Ford, did not die and is still in business.”657 Arthur Hilton directed. The film starred John Ireland, Ann Dvorak, Hugh O’Brian and Henry Hull. In 1952, the Universal release The Lawless Breed portrayed the “adventures and repentance of [western] badman John Wesley Hardin.”658 The script was written by Bernard Gordon. New York-born Raoul Walsh directed for producer William Alland (originally from Delaware). The film starred Rock Hudson, Julie Adams, John McIntire, Dennis Weaver and Hugh O’Brian. 62

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Also in 1952, the Warner Bros. release The Iron Mistress presented the “life of westerner Jim Bowie and his famous knife.”659 Bowie was an “Americanborn Mexican colonist who joined the Texan forces during the struggle for independence from Mexico. He died during the defense of the Alamo.”660 The script for the film was written by Colorado-born James R. Webb. New Yorkborn Gordon Douglas directed for German-born producer Henry Blanke. The film starred Alan Ladd, Virginia Mayo, Joseph Calleia, Phyllis Kirk, Alf Kjellin, Douglas Dick, Tony Caruso and Jewish actor George Voskovec (from Bohemia).661 The following year, in the 1953 release Calamity Jane (Warner Bros.), Calamity helps a saloon-owner friend find a star attraction and wins the heart of Wild Bill Hickok.”662 The script was written by James O’Hanlon. San Francisco-born David Butler directed for producer William Jacobs. The film starred Doris Day, Howard Keel, Allyn McLerie, Phil Carey, Dick Wesson and Paul Harvey. In The Great Jesse James Raid (1953) the famous outlaw (originally from Missouri) “comes out of retirement for one last haul.663 The script was written by Richard Landau. Vienna-born Reginald Le Borg directed. The film starred Willard Parker, Barbara Payton, Tom Neal, Wallace Ford and Jim Bannon. The next year, in Masterson of Kansas (Columbia — 1954) the “sheriff of Dodge City prevents an Indian uprising by saving an innocent man from the gallows.” Halliwell’s calls it “unhistorical”.664 The script was written by Douglas Heyes. New York-born William Castle directed for producer Sam Katzman (also from New York). The film starred George Montgomery (Letz),665 Nancy Gates, James Griffith and Jean Willes. In the 1954 UA release Sitting Bull, a “cavalry officer strives to establish a relationship with Sitting Bull . . . [d]espite the massacre of Custer’s men.” The script was written by Jack De Witt and New York-born Sidney Salkow, who also directed for producer W.R. Frank. The film starred Dale Robertson, Mary Murphy, J. Carrol Naish (of Irish descent), Iron Eyes Cody, John Litel, William Hopper and Douglas Kennedy.666 In 1955, the Universal film, Chief Crazy Horse focused on the “tribal problems of the Indian chief who defeated Custer at Little Big Horn.” Halliwell’s labels the film “pro-Indian.”667 The script was written by Franklin Coen and Gerald Drayson Adams. New York-born George Sherman directed for producer William Alland (originally from Delaware). The film starred Victor Mature, Suzan Ball, Lohn Lund, Ray Danton, Keith Larsen, Paul Guilfoyle and David Janssen. Hollywood produced biopics of Native Americans have also been rare, and this film may represent the shift from

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consistent negative portrayals to some more positive portrayals of Native Americans among all Hollywood films. The 1955 UA release Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier starred Fess Parker, Buddy Ebsen, Basil Ruysdael, Hans Conreid, Kenneth Tobey. In this biopic, Davy “makes peace with Chief Red Stick, rids a small town of nogood varmints, runs for Congress, and joins the fight at the Alamo.” Indianaborn Norman Foster (Hoeffer) directed.668 The Last Command (1955) told the “story of Jim Bowie, and the historic battle of the Alamo.”669 In the film Bowie “returns to Texas in the 1830s and dies at the Alamo alongside other famous men.” The script was written by Warren Duff. Scottish-born Frank Lloyd produced and directed. The film starred Ernest Borgnine, Sterling Hayden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Arthur Hunnicutt, Richard Carlson and J. Carrol Naish (of Irish descent).670 That same year (1955), the Disney film Davy Crockett and the River Pirates starred Fess Parker, Buddy Ebsen, Jeff York, Kenneth Tobey and Clem Bevans. The first part of the film featured “a river boat race against Mike Fink.” The “second half pits Davy against the Injuns.” Indiana-born Norman Foster (Hoeffer) directed.671 Only a single western biopic came out in 1956. In Universal’s Walk the Proud Land an “Indian agent persuades the army to use less violent methods.”672 The script was written by Gil Doud and Jack Sher. Illinois-born Jesse Hibbs directed for New York-born producer Aaron Rosenberg. The film starred Audie Murphy, Anne Bancroft, Pat Crowley, Robert Warwick, Charles Drake, Tommy Rall and Jay Silverheels. The following year, in 1957, 20th Century-Fox released The True Story of Jesse James (a remake of Jesse James) in which “Jesse and Frank James become outlaws and train robbers (after the Civil War).” The script was written by Walter Newman. Wisconsin-born Nichols Ray (Raymond Nicholas Kienzle; of Norwegian descent) directed for producer Herbert Swope, Jr. The film starred Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Hope Lange, Agnes Moorehead, John Carradine, Alan Hale, Jr. and Alan Baxter.673 Hollywood completed the decade’s production and distribution of western biopics in 1958, with the Warner Bros. release The Left-Handed Gun, Billy the Kid (who was originally from New York)674 “sets out to shoot four men who have killed his friend.”675 In this biopic, the famous killer is portrayed “as a mental defective who becomes enmeshed in a myth-making vise that is both his immortality and his destruction.”676 The script was written by Leslie Stevens. Arthur Penn directed for producer Fred Coe. The film starred Paul Newman (whose father, as noted earlier, was Jewish),677 John Dehner (as Pat Garrett), Lita Milan and Hurd Hatfield.678

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Athletes — The third most popular biopic category chosen by Hollywood filmmakers during the 1950s was the athlete. Eleven of such motion picture biographies were produced and/or released during the ten-year period. Again, the top three order of finish for the ’50s was the same as the ’40s. The athlete biopics were also the third most popular among Hollywood decision-makers in the previous decade. All but one of the ’50s biopics on athletes featured the stories of male athletes. None of those in the ’40s featured women. The Jackie Robinson Story (Eagle Lion Prod. — 1950) starred Jackie Robinson and Ruby Dee in a “biographical film about Jackie’s years as the first Negro in organized baseball.” California native Alfred E. Green directed.679 Hollywood had been releasing motion picture biographies in the U.S. since 1912 (for some 38 years) before it could produce the first about an African-American. Even then, this film had to be produced by an independent, not one of the major studio/distributors. The following year (1951), in Jim Thorpe — All American (Warner Bros.), a native American “Indian becomes a star footballer, but later succumbs to drink.”680 The script was written by Douglas Morrow and New York-born Everett Freeman (who also produced). Michael Curtiz (born in Budapest of Jewish parentage)681 directed. The film starred New York-born Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford (originally from Massachusetts), Steve Cochran (from California), Phyllis Thaxter (Maine) and Dick Wesson. In Follow the Sun (TCF — 1951) “Ben Hogan, a professional golfer (originally from Stephenville, Texas), recovers slowly and painfully from a car crash and for the first time gains the affection of the crowds.”682 In his later years Hogan “was associated with the Hershey, Pennsylvania, Country Club.”683 The script was written by Fredrick Hazlitt Brennan. Chicago-born Sidney Lanfield directed for producer Samuel G. Engle (originally from New York). The film starred Glenn Ford, Anne Baxter, Dennis O’Keefe, June Havoc, Larry Keating, Nana Bryant, and Roland Winters.684 In The Winning Team (Warner Bros. — 1952) a “telephone linesman (Grover Cleveland Alexander) becomes a great baseball player despite trouble with his vision after an accident.”685 The script was written by Ted Sherdeman, Seeleg Lester and Merwin Gerard. New York-born Jewish director Lewis Seiler686 directed for the Chicago-born producer Bryan Foy (son of vaudeville entertainer Eddie Foy).687 The film starred Doris Day, Ronald Reagan, Frank Lovejoy, Eve Miller, James Millican and Russ Tamblyn. Also in 1952, The Pride of St. Louis starred Dan Dailey, Joanne Dru and Richard Crenna in a “biography of Dizzy Dean, baseball pitcher extraordinary (and), character de luxe.”688 Dean “injured himself and became a commentator.”689 Canadian-born Harmon Jones directed for producer Jules Schermer. The script was written by Herman J. Mankiewicz (born in New 65

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York to assimilated German-Jewish immigrants).690 The film starred Dan Dailey, Joanne Dru, Richard Haydn, Richard Crenna and Hugh Sanders.691 Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) provided what Steven Scheuer described as a “highly fictionalized . . . biography of (Australian) swimmer Annette Kellerman.”692 Halliwell’s also called the film “inaccurate.”693 New Yorkborn Everett Freeman wrote the script for director Mervyn LeRoy (born in San Francisco of Jewish parents).694 New York-born Arthur Hornblow Jr. produced the film which starred Esther Williams, Victor Mature, Walter Pidgeon, David Brian, Jewish actor Jesse White,695 Maria Tallchief and Howard Freeman. The following year, UA’s release The Joe Louis Story provided a screen biography of the famous boxer. Louis was born in a “sharecropper’s shack in Lexington, Alabama . . . [but] grew up in Detroit.” He started boxing in the Golden Gloves program and went on to become the heavyweight champion of the world. Among six of the world champions he knocked out during his professional career was the Jewish* boxer Max Baer696 who wore “a Star of David on his trunks.”697 Robert Gordon directed the film. Then in 1954, The Bob Mathias Story (Allied Artists) presented the “biography of an American athlete who won the Decathlon in the 1952 Olympics.”698 The script was written by Jewish writer Richard Collins.699 Francis D. Lyon directed. The film starred Bob Mathias, Ward Bond, Melba Mathias, Ann Doran and Howard Petrie. Two years later, in the 1956 MGM release Somebody Up There Likes Me, an “East Side kid with reform school experience becomes middleweight boxing champion of the world.” Halliwell’s describes it as “fantasia on the life of Rocky Graziano.”700 The film starred Paul Newman (Jewish father and Catholic mother of Hungarian descent),701 as Rocky. New York-born Everett Sloane was featured as the Jewish character Irving Cohen “the crusty old pro who manages the career and life of (the) difficult boxer.”702 The Italian-born Pier Angeli played Norma Unger, Rocky’s wife. As Patricia Erens points out, the “two latter characters are clearly identified as Jewish [in the film], as is a minor figure named Benny [played by Jewish actor Joseph Buloff],703 who owns a neighborhood candy store and serves as Rocky’s moral spokesman.” Erens goes on to say that “[t]ogether, the Jewish characters in this film serve as moral guides who keep Rocky on the straight and narrow.”704 The script was written by New York-born Jewish writer Ernest Lehman.705 Jewish director Robert Wise706 (from Indiana) directed for producer Charles Schnee (originally from Connecticut). Eileen Heckart, Sal Mineo, Harold J. Stone and Robert Loggia also appeared.707

* Max Baer’s “claim to have been Jewish has been questioned.” [Wigoder, 106.]

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In the 1957 Paramount release Fear Strikes Out, a “father wants his son to become a professional baseball player, and the son (Jim Piersall) in consequence suffers a nervous breakdown.”708 The script was written by Ted Berkman and Raphael Blau. Robert Mulligan directed for producer Alan Pakula (born in New York of Polish-Jewish parents).709 The film starred Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, Norma Moore and Perry Wilson. Monkey on My Back (1957) was a “biography of (Jewish) boxer Barney Ross (Barnet Rosofsky), his early rise to fame in the ring, his high-spending days as a gambler, his heroic career in the Marines during WWII, and his narcotics addiction and struggle to kick the habit.”710 Ross was a hero at Guadalcanal. He was “given morphine to relieve malaria and became addicted.”711 As Erens points out, “[n]o direct mention is made (in the film) of (Ross’ Jewishness) . . . although a few references suggest his ethnic origins.”712 On the other hand, as Howard Sachar reports, the welterweight champion insisted in real life “on wearing a Star of David on his trunks.”713 The script for the film was written by Crane Wilbur, Anthony Vieller and Peter Dudley from the experiences of Barney Ross. The film starred Cameron Mitchell, Dianne Foster, Jack Albertson (of German-Jewish and Russian-Jewish heritage)714 and Paul Richards. The Hungarian-born Andre de Toth directed for New York-born producer Edward Small. Military — Military or military-related figures were the next most popular Hollywood selection for motion picture biographies in the ’50s with ten. In The Desert Fox (TCF — 1951) “Rommel returns, disillusioned, to Hitler’s Germany after his North African defeat, and is involved in the July plot.” Halliwell’s refers to the film as an “account of the last years of a contemporary hero.”715 Judah Gribetz reports that Rommel was part of a “group of German army officers” who attempted but failed “to assassinate Adolf Hitler” in July of 1944. Later that same year Rommel, facing a trial for his suspected involvement in the plot, committed suicide.716 Once again, the Hollywood filmmakers seem to be honoring through film a legitimate hero to many Jewish people. Georgia-born Nunnally Johnson wrote and produced. California-born Henry Hathaway (Henri Leopold de Feinnes) directed. The film starred James Mason, Jessica Tandy, Cedric Hardwicke, Jewish actor Luther Adler,717 Everett Sloane and Eduard Franz. In a 1954 MGM musical about the fall of Rome, (Jupiter’s Darling) “Hannibal falls in love with the (Roman) dictator’s fiancée” while advancing on Rome.718 New York-born Dorothy Kinglsey wrote the script and Jewish director George Sidney (of Hungarian-Jewish descent)719 directed for producer George Wells (also from New York). The film starred Esther Williams, Howard Keel (as Hannibal), George Sanders, Marge and Gower Champion, Richard Haydn and William Demarest. 67

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The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell (Warner Bros. — 1955) presented the “true story of one of the most controversial American military leaders of this country.” The film “concentrates on Billy Mitchell’s defiance of military brass when they called him a crackpot (in the early 20s) for ideas that,” according to film critic Steven Scheuer, “might have [subsequently] cut World War II in half.”720 The American general of the Army Air Service sunk “a former German battleship July 21 (1921) to prove his contention that a strategic air force makes large navies obsolete.”721 Mitchell, who grew up in Milwaukee, was “one of the first advocates of military air power.”722 But, he was “courtmartialed for accusing the war department of criminal negligence.”723 The script for the Mitchell biopic was written by Emmet Lavery and Jewish writer Milton Sperling724 (Harry Warner’s son-in-law).725 The Vienna-born Otto Preminger (of Jewish heritage)726 directed for Sperling, who also served as the producer. The film starred Gary Cooper, Jewish actor Rod Steiger,727 Ralph Bellamy, Charles Bickford, Elizabeth Montgomery and Fred Clark.728 The McConnell Story (Warner Bros. — 1955) starred Alan Ladd, June Allyson and James Whitmore in a portrayal of the “career and accidental death of a jet ace of the Korean war.”729 Steven Scheuer calls it a “romanticized story.”730 The script was written by Ted Sherdeman and Sam Rolfe. New York-born Gordon Douglas, once again directed for the German-born producer Henry Blanke. Frank Faylen and Willis Bouchey also appeared. Universal’s To Hell and Back (1955) portrayed the “war career of America’s most decorated infantryman” Audie Murphy, who later became a film star. Murphy was originally from Texas.731 The script was written by Gil Doud. Jesse Hibbs (originally from Illinois) directed for New York-born producer Aaron Rosenberg. The film starred Audie Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Charles Drake, Gregg Palmer, Jack Kelly, Paul Picerni and Susan Kohner.732 The following year (1956), the UA release Alexander the Great portrayed the “life and early death at thirty-three of the Macedonian warrior who conquered the entire known world,”733 including Israel and Judea. As Wigoder reports, in early Hellenistic Alexandria, Jews were naturalized and enjoyed full political rights. During his conquest of Persia and the taking of Babylon, Alexander’s armies included Jewish mercenaries.734 New York-born Robert Rossen (the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants)735 wrote, produced and directed. The film starred Richard Burton, Fredric March, Danielle Darrieux, Jewish actress Claire Bloom736 and Barry Jones. The 1957 UA release Saint Joan presented the “screen version of the brilliantly argumentative (George Bernard Shaw) play about the Maid of Orleans.”737 Orleans is the city of north-central France on the Loire River south-southwest of Paris that Joan of Arc liberated from the British (with a small army). Thus, she was called the Maid of Orleans.738 The script for 68

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this biopic was written by Graham Greene. The Jewish producer/director/ actor Otto Preminger739 produced and directed. The film starred Jean Seberg, Jewish actor Anton Walbrook,740 Richard Widmark, John Gielgud, Felix Aylmer, Harry Andrews and Richard Todd. An earlier version of the Joan of Arc story was released in 1948 as Joan of Arc. The 1958 MGM release I Accuse! dealt once again “with European antiSemitism of an earlier era.”741 Although not exactly a biopic about a military figure in the more narrow sense, the “drama is based on the court-martial and reinstatement of Captain Alfred Dreyfus,” an officer in the French military. Dreyfus was “tried for treason (in 1894 Paris) and later defended by Emile Zola.”742 As Patricia Erens points out, Warner Brothers had treated the subject once before in the 1937 release The Life of Emile Zola. However, the first film highlighted the principled efforts of Zola, whereas the later work focuses on the victimization of Dreyfus. In addition, Erens reports that “whereas the earlier film made a mention of the fact that Dreyfus was a Jew, this film portrays that as a central element in the case.”743 The script was written by New York-born Gore Vidal for producer Sam Zimbalist (also from New York). The Puerto Rican-born Jose Ferrer directed and starred. Vienna-born Jewish actor Anton Walbrook (originally Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbruck),744 Emlyn Williams, Viveca Lindfors, David Farrar, Leo Gen, Jewish actor Herbert Lom (born in Prague),745 Harry Andrews, Felix Aylmer, George Coulouris, and Donald Wolfit also appeared in this film. In 1959, John Paul Jones starred Robert Stack in the Warner Bros. screen “biography of America’s first naval hero.”746 The young Scotsman performed his heroics at the time of the American revolution. Of course, Hollywood films about this significant historical conflict have been rare. Australianborn John Farrow wrote and directed for producer Samuel Bronston. The film also starred Charles Coburn, Bette Davis, Marisa Pavan, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Peter Cushing, Bruce Cabot and Macdonald Carey. Also in 1959, The Diary of Anne Frank (TCF) told the story of “a family of Dutch Jews . . .” who hid “in an attic from the Nazis (in 1942); just before the war ends they are found and sent to concentration camps.” Although the subject of the film was not a military figure, she was the victim of Nazi soldiers. The film was “based on the famous diaries of a girl who died at Auschwitz.”747 The script was written by New Jersey-born Frances Goodrich and New York-born Albert Hackett. California native George Stevens produced and directed. The film starred Millie Perkins, Jewish actors Joseph Schildkraut,748 Lou Jacobi749 and Ed Wynn,750 Jewish actress Shelley Winters (Schrift), Richard Beymer, Gusti Huber and Diane Baker. Criminals — Following close behind the military or military-related figures in terms of the number of motion picture biographies of the ’50s is 69

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the subject category of criminals, with nine such films. In 1950, The Great Jewel Robber (Warner Bros.) presented the “exploits of real-life society thief Gerald Graham Dennis.” The script was written by New York-born Borden Chase (Frank Fowler). Peter Godfrey directed. The film starred David Brian, Marjorie Reynolds, John Archer and Jacqueline de Wit.751 In the 1951 Universal release Little Egypt, an “American girl poses as an Egyptian princess at the Chicago World’s Fair.” The film was “based on a factual swindle involving a phoney Nile reclamation project.”752 The script was written by Oscar Brodney and Doris Gilbert. New York-born Frederick de Cordova directed. The film starred Rhonda Fleming, Mark Stevens, Nancy Guild, Charles Drake, Tom D’Andrea, Minor Watson and Steve Geray.753 In Carbine Williams (MGM — 1952) an “imprisoned bootlegger perfects a new gun and is pardoned.” Halliwell’s states that the film is a “fictionalization of a true story.”754 The script was written by Art Cohn. Richard Thorpe directed for producer Armand Deutsch. The film starred James Stewart, Jean Hagen, Wendell Corey, Carl Benton Reid, Paul Stewart, Otto Hutlett and James Arness.755 Then in 1955, in The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (TCF), “a rich unstable man shoots his mistress’s former lover (in New York at the turn of the century).” The film was based on the “celebrated murder case in which the victim was a famous architect, Stanford White.”756 The script was written by Vienna-born Walter Reisch and New York-born Charles Brackett (who also produced). New York-born Richard Fleischer (son of Jewish cartoonist Max Fleischer)757 directed. The film starred Ray Milland, Farley Granger, Joan Collins, Glenda Farrell, Jewish actor Luther Adler,758 Cornelia Otis Skinner, Philip Reed and John Hoyt. The 1957 UA release Baby Face Nelson presented an “account of the life of a thirties public enemy . . .”759 one of the so-called automobile bandits “who enlivened the gloom of the Depression by giving local banks the treatment many people thought they deserved.”760 The script was written by Irving Shulman and California native Daniel Mainwaring. Chicago-born Jewish director Donald Siegel761 directed for producer Al Zimbalist. The film starred Mickey Rooney, Cedric Hardwicke, Carolyn Jones, Chris Dark, Ted de Corsia, Leo Gordon, John Hoyt, Anthony Caruso and Jack Elam.762 In the 1958 UA release I Want to Live!, a “vagrant prostitute is executed in the gas chamber despite growing doubt as to her guilt.” The film portrayed the “Barbara Graham case . . . adapted to provide a . . . [liberal] tirade against capital punishment.”763 This film is part of a broader and consistent Hollywood liberal political slant in its motion pictures. The script was written by Nelson Gidding and Don Mankiewicz (born in Berlin, the son of Herman J. Mankiewicz and of German-Jewish descent).764 Indiana-born 70

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Jewish director Robert Wise765 directed for the Jewish producer Walter Wanger (Feuchtwanger).766 The film starred Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent, Vienna-born Jewish actor Theodore Bikel (Meir),767 Wesley Lau and Philip Coolidge. That same year (1958), in The Bonnie Parker Story (American International), a “waitress joins up with a cheap crook in a series of bank raids.”768 The film is a “[b]lood spattered story of the infamous gal desperado of the public enemy era of the 1930s.”769 The script was written by Stan Sheptner. Oklahomaborn William Witney directed for producer James H. Nicholson and Iowaborn Jewish producer Samuel Z. Arkoff.770 The film starred Dorothy Provine, Jack Hogan, Richard Bakalyn and Joseph Turkel.771 Also in 1958, Paramount released The Buccaneer, a remake “of the 1938 film on pirate Jean Lafitte.”772 As you may recall, “Lafitte was the French pirate leader who aided U.S. troops in the War of 1812 in return for an official pardon for his crimes.”773 The script was written by Jesse L. Lasky, Jr. (the son of Jewish film pioneer Jesse L. Lasky).774 Mexican-born Anthony Quinn (of Irish-Mexican parentage)775 directed for producers Cecil B. de Mille (Episcopalian father and mother of Jewish descent)776 and Henry Wilcoxon (born in the West Indies to British parents).777 The film starred Yul Brynner, Jewish actress Claire Bloom,778 Charles Boyer, Inger Stevens and Henry Hull. In 1959, the Allied Artists release Al Capone provided an “account of Chicago’s most famous gangster, up to his arrest for income tax evasion.”779 As Albert Fried reports, “the Jewish ‘Twentieth Ward Group’ . . .” in Chicago whose members included Benjamin and Samuel Jacobson, Hershel and Max Miller, Max Eisen, Isadore Goldberg, David Edelman and Samuel Morton, eventually lost out to the more powerful Sicilian dominated neighborhood mobs commanded by Johnny Torrio and Al Capone.780 Pennsylvania-born Richard Wilson directed this version of the Al Capone story for producers John H. Burrows and Leonard J. Ackerman. The film starred Jewish actors Rod Steiger,781 Nehemiah Persoff (born in Jerusalem) and New York-born Jewish actor Martin Balsam.782 Also appearing were Fay Spain, Murvyn Vue, James Gregory and Joe de Santis.783 Marvin Wald and Henry Greenberg wrote the script. European Royalty — Motion picture biographies focusing on European royalty made a slight comeback in the 1950s. Seven of such biopics appeared during that ten-year period as compared to two in the ’40s. As noted earlier, European royalty biopics led the field in the ’30s. MGM’s 1953 release Young Bess presents the “early years of Elizabeth I and her romance with Tom Seymour.” Halliwell’s calls the film “historical fiction.”784 This is the third Hollywood representation of Queen Elizabeth on the screen, a woman whose policies were detrimental to the Jews 71

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of England. Presumably her portrayal was not positive. The script was written by London-born Arthur Wimperis and Jan Lustig. New York-born Jewish director George Sidney785 directed for San Francisco-born producer Sidney Franklin. The film starred Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton, Kay Walsh and Deborah Kerr.786 The 1954 20th Century-Fox release Desiree was described by Halliwell’s as a “[f]ictionalized biopic of one of Napoleon’s mistresses.”787 It is also the fifth film to touch on the life of the one-time French emperor, who (as noted earlier) took a number of actions in favor of European Jews.788 The script for the film was written by Kentucky-born Jewish writer Daniel Taradash.789 Jewish director Henry Koster790 directed for New York-born producer Julian Blaustein. The film starred Jean Simmons, Marlon Brando, Merle Oberon, Michael Rennie and Cameron Mitchell. Also in 1954, the earlier Warner (1924) version of Beau Brummell was remade by MGM, so once again, a “Regency dandy enjoys a close relationship with the Prince of Wales, and when this is eventually withdrawn he dies in penury.”791 Steven Scheuer describes the subject of this biopic as “one of England’s most colorful figures.”792 The script was written by Karl Tunberg (originally from Washington state). German-born Curtis Bernhardt (who emigrated to France, then Hollywood, after the Nazis came to power)793 directed for New York-born producer Sam Zimbalist. The film starred Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor, (who converted to Judaism)794 Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, James Donald, James Hayter and Noel Willman.795 The following year, in Lady Godiva (Universal — 1955) “Lord Leofric tames a Saxon shrew but she suspects his motives and rides naked through the streets of (11th century) Coventry (England) to prove the loyalty of the Saxons.”796 The script was written by Oscar Brodney and Jewish writer Harry Ruskin.797 Los Angeles native Arthur Lubin directed for producer Robert Arthur. The film starred George Nader, Maureen O’Hara, Victor McLaglen, Eduard Franz and Torin Thatcher. Also in 1955, the 20th Century-Fox release The Virgin Queen presented the fourth treatment of Queen Elizabeth I on the screen. This version focused on the relationship of the English Queen and Sir Walter Raleigh. Halliwell’s describes the biopic as an “unhistorical charade”.798 From an historical point of view, Wigoder reports that in 1584 an “expedition sent by . . . Raleigh . . .” landed in Virginia and his colonists settled on Roanoke Island the next year. Wigoder also reports that “Joachim Gaunse, a (Jewish) mining technologist from Prague . . .” went to America “to serve as the metallurgist at Roanoke Island . . .” the year the colony was founded and that Gaunse was the “first recorded Jew in English-speaking North America.”799 The script for the film was written by Harry Brown and Mindret Lord. Jewish director 72

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Henry Koster800 directed for New York-born producer Charles Brackett. The film starred Bette Davis, Richard Todd, Joan Collins, Herbert Marshall, Jay Robinson, Dan O’Herlihy, Robert Douglas and Romney Brent.801 In Anastasia (TCF–1956) “a group of exiled White Russians (in 1928 Paris) claim to have found the living daughter of the Tsar, presumed executed in 1918; but the claimant is a fake schooled by a general, with whom she falls in love.” Halliwell’s describes this biopic as “light on history”.802 The script was written by New York-born Jewish writer Arthur Laurents.803 Jewish director Anatole Litvak804 directed for New York-born producer Maurice “Buddy” Adler. The film starred Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner, Helen Hayes, Martita Hunt, Jewish actor Akim Tamiroff,805 Felix Aylmer and Ivan Desny (born Ivan Desnitsky in Peking to Russian émigrés fleeing the Revolution).806 In the 1956 MGM release Diane, a “King’s son [was] about to be married to an Italian princess [but becomes] . . . enamoured of a glamorous French countess.”807 The film was purportedly a biopic of Diane de Poitier who became “a consultant to the king and [fell] . . . in love with his son.”808 The script was written by Christopher Isherwood. New Jersey-born David Miller directed for Jewish producer Edwin H. Knopf.809 The film starred Lana Turner, Roger Moore, Cedric Hardwicke, Petro Armendariz and Maris Pavan.810 Writers — The writer category for motion picture biographies increased by one (from four to five) for the 1950s (as compared to the 1940s). In 1952, Hans Christian Andersen (RKO) portrayed the “storytelling cobbler [who] leaves his village to make shoes for the prima ballerina in Copenhagen.”811 The “Danish writer was known for his fairy tales.”812 The script was written by New York-born Jewish writer Moss Hart.813 Charles Vidor (born in Budapest) directed for the Jewish producer Samuel Goldwyn (Gelbfisz).814 The film starred Jewish actor Danny Kaye (David Daniel Kaminski), Zizi Jeanmaire, Farley Granger, John Qualen and Joey Walsh. In 1956, The Barretts of Wimpole Street (MGM) was a “remake of the luminous love story between Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning . . .”815 “with emphasis [this time] on the Freudian father-daughter relationship.”816 Again, it is always difficult to determine after the decision and with any certainty, what factors were involved in the motivation behind a given motion picture, but as noted earlier, among the relevant factors in this instance may be the facts that Browning’s writing was influenced by a rabbi, and Browning was considered “strongly sympathetic to the Jews.”817 This version of the story was also directed by San Francisco native Sidney Franklin, this time for New York-born producer Sam Zimbalist. The film starred Jennifer Jones (who was married to the Jewish former MGM studio executive David O. Selznick at the time),818 along with Bill Travers, John Gielgud, and Virginia McKenna. 73

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The 1956 Paramount release The Vagabond King portrayed the “life and loves of French medieval poet and rebel François Villon.” The script was written by Chicago-born Ken Englund and Noel Langley (from South Africa). Jewish director Michael Curtiz819 directed for producer Pat Duggan. The film starred Oreste, Kathryn Grayson, Rita Moreno, Walter Hampden, Leslie Nielsen, Cedric Hardwicke and William Prince.820 In The Wings of Eagles (MGM — 1957), a “navy flier (Lt. Cmdr. Frank ‘Spig’ Wead) breaks his neck in an accident and on recovery becomes a Hollywood writer.”821 The film is a “tribute to . . . Wead’s courage.”822 He was portrayed by John Wayne. The script was written by Frank Fenton and William Wister Haines. John Ford (born Sean Aloysius O’Feeney in Maine) directed for Connecticut-born producer Charles Schnee. The film also starred Maureen O’Hara, Ward Bond, Dan Dailey, Ken Curtis, Edmund Lowe, Kenneth Tobey and Sig Rumann (born Siegfried Albon Rummann in Germany).823 The 1959 20th Century-Fox release Beloved Infidel portrayed F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “last years as a Hollywood scenarist, and his torrid love affair with columnist Sheila Graham.”824 As the movie depicts, Graham, a former British chorus girl, failed to cure Fitzgerald of alcoholism.825 As portrayed in his novels, Fitzgerald’s attitudes towards Jews was somewhat ambivalent. Monroe Stahr, hero of his unfinished novel The Last Tycoon (1941), is described by Howard Sachar as a “poignant fictional rendering” of the Jewish studio executive Irving Thalberg (MGM’s chief of production). On the other hand, as Sachar points out, there is little to praise in another of Fitzgerald’s Jewish characters, Meyer Wolfsheim of The Great Gatsby (1925). The Wolfsheim character is supposedly patterned after the notorious Jewish gambler Arnold Rothstein. Wolfsheim is portrayed as “a vulgar ‘flat-nosed Jew,’ intent only on using Gatsby as his front.”826 The script for Beloved Infidel was written by Russian-born Sy Bartlett (Sacha Baraniev). Virginia-born Henry King directed for Jewish producer Jerome Irving “Jerry” Wald.827 The film starred Gregory Peck, Deborah Kerr, Eddie Albert, Philip Ober, Herbert Rudley, Karin Booth and Ken Scott.828 Law Enforcement Figures — The Hollywood motion picture biographies for law enforcement figures is a new entry in the biopic stakes, but even so, this new category still fell short of keeping up with the biopics featuring criminals during the 1950s. Whereas Hollywood produced or released nine biopics focusing on the lives of criminal figures during the 1950s, only four law enforcement figures were the subjects of biopics during this same period. In the 1951 Warner Bros. release I Was a Communist for the FBI, “Matt Cvetic, a Pittsburgh steel worker, is actually an FBI agent working undercover to trap communists.”829 According to Patricia Erens a scene was “inserted late in preproduction by [the Jewish studio executive Jack Warner showing] 74

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Communists . . . implicating innocent Jews by wrapping lead pipes with Yiddish newspapers.” Again, according to Erens, the “studio had [already] been careful to avoid including any Jewish names among the Communist agitators . . .” but Warner felt the inserted scene would be “a clever way. . .” to demonstrate that Jews and Communists were not “synonymous.”830 The script for this film was written by Crane Wilbur and Matt Cvetic. Gordon Douglas directed for producer Bryan Foy. The film starred Frank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart, Phil Carey, James Millican, Richard Webb, Paul Picerni and Konstantin Shayne. This Warner transaction provides additional evidence that those who control the filmmaking process often use the medium to communicate what they consider to be an important message. The messages communicated through film are sometimes subtle, and the film itself is always primarily characterized as entertainment, which makes the messages themselves somewhat akin to propaganda, and the film a propaganda vehicle. This all points to the importance of understanding that movies, to a large extent, tend to mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers, thus if we want more diversity in the messages being communicated, we must insist on more diversity at the top in Hollywood. In 1954, Duffy of San Quentin (Warner Bros.) told the story of a little known “elderly warden (who) institutes prison reforms which cause him problems.”831 The script was written and directed by Walter Doniger, who also co-produced with Berman Swartz. The film starred Paul Kelly, Louis Hayward, Maureen O’Sullivan, Joanne Dru, George Macready and Horace MacMahon. In 1958, Betsy Palmer and Jack Lord starred in The True Story of Lynn Stuart (Columbia). This supposed biopic was about a little-known “woman who works undercover for the cops.”832 New York-born Jewish director Lewis Seiler833 directed. Rounding out the biopics of the ’50s portraying law enforcement subjects, Damn Citizen (Universal — 1958) starred Keith Andes, Maggie Hayes and Gene Evans in a story (based on fact) “of a World War II vet who is given a free hand to clean up crime and corruption in a state police organization.” Robert Gordon directed.834 Artists — The Hollywood biopic category of artists first appeared in the 1950s with three offerings. UA’s 1952 release Moulin Rouge presented a “[b]iography of painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, whose physical deformity caused his despair in love, and who frequented the more notorious quarters of Paris.”835 The “dramatic emphasis . . .” in the film was “on the love affairs of the dwarfish artist.” The movie was further described by Halliwell’s as a “[f]ictional biopic.”836 The script was written by Nevada-born John Huston 75

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and Anthony Veiller (originally from New York). Huston also directed for British-born producer Jack Clayton. The film starred Puerto Rican-born Jose Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Katherine Kath, Colette Marchand and Suzanne Flon. Lust for Life (MGM — 1956) starred Jewish actor Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch)837 and Anthony Quinn in a “film about the turbulent personal life of artist Vincent van Gogh.”838 The Dutch post-impressionist painter’s “long struggle with depression ended in suicide.”839 As Wigoder notes, Jewish art publisher Paul Cassirer established a publishing house in Germany in 1908 to publish the works of modern artists and his Berlin art gallery was the first to exhibit in Germany the paintings of van Gogh, among others.840 The script for the film was written by Norman Corwin. Chicago-born Vincente Minnelli directed for producer John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann in Bucharest, to a Jewish Alsatian father and English mother).841 James Donald, Pamela Brown, Everett Sloane, Niall MacGinnis and Noel Purcell also appeared. In the 1959 UA release The Naked Maja (a U.S./Italian production), “[p]easant Francisco Goya becomes a famous painter through the influence of the Duchess of Alba”842 with whom he was romantically involved.843 Goya was a “Spanish painter and etcher whose art reflected the political and social turmoil of his times.”844 The Duchess was married to the Spanish “captain general of the Netherlands” from 1567 through 1573 who used his authority “to repress the Dutch revolt against Spain.” In the process he “executed some 18,000 people and confiscated their property.”845 According to Judah Gribetz, the “leaders of the Netherlands revolution against Spain turn[ed] to the Jews for material assistance.”846 The script for the film was written by Giorgio Prosperi, Norman Corwin, Jewish writer Albert Lewin847 and New York-born Oscar Saul. Jewish director Henry Koster848 (born Hermann Kosterlitz in Berlin) directed for producer Goffredo Lombardo. The film starred Anthony Franciosa, Ava Gardner, Amedeo Nazzari, Gino Cervi, Lea Padavoni and Massimo Serrato. In other categories, Hollywood offered a pair of biopics on children, along with medical, religious and political figures in the 1950s. Children — In the 1950 20th Century-Fox release Cheaper by the Dozen, “[e]fficiency expert Frank Gilbreth and his wife Lillian have twelve children, a fact which requires mathematical conduct of all their lives.”849 The script was written by Georgia-born Lamar Trotti, who also produced. Tennesseeborn Walter Lang directed. The film starred CliftonWebb, Myrna Loy, Jeanne Crain, Edgar Buchanan, Barbara Bates, Betty Lynn, Mildred Natwick and Sara Allgood.850 The 1952 20th Century-Fox release Belles on Their Toes presented the “[f]urther adventures in the growing up of the twelve Gilbreth children.” 76

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The film was a sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen.851 The script was written by Jewish writers Phoebe and Henry Ephron.852 Pennsylvania-born Henry Levin directed for New York-born producer Samuel G. Engel. The film starred Myrna Loy, Jeanne Crain, Debra Paget, Jeffrey Hunter, Edward Arnold, Hoagy Carmichale, Barbara Bates and Robert Arthur. Medical — In 1952, MGM’s The Girl in White told the “story of Dr. Emily Duning, the first woman to become an intern in one of New York’s hospitals.”853 The script was written by Irgard Von Cube and Allen Vincent. Illinois-born John Sturges directed for producer Armand Deutsch. The film starred June Alyson, Arthur Kennedy, Garry Merrill, Mildred Dunnock, the Jewish actor Jesse White (Weidenfeld), Marilyn Erskine.854 The 1957 20th Century-Fox release The Three Faces of Eve told the story of a “psychiatrist [who] discovers that a female patient has three distinct personalities: a drab housewife, a good-time girl and a mature sophisticated woman.”As noted earlier, the “film’s box office success was sufficient to start a schizophrenia cycle,”855 a reminder that the motion picture is a powerful form of communication and that films do influence behavior. Georgia-born Nunnally Johnson produced, wrote and directed. The film starred Joanne Woodward, Jewish actor Lee J. Cobb (Leo Jacoby),856 David Wayne, Nancy Kulp and Edwin Jerome.857 Political — The 1953 20th Century-Fox release The President’s Lady is the third Hollywood film touching on the life of Andrew Jackson, following The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) and The Buccaneer (1938). This film provides an account of the early career of the Democratic president, a “lawyer whose frail wife died” shortly after he took office.858 Although it is difficult to ascertain the motives behind Hollywood’s fondness for portraying Andrew Jackson’s life on film, Howard Sachar reports that “Jews continued to identify with the Democrats . . . during the Jacksonian era” and that specifically during the Jackson administration, one Mordecai Manuel Noah (son of a Sephardic mother and a German-born Ashkenazi who had fought in the Revolutionary War) was rewarded “with a succession of patronage jobs in New York: as customs collector, surveyor, sheriff.” Noah was also one of several early Jewish-Americans who had sought to establish a Jewish “homeland” on American soil, as Sachar states, possibly and at least partly for the purpose of “real estate speculation”.859 In any case, the script for this latest film about Jackson was written by John Patrick (born John Patrick Goggan in Kentucky). Pennsylvania-born Henry Levin directed for New York-born producer Sol C. Siegel. The film starred Charlton Heston, Susan Hayward, John McIntire, Fay Bainter and Carl Betz. Beau James (Paramount — 1957) portrayed the “vague crooked career of Jimmy Walker, mayor of New York in the twenties.” Halliwell’s calls it a 77

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“romanticized biopic.”860 As Howard Sachar reports, “the reformist campaign that drove the mayor to flee to Europe” was launched by the Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, of the New York Free Synagogue.861 It would be just as appropriate, if not more so, for a rabbi to launch a campaign to reform the Hollywoodbased U.S. film industry (see Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry). The script for the film was written by Jack Rose (born in Warsaw) and New York-born Melville Shavelson (producer of How to Make a Jewish Movie), who also directed. The film starred Bob Hope, Paul Douglas, Vera Miles, Alexis Smith, Darren McGavin, Joe Mantell and Walter Catlett. Guest stars included Jewish comedian Jack Benny (Benjamin Kubelsky),862 Jewish entertainer George Jessel863 and Jewish performer Jimmy Durante,864 with narration by the Jewish journalist Walter Winchell.865 Jack Rose also produced. Religious Figures — The 1955 release A Man Called Peter portrayed the “life of Peter Marshall, a Scottish clergyman who became chaplain to the U.S. Senate.” The script was written by Eleanore Griffin. Jewish director Henry Koster866 directed for New York-born producer Samuel G. Engel. The film starred Richard Todd, Jean Peters, Marjorie Rambeau, Jill Esmond, Les Tremayne and Robert Burton.867 The following year (1956), in The Ten Commandments, Paramount again portrayed the “life of Moses and his leading of the Israelites to the Promised Land.”868 The script was written by Aeneas Mackenzie, Jesse L. Lasky, Jr. (the son of Jewish film pioneer Jesse L. Lasky869 who produced the original film version), Jack Gariss and Frederic M. Frank. Cecil B. de Mille (Episcopalian father/Jewish mother)870 again directed. De Mille also produced with Henry Wilcoxon, who was born in the West Indies to British parents. The film starred Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Jewish actor Edward G. Robinson,871 Anne Baxter, Nina Foch, Yvonne de Carlo and John Derek. The balance of the biopic categories for the ’50s were all singles, including an abolitionist, a Persian leader, Asian royalty, an aviator, a diplomat, a Greek mythological figure, a judge, a Mexican revolutionary, a journalist and a spy. Abolitionist — In the 1955 Allied Artists release Seven Angry Men, the American abolitionist “John Brown determines to abolish slavery by violence.” The film was a “biopic of the celebrated 19th-century fanatic and his sons.”872 In 1859 Brown and 21 followers “captured the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry (West Virginia) as part of an effort to liberate Southern slaves. His group was defeated, and Brown was hanged after a trial in which he won sympathy as an abolitionist martyr.”873 The script was written by Daniel B. Ullman. Charles Marquis Warren directed for producer Vincent M. Fennelly. The film starred Raymond Masey, Jeffrey Hunter, Larry Pennell, Debra Paget, Leo Gordon, John Smith, James Best and Dennis Weaver.874 78

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Arab/Persian Figure — Hollywood provides a rare biopic focusing on the life of an historical Muslim figure (AD 1050–1123), in the 1957 Paramount release Omar Khayyam. In this film, the Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer (a devout Sufi Muslim, far from the mainstream, and whose ancestors may been Arab, at that) “defends his Shah against the Assassins.” Halliwell’s refers to this supposed biopic as an “Arabian Nights fantasy.”875 As Judah Gribetz reports, Khayyam was appointed in 1074 to reform the calendar. A dispute with rabbinic Jews over the dates of the festival calendar had broken out some years earlier.876 The script for the film was written by the British-born Barre Lyndon (Alfred Edgar). German-born William Dieterle, the man who once said, “I believe that a picture’s basic idea is more important than the story that is told,”877 directed for producer Frank Freeman, Jr. The film starred Cornel Wilde, Michael Rennie, Raymond Massey, John Derek, Yma Sumac, Sebastian Cabot and Debra Paget. Asian Royalty — Another rarity, the Hollywood biopic presenting aspects of the life of any Asian figure, much less royalty, appeared in 1956 in the form of The King and I (TCF). The film was a “[m]usical remake of Anna and the King of Siam from the highly successful stage production.” The script was written by New York-born Jewish writer Ernest Lehman.878 Tennessee-born Walter Lang directed for New York-born producer Charles Brackett. The film starred Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, Rita Moreno, Martin Benson, Alan Mowbray, Geoffrey Toone and Terry Saunders.879 Aviator — The 1957 biopic The Spirit of St. Louis (Warner Bros.) follows two other aviator biopics in the ’40s. The film starred James Stewart “as Charles Lindbergh” in an “account of his early life and his historic trans-Atlantic solo flight.”880 “In 1927 Charles Lindbergh [flew] . . . a specially constructed plane 3,600 miles nonstop from New York to Paris in 33 ½ hours.”881 Aside from his flying exploits, however, Lindbergh spoke in September of 1941 “on behalf of the America First Committee at Des Moines, Iowa,” charging “that the three most important groups pressing the U.S. toward war [were] . . . the British, the Jews, and the Roosevelt administration.” He went on to say that the “Jews are the most dangerous because of ‘their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government.”882 So, in this situation, we have an historical subject being portrayed in a biopic by members of one of the groups maligned by the subject. Billy Wilder (who went on to be considered one of the leading Jewish directors)883 wrote the script (with Wendell Mayes) and directed for producer Leyland Hayward (of Nebraska). Murray Hamilton and Marc Connelly were also featured in the film. Diplomat — In the 1958 20th Century-Fox release The Barbarian and the Geisha, the “first U.S. diplomat to visit Japan (in 1856) meets local opposition 79

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but is helped by a geisha.”884 According to George Custen, the film presents Japan as an “outmoded resister . . . to the voice of American modernity” as John Wayne outwits the Japanese diplomatically.885 The script was written by Charles Grayson. John Huston directed for producer Eugene Frenke. The film also starred Eiko Ando, Jewish actor Sam Jaffe886 and So Yamamura.887 Greek Mythology — In the only example of a Hollywood motion picture biography focusing on Greek culture to this point in the history of Hollywood, Helen of Troy (Warner Bros. — 1955) portrayed the kidnapping of Helen by Paris and her recapture through use of the Trojan Horse.888 As you may recall, Paris was the “prince of Troy (of Greek mythology) whose abduction of Helen provoked the Trojan War.”889 As noted in this book’s companion volume, Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies, during the time of the Roman Empire “the Greeks, who controlled the cultural policies . . . afforded no recognition at all to the Hebrew language and culture.”890 This glaring omission from the hundreds of Hollywood biopics effectively serves as a bit of cultural tit for tat. The script for this biopic was written by John Twist and Hugh Gray. The Jewish producer/director Robert Wise891 (originally from Indiana) produced and directed. The film starred Rosanna Podesta, Jacques Sernas, Cedric Hardwicke, Niall MacGinnis, Stanley Baker and Nora Swinburne. Judge — The 1950 MGM release The Magnificent Yankee essentially told “the story of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Supreme Court justice and man of legal astuteness.”892 However, an “important subplot (and possible motivation for producing this film) concerned Holmes’ (Louis Calhern) efforts to place his close friend, Louis Brandeis (played by Eduard Franz), on the Supreme Court.”893 As Patricia Erens reports, “[b]ecause of . . . interest in civil rights issues, the producers enlarged the role of Brandeis for the screen.” The film thus “documents Brandeis’s fight for a position on the bench” and goes so far as to suggest that anti-Semitism may have played a part in Congressional opposition to the nomination. Brandeis finally won “in 1916, thus becoming the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice.”894 Illinois-born John Sturges directed for producer Armand Deutsch. The script was written by Emmet Lavery. The film starred Louis Calhern, Ann Harding, Eduard Franz, Philip Ober, Richard Anderson and Edith Evanson.895 Mexican Revolutionary — Another rarity, the Hollywood biopic focusing on the life of a Mexican (or any Latino for that matter) appeared in the 1952 20th Century-Fox release Viva Zapata! In this film, the “Mexican revolutionary (Emiliano Zapata) is finally betrayed by a friend.”896 One earlier film focusing on another Mexican revolutionary Viva Villa! preceded in 1934. Thus, to this point in the history of Hollywood motion picture biographies, only two Mexicans have been the subjects of such motion pictures, and 80

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both of those were revolutionaries. The script for this later film was written by California native John Steinbeck. Elia Kazan (born Elia Kazanjoglou in Constantinople of Greek parents) directed for producer Darryl F. Zanuck (of Swiss-Protestant background). The film starred Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, the Canadian-born Jewish actor Joseph Wiseman,897 Anthony Quinn, Arnold Moss, Margo and Frank Silvera. Journalist — Hollywood interest in journalist stories dropped from two in the ’40s to one in the ’50s. Park Row (UA — 1952) presented the “story of a crusading editor in old New York (1886) who tried to publish his paper despite opposition from a larger journal.”898 Massachusetts-born Samuel Fuller, who had worked as a copy boy on the New York Journal,899 wrote, produced and directed. The film starred Gene Evans, Mary Welch, Belva Kovacs, Herbert Heyes and Forrest Taylor.900 Spy — In Five Fingers (TCF — 1952) the “valet of the British ambassador in Ankara sells military secrets to the Germans, who pay him but never use the information.” According to Halliwell’s the film is an “adaptation of a true story of World War II.”901 The script was written by Oklahoma-born Michael Wilson. Joseph L. Mankiewicz (born in Pennsylvania to assimilated German-Jewish immigrants)902 directed for producer Otto Lang. The film starred James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie, Walter Hampden, Oscar Karlweis, Herbert Berghof, John Wenbraf and Michael Pate.903 The vast majority of the Hollywood biopics of the ’50s featured the lives of Americans. A total of 90 focused on the lives of such persons and that represented 74% of the motion picture biographies of this ten-year period. Another 24 (20%) featured Europeans. Thus, 98% of the Hollywood biopics of the decade presented either U.S. or European subjects. This dominance extended a 50-plus-year Hollywood trend. The only other geographical areas represented in these ’50s biopics were Middle Eastern countries (2), Australia (2), Asia (2) and Mexico (1). From Hollywood’s perspective, few lives of significance or entertainment value came from outside the U.S. and Europe. Once again, it is clear that movies, to a large extent, mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers. Women fared only slightly better in the 1950s as opposed to the 1940s, appearing as the subjects of 31 biopics in the more current decade, compared to 22 in the previous ten-year period — that is 23% for the ’40s to a slightly improved 26% for the ’50s. The roles of women portrayed in such movies were still not very diverse, however. Twelve were entertainers, five were royalty and four were mistresses. The ’50s biopics also provided a pair of female western heroines, two women criminals and two military-related figures (although both became victims). The remaining portrayals of women

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only produced one each of a prostitute, Greek mythical figure, swimmer, undercover cop and psychotic split personality. Only three of the ’50s biopics focused on the lives of African-Americans and these portrayals showed even less diversity than women. One featured the life of an African-American entertainer. The other two were athletes. Native Americans were featured in four biopics during the decade, but three of those were set in Westerns. The other Native American biopic subject was an athlete. The other significant continuing trend among Hollywood biopics relates to the high level of involvement of persons of Jewish heritage in the production of Hollywood motion picture biographies. During the ’50s, at least 21 (17%) of the Hollywood biopics were actually directed by persons of Jewish heritage. At least another 15 (12%) were based on scripts by Jewish writers. Still another 12 (10%) were produced by Jewish producers. All totaled, 82 (68%) of the ’50s biopics included the involvement of persons of Jewish heritage either as subjects, major characters, producers, directors, writers, actors, actresses, some combination of the above, or the subject material otherwise had some significant interest to persons of Jewish heritage which may have served as part of the motivation for producing the film. At least 10 of the biopic subjects of the decade focused on real-life Jewish figures, far more than the corresponding number of biopics featuring African-Americans, Muslims, Asians, Latinos or Native Americans. The decade of the ’50s, thus continued a long-established Hollywood trend. That is, a disproportionate number of persons of Jewish heritage are the subjects of the motion picture biographies, to the exclusion of other possible meritorious selections. In addition, a disproportionate number of persons of Jewish heritage are given the opportunity to work on such films in high level positions, to the exclusion of others who may be just as qualified if not better qualified to contribute. None of this should be surprising, however, since as demonstrated in the book Who Really Controls Hollywood, a clear majority of the top three studio executives at the major Hollywood studio/distributors have all shared a common background, which can most accurately be described as politically liberal, not very religious, Jewish males of European heritage. Since, as noted earlier, movies tend to a large extent, to mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers, no matter who has decisionmaking power in Hollywood, movies will tend to reflect their thinking. Thus, if it is considered important to the nation for this powerful form of communication to convey more diversity in thought, more diversity at the executive level in the film industry must be brought about. 82

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Chapter 5. Motion Picture Biographies of the Turbulent 1960s The production and distribution of motion picture biographies dropped off sharply in decade of the 1960s. The number of biopics peaked in the ’50s at 121. Only 32 were presented in the ’60s. Some aspects of the order of preference for Hollywood decision-makers with respect to their biopic subjects also shifted during the ’60s. Although the entertainer category continued to be the most common biopic subject for the third decade in a row, the crime figure category broke into the top three for the first time, finishing the decade in the number two position. Only one instance of the formerly popular Western, the second most popular biopic subject in both the ’40s and ’50s, appeared in the 1960s. Also, the athlete category (third in popularity both the ’40s and ’50s) disappeared altogether in the ’60s. Military figures and writers were the only other biopic subject categories appearing in more than one film for the ten-year period of the 1960s, and those categories came in third and fourth respectively. Entertainer — As the 1960s opened, Song Without End (Columbia — 1960) portrayed the “life and loves of [Hungarian composer] Franz Liszt.”904 The script was written by Oscar Millard. Charles Vidor (from Budapest) and New Yorkborn Jewish director George Cukor905 directed for Jewish producer William Goetz (son-in-law to the Jewish MGM boss Louis B. Mayer).906 The film starred Dirk Bogarde, Capucine, Genevieve Page, Patricia Morrison, Ivan Desny, Martita Hunt, Lyndon Brook and Alex Davion.907 The Jayne Mansfield Story (1960) was the “sad Hollywood tale about Jayne Mansfield, the buxom movie star who never quite made it in her career or in her marriage to muscleman Mickey Hargitay.”908 Mansfield, originally from Pennsylvania, is portrayed in a negative manner, “as a ruthless starlet who puts publicity stunts and fame ahead of all other life goals.”909 Dick Lowry directed.910 83

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Two years later (1963), The Waltz King starred Kerwin Mathews, Brian Aherne, Senta Berger, Peter Kraus and Fritz Echkhardt in a “musical biography of the composer Johann Strauss” set in 1850s Vienna.911 As noted earlier, Strauss was “the son of a baptized Jewish innkeeper in Budapest.”912 The script was written by Maurice Tombragel. Steve Previn directed for producer Peter V. Herald. Also in 1963, Marilyn provided a “movie-magazine-type review of Monroe’s life and career narrated by Rock Hudson.”913 Monroe, whose name was originally Norma Jean Mortensen, was born of non-Jewish parents. In June of 1956, she married the Jewish playwright Arthur Miller914 and converted to Judaism.915 The film was edited by Pepe Torres.916 Your Cheatin’ Heart (1964) repeated a previously seen pattern. An unusually high percentage of Hollywood produced entertainer biopics featuring performers from the American South portrayed country/western singers. This pattern of bias suggests a rather stereotypical Hollywood mindset when it comes to portraying persons from the South (see Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies, Chapter 6: “Hollywood’s Rape of the South”). This particular motion picture biography starred George Hamilton, Susan Oliver, New York-born Jewish actor Red Buttons (originally Aaron Chwatt)917 and Arthur O’Connell in a film biography “of the ill-fated country-western singer Hank Williams.” Gene Nelson (born Gene Berg in Seattle) directed.918 The next year (1965), “two films appeared chronicling the life of Jean Harlow.”919 The first, called Harlow, cast Canadian-born Jewish actor Jack Kruschen920 in the role of Jewish studio executive Louis B. Mayer.921 The second, also called Harlow included portrayals of Arthur Landau (played by Jewish actor Red Buttons),922 the German-born Paul Bern, whose original name was Paul Levy,923 (played Peter Lawford), and Everett Redman (played by Jewish actor Martin Balsam).924 Although supposedly a “biography of the late movie queen of the thirties.”925 Halliwell’s points out that this second version actually focuses on how, “[in] 1929, starlet Jean Harlow is shot to fame by her agent Arthur Landau.”926 The underlying message thus illustrated by this movie is that if you are a beautiful young actress and you want to become a famous movie star, you need to do whatever is necessary to get the right agent, and, of course, most of the right agents are Hollywood insiders. The script was written by John Michael Hayes. New York-born Gordon Douglas directed for Boston-born Jewish producer Joseph E. Levine.927 The film also starred Carol Baker, Mike Connors, Raf Vallone and Angela Lansbury. According to Halliwell’s Film Guide, the 1968 Columbia release Funny Girl told the story of Fanny Brice, a “Jewish girl from New York’s east side [who] becomes a big Broadway star but loses her husband in the process.”928 As Patricia Erens points out, there was no effort made with this film to excise 84

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Chapter 5. Motion Picture Biographies of the Turbulent 1960s

the Jewish ethnic aspects of the main character929 (played by Jewish actress Barbra Streisand).930 On the other hand, the film provides portrayals of “the two important men.” in the life of Fanny Brice, Jewish gangster Nicky Arnstein931 (played by Omar Sharif), who becomes her husband, and Florenz Ziegfeld, the famous Jewish showman932 (played by Walter Pidgeon) who guides her career. Both were Jews, but in this film, both roles were assigned to Gentile actors. As in previous films, Erens states, “Ziegfeld is elegant and sophisticated, with no traces of a Jewish heritage. Nicky . . . is a man of the world with absolutely no Jewish identity except for his black hair and dark complexion.”933 The portrayal of Ziegfeld marks his sixth appearance in a Hollywood biopic. The German-born Jewish director William Wyler934 directed for producer Ray Stark (who was Fanny Brice’s son-in-law). The film also featured Kay Medford, Anne Francis, Lee Allen, Gerald Mohr and Frank Faylen. The final entertainer biopic of the decade was the 1968 Universal release of the British production Isadora (aka The Loves of Isadora). The film presented the “[e]ccentric [American] . . . dancer Isadora Duncan,”935 . . . the woman “whose revolutionary work became the forerunner of modern dance.”936 The film “reflects on her crowded and unconventional life.”937 The script was written by Melvyn Bragg and Clive Exton. Czechoslovakian-born Karel Reisz (son of Jewish lawyer)938 directed for the Egyptian-born producers Robert and Raymond Hakim. The film starred Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Jr., James Fox, Ivan Tehenko, John Fraser and Bessie Love. Criminals — As noted above, Hollywood filmmakers elevated the crime figure to the second most popular position in terms of being selected for portrayal in a motion picture biography during the ’60s. Also, four of the seven subjects of the crime figure biopics of the ’60s were Jewish, and a fifth, George Raft, had strong ties to Jewish crime figures in Hollywood. It would be absurd to argue that such portrayals were truly representative of the percentage of prominent crime figures who were actually Jewish; thus, some motivation other than reality must have played a part in such biopic subject selections by the Hollywood decision-makers (i.e., movies tend, to a large extent, to mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers). The 1960 Warner Bros. release The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond portrayed the “career of a New York hoodlum of the twenties.”939 According to Patricia Erens, it was “the first gangster film to feature an authentic Jewish criminal in the leading role”; however, “the producers were very careful to eliminate all evidence . . . of his Jewishness. As directed by Chicago-born Budd Boetticher, and played by New York-born Ray Danton, nothing distinguishes Legs as Jewish. The same holds true for the other Jewish gangsters in the work, Leo 85

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Bremer (played by Jewish actor Jesse White)940 and the infamous Arnold Rothstein (played by Robert Lowery).”941 As Erens points out:

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In the forties and fifties efforts of Jewish groups like the Motion Picture Project to keep negative portrayals of Jews off the screen provide one explanation for the absence of Jewish gangsters in contrast to their Italian and Irish counterparts. In prior decades, when the first cycle of gangster films appeared, the sensitivity and insecurity of Jewish producers probably account for the omission of names like Legs Diamond, Arnold Rothstein, Moe Annenberg, Dutch Schultz (Arthur Flegenheimer), and Waxey Gordon (Irving Wexler) or, later, Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. The list of minor figures runs into the dozens. Lastly, the efforts of the Jewish community itself, which tended to keep such information as quiet as possible, are a contributing factor.942

In any case, the script for The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond was written by Joseph Landon for Jewish producer Milton Sperling.943 The film also starred Karen Steele, Jewish actress Elaine Stewart (Elsy Steinberg),944 Simon Oakland, Warren Oates and Judson Pratt. Now, how can anyone argue that films do not influence our thinking and behavior, if the very people who are making films believe that it is important not to portray Jews as criminals (for fear that such portrayals might influence someone’s thinking or behavior)? And, how hypocritical for these same filmmakers to believe that it is OK to provide filmic portrayals of Italians and the Irish as criminals, but hide the ethnicity of their own fellow Jews? Also in 1960, the 20th Century-Fox release Murder, Inc. provided a biographical sketch of the two gangsters Albert Anastasia and Louis Buchalter (“Lepke”) as they “build up their crime syndicate (in the ’30s) which spreads terror through New York.”945 As Patricia Erens reports, however, “no direct references are made to Jews” (although Lepke was Jewish).946 Also, the title of the film was changed from Lepke to Murder, Inc., “to divert attention from the Jewish subject.”947 On the other hand, Erens suggests that the casting itself helped to reveal the origin of the characters, including David J. Stewart (who played Lepke Buchalter), Peter Falk, (who played Abe Reles), Joseph Bernard (who played Mendy Weiss) and Eli Mentz (who played Joe Rosen).948 Although Erens states that these actors’ “names,” “thick lips,” “looks,” “Semitic features” and/or “heavy Jewish accent” reveal the Jewish background of such actors, only one of this group (Peter Falk) is identified by Lyman as being Jewish in real life.949 That same year (1960), John Ericson, Joan Harvey and Jewish actor Barry Newman950 starred in Pretty Boy Floyd (Continental Distributing), a “[f]

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ictionalized account of one of the nation’s big-time killers.” Herbert J. Leder directed.951 The George Raft Story (Allied Artists — 1961) portrayed “a dancer (who) falls in with gangsters (in twenties New York), but eludes them when he goes to Hollywood, where his acting career is harmed by temperament.”952 Raft (originally Ranft) was born in New York City and was raised “in New York’s notorious Hell’s Kitchen area by parents of German and Italian origin. By his own account, he kept close ties with top gang racketeers. Arriving in Hollywood in the late ’20s . . . [he became the] sleek tough guy of Hollywood gangster films.” In 1959, “his Havana gambling casino was closed down by the new Castro regime without compensation. To make things worse, he was hounded by the U.S. government for back taxes and in the mid-60s was refused entry into Britain, where he managed a posh London gambling club, because of alleged underworld associations.” The Katz Film Encyclopedia referred to the George Raft biopic as a “glamorized version of his life story.”953 Raft had been a member of Owney “The Killer” Madden’s West Side Manhattan gang before leaving for Hollywood, and when the Jewish gangster Bugsy Siegel appeared on the West Coast, Raft was his guide and helper. Raft introduced Siegel “to the Hollywood illuminati.”954 The script for the film was written by New York-born Crane Wilbur. Utah-born Joseph M. Newman again directed, this time for producer Ben Schwab. The film starred Ray Danton, Julie London, Jayne Mansfield, Frank Gorshin and Neville Brand.955 The Warner Bros. release King of the Roaring Twenties (1961) starred Nebraska-born David Janssen “in the role of (Jewish gambler and) racketeer Arnold Rothstein.956 The film traces his climb to the top of ‘gangdom’.”957 In contrast to earlier movies about Jewish criminals, and Rothstein in particular, this film “openly acknowledges the ethnic origins of the main character.” On the other hand, the film “attributes Arnold’s criminal impulse to a . . . Jewish demon . . . and [t]his rationale serves to exonerate [his parents] . . . while also substantiating the Jewish traditions of law and order.”958 Lester Friedman cites the film as the “first screen appearance” of the “Jewish gangster.”959 David Singer, in his essay The Jewish Gangster, observed that, “The American Jewish establishment — the defense agencies, the scholars, the historical societies — have systematically denied any awareness of this important aspect of Jewish history whose major figures constitute a veritable Who’s Who in the annals of American crime.”960 Friedman goes on to point out that “Hollywood, prior to this film, had tacitly cooperated in this effort by denying the existence of Jewish thugs, but after the Rothstein picture other Jewish gangsters — Lepke Buchalter, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky — appear on the screen.”961 The script for the Rothstein film was written by the Russian87

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born Jo Swerling. Utah-born Joseph M. Newman directed for the BischoffDiamond production team. Dianne Foster, Mickey Rooney, Michemey Shaughnessy, Diana Dors, Jack Carson, Keenan Wynn (son of Jewish actor Ed Wynn)962 and the Vienna-born Jewish actor Joseph Schildkraut963 were also featured. The 1961 biopic Portrait of a Mobster featured Vic Morrow and Leslie Parris in a film about “Dutch Schultz, the notorious hood of the Prohibition era.”964 Neither Patricia Erens nor Lester Friedman included this film in their respective considerations of Jews on film, but Schultz’s “real name was Arthur Flegenheimer.”965 As Albert Fried explains, his given name was “an improbable name for an aspiring gangster” so this “child of Austrian-Jewish parents . . . chose . . . Dutch Schultz . . .” as his criminal name.966 Thus, this film represents another of the Hollywood films about Jewish gangsters in which the ethnicity of the historical character was disguised for the screen presentation, but in this case, the Jewish gangster himself had hidden his own ethnicity by changing his name. The script was written by Howard Browne. New York-born Joseph Pevney directed. The film starred Vic Morrow, Leslie Parrish, Peter Breck, Ray Danton, Norman Alden and Ken Lynch.967 The following year (1964), in Young Dillinger, an “embittered young convict becomes Public Enemy Number One.”968 His story had previously been told in Dillinger (1945). The script for this latter version was written by Arthur Hoerl and Don Zimbalist. Terry Morse directed for producer Alfred Zimbalist. The film starred Nick Adams, John Ashley, Robert Conrad, Mary Ann Mobley and Victor Buono. Military — The military figure was the third most popular selection of the Hollywood decision-makers for biopic subjects during the ’60s decade. The selections included an admiral active in the Pacific during World War II, another naval hero of the Pacific during the same war (a Democrat who was U.S. President in the early ’60s), a medieval ruler of Mongol tribes and the first commander of the Israeli army during modern times. UA’s The Gallant Hours (1960) presents “[e]pisodes in the (World War II) career of Admiral William F. Halsey,” the man who successfully led U.S. forces against the Japanese in the Pacific.969 The script was written by Beirne Lay, Jr. and New York-born Frank D. Gilroy. Robert Montgomery coproduced with James Cagney (of Irish-Norwegian descent) who also starred as Halsey. Dennis Weaver, Richard Jaeckel, Ward Costello and Carl Benton Reid were also featured.970 In 1963, PT 109 starred Cliff Robertson, Ty Hardin, Robert Culp and Robert Blake in the “story of John F. Kennedy, naval hero of World War II and his exploits in the Pacific.”971 The script was written by Chicago-born Richard L. Breen. Boston-born Leslie H. Martinson (of Jewish-Latvian88

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German origin)972 directed for Chicago-born producer Brian Foy (son of a vaudeville entertainer).973 In the 1964 release Genghis Khan (Columbia), “Temujin raises a Mongol Army and revenges himself on his old enemy Jamuga.”974 The script was written by Clarke Reynolds and Beverly Cross. New Jersey-born Henry Levin directed for the Polish-born producer Irving Allen. The film starred Omar Sharif, Stephen Boyd, Françoise Dorleac, James Mason and New Yorkborn Jewish actor Eli Wallach.975 The 1966 UA release Cast a Giant Shadow was a “screen biography of Colonel Mickey Marcus (played by Jewish actor Kirk Douglas).976 Marcus was “a West Point graduate, lawyer, and World War II hero who became the first commander of the Israeli Army since Joshua.” The film “traces his growing commitment to the cause of Jewish freedom fighters in Palestine (in the late 1940s).”977 Melville Shavelson produced, directed and wrote the script (from Ted Berkman’s biography of Col. David Marcus). The film also starred Angie Dickinson, Senta Berger, Jewish actor Luther Adler,978 Stathis Giallelis, Jewish actor Chaim Topol,979 John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Yul Brynner, James Donald, Gordon Jackson, Michael Hordern, Gary Merrill, Allan Cuthbertson and Jeremy Kemp. Writers — Hollywood maintained a fairly steady interest in writers as subjects for biopics through the ’60s with three more biopic portrayals. Five writers had been portrayed in the ’50s and four in the ’40s, The 1963 Warner Bros. release Act One told the story of a “[p]oor Brooklyn boy Moss Hart [who] rises to Broadway eminence via his writing partnership with (Jewish writer) George S. Kaufman.”980 Friedman calls the film “a typical show business biography” in that it “almost totally ignores its central character’s ethnicity.”981 As Patricia Erens reports, the “film covers a two-year period in the life of Moss Hart and was adapted from his autobiography.” Erens also points out that all of “the characters (based on real persons) are Jewish, as was the cast, with the exception of the two leads.” (George Hamilton played Moss Hart and Jason Robards, Jr. appeared as George S. Kaufman). For the balance of the all-Jewish cast, playing allJewish characters, Jack Klugman played Joe Hyman, Sam Levene took the role of Richard Maxwell, Ruth Ford played Beatrice Kaufman, Eli Wallach was Warren Stone, Joseph Leon played Max Siegel, George Segal982 appeared as Lester Sweyd, Martin Wolfson played Mr. Hart and Sam Groom was featured as David Starr.983 This film was also produced, directed and written by the Jewish producer Dore Schary.984 Just stop and think, how many other major studio releases have we seen featuring cast and characters that were almost all-African-American, or almost all Latino or any other narrowly-

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defined racial, ethnic, religious or cultural group? Very few indeed! No one else has that much influence in the film industry. In 1962, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm starred Lithuanian-born Jewish actor Laurence Harvey (originally Larushka Mischa Skikne),985 British-born Jewish actress Claire Bloom (Blume)986 and Barbara Eden, in a film “biography of Jacob and Wilhelm,” German folklorists and fairy tale writers.987 The script was written by David P. Harmon, Chicago-born Charles Beaumont and William Roberts. New Jersey-born Henry Levin directed for producer George Pal, who was originally from Budapest. Karl Boehm, Walter Slezak and Vienna-born Jewish actor Oscar Homolka988 also appeared. The 1964 MGM release Young Cassidy provided a “romantic view of the early Dublin life of (Irish playwright and) writer Sean O’Casey.” The script was written by John Whiting. British-born Jack Cardiff and John Ford (born Sean Aloysius O’Feeney in Maine) directed for producers Robert D. Graff and Robert Emmett Ginna. The film starred Rod Taylor, Maggie Smith, Edith Evans, Flora Robson, Michael Redgrave and Julie Christie.989 The balance of the ’60s biopics provided no more multiple portrayals within any given category. The selections included an adventurer, black youth, Egyptian royalty, impersonator, Indian and spy, along with medical, political, religious and western figures. Adventurer — The Columbia release Lawrence of Arabia (1962) portrayed an “adventurer’s life with the Arabs, told in flashbacks after his accidental death in the thirties.” This British production (released in the U.S.) was written by English-born Robert Bolt. British-born David Lean (of Quaker descent) directed for Jewish producer Sam Spiegel990 (who was born in Austria and became a “fugitive from Hitler’s Germany in 1933”).991 The film starred Peter O’Toole, Omar Sharif, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Hawkins, Donald Wolfit, Claude Raines, Anthony Quayle, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jose Ferrer, Michel Ray and Zia Mohyeddin.992 Black Youth — In 1969, The Learning Tree was an “autobiographical film about growing up as a black youth in the Kansas of the mid-1920s.” According to Steven Scheuer, the film “provides most viewers with a fresh perspective on being black in America.”993 Of course, the film’s perspective was “fresh,” for the then fifty-year history of Hollywood, since no other black had been allowed to direct a major studio film to that time. Gordon Parks, referred to in the Katz Film Encyclopedia as “Hollywood’s first black director of major films” directed The Learning Tree.994 On the other hand, Katz only lists five feature film directing efforts by Parks (plus two TV movies) during his entire career. As always in Hollywood, the prestigious director positions have been primarily parceled out to members of that tight-knit 90

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Hollywood insiders group. African-Americans, Latinos, Arab-Americans, Asian-Americans, Women, Christians, Muslims, Whites from the South and political conservatives had, fairly consistently, been arbitrarily excluded. And, not surprisingly, these same excluded groups have been consistently portrayed in Hollywood movies in a negative or stereotypical manner (see Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies). Egyptian Royalty — The 1963 20th Century-Fox release Cleopatra portrayed the famous Egyptian queen during the period when Rome dominated the region. “The story begins when Caesar meets Cleopatra in her native Egypt and she has his son. Later she comes to Rome, to join Caesar when he becomes the lifetime dictator of Rome.” Then, “Marc Antony gets in the act as Cleopatra’s Roman lover.”995 The Jewish producer Walter Wanger (Feuchtwanger) produced.996 The script was written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (son of assimilated German-Jewish immigrants)997 and others. Mankiewicz also directed (with others). The film starred Elizabeth Taylor (who had been married to Jewish producer Mike Todd, converted to Judaism in 1959, adopted the name Elisheba Rachel and subsequently married Eddie Fisher, also Jewish).998 Other stars included Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown, George Cole, Hume Cronyn, Cesare Danova and New Yorkborn Jewish actor Martin Landau.999 Impersonator — The Great Imposter (Universal — 1961) reviews the career of little known “Ferdinand Walda Demara, a marine and Trappist monk who also impersonated a Harvard research fellow, a prison warden, a naval doctor and a schoolteacher.”1000 The script was written by Liam O’Brien. New York-born Robert Mulligan directed for producer Robert Arthur. The film starred Jewish actor Tony Curtis,1001 Raymond Massey, Karl Malden, Edmond O’Brien, Arthur O’Connell, Gary Merrill, Frank Gorshin, Joan Blackman and Robert Middleton. Native American — The following year (1962), in Geronimo (United Artists), the famous Indian leader “and his remaining Apaches seek peace (in 1883) but are betrayed.”1002 The script was written by Pat Fielder. Chicagoborn Arnold Laven directed for the Laven-Gardner-Levy production team. The film starred Chuck Connors, Jewish actor Ross Martin (Martin Rosenblatt)1003 and Kamala Devi. Medical — John Huston’s Freud (1962) is set in 1885 Vienna, Austria. “Dr. Sigmund Freud, a neurologist, uses hypnotism to treat hysteria, and finds new interest in the case of a boy whose hatred of his father springs from incestuous love of his mother, a failing which Freud finds in himself.”1004 As Patricia Erens points out, “little is made of Freud’s Jewishness, but Huston does include enough information to make the fact apparent, most particularly at Freud’s marriage to Martha (played by Susan Kohner, the 91

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daughter of Mexican-born actress Lupita Tovar and Czech-born Hollywood agent Paul Kohner)1005 and at his father’s funeral.” Also, during the film Sigmund “recalls a childhood incident when a hoodlum had called his father ‘dirty Jew’ and knocked his hat into the gutter.”1006 The script was written by Charles Kaufman and Wolfgang Reinhardt who also produced. Other stars included Nebraska-born Montgomery Clift, Jewish actor Larry Parks,1007 Susannah York, British-born Eileen Herlie (Herlihy), Jewish actor David Kossoff1008and David McCallum. If one of the purposes of such films was to communicate to mass audiences how harmful it was for prejudiced persons to commit acts of discrimination against persons of Jewish heritage, wouldn’t the same message also apply to discrimination against African-Americans, Latinos, women, Arab-Americans, Asian-Americans and others who have also been targets from time to time? Does the fact that Hollywood has long been dominated by a small group of politically liberal, not very religious, Jewish males of European heritage give them the right to use film for the purpose of educating the public about the harms of prejudice and discrimination against Jews while pretty much overlooking the same harm that has been occurring to others? Political — Sunrise at Campobello (Warner Bros. — 1960) portrayed the “early life of Franklin Roosevelt, including his battle against polio and return to politics.”1009 Through his active support for Jewish interests, Roosevelt rose to the status of a bona fide Jewish hero. As president he held Jewish Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in high regard and consulted with him periodically on . . . key legislation;1010 he actively encouraged and recruited talented Jews for Washington service in his administration;1011 he called for an international conference on refugees and sought alternate sanctuaries following the Anschluss;1012 he took refugee policy away from a procrastinating State Department and gave it to the newly created War Refugee Board to improve assistance in evacuating Jews from Axis territory1013 and he issued pro-Zionist statements.1014 Jewish studio executive Dore Schary1015 wrote and produced this film. Vincent J. Donehue directed. The movie starred Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, Ann Shoemaker, Hume Cronyn and Jean Hagen.1016 Religious — Also, that year (1964), One Man’s Way (UA) presented the biopic of Norman Vincent Peale, the “Hollywood version of the famed (Episcopal) clergyman’s life.”1017 The script was written by Eleanore Griffin and John W. Bloch. New York-born Denis Sanders directed. The film starred Don Murray, Diana Hyland, William Windom, Virginia Christine and Carol Ohmart.1018 Spy — The 1960 Columbia release Man on a String portrayed the story of Boris Morros, a “Russian-born Hollywood producer who is asked by 92

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Chapter 5. Motion Picture Biographies of the Turbulent 1960s

the Russians to work as a spy but becomes a double agent and exposes Communist espionage.1019 The script was written by John Kafka and Virginia Shaler. The Hungarian-born Andre de Toth directed for Massachusetts-born producer Louis de Rochemont. The film starred Ernest Borgnine, Kerwin Mathews, Colleen Dewhurst, Alexander Scourby, Glenn Corbett and Vladmire Sokoloff. Western — Also in 1960, the 20th Century-Fox release Young Jesse James starred Ray Stricklyn, Robert Dix, and Willard Parker in “another version of how Jesse went bad — this time he joined Quantrill’s Raiders because Union soldiers killed his father.” William Claxton directed.1020 Although Hollywood interest in European subjects dropped off sharply in the ’60s (reduced in number from 24 in the 1950s to 6 in the 1960s), European subjects remained the second most popular category for the ’60s in terms of geography. U.S. subjects were portrayed in 23 of the 32 biopics from the ’60s (72%). European subjects were portrayed in 19%. The U.S./European presence, once again, significantly overshadowed all other geographical representation. The only other biopic entries for the ’60s came from Egypt, Israel and Asia, and those areas were only represented by single motion picture biographies. All historical characters from Africa, Canada, Mexico, South America, Australia, contemporary Asia and India were omitted from ’60s biopics. Thus, there appears to be a continuing and clear geographical bias in Hollywood motion picture biographies. Interest among Hollywood decision-makers for female biopic subjects dropped from 26% of the total number of motion picture biographies in the ’50s to 16% for the ’60s, a significant turnaround in progress for women. In addition, the diversity of female biopic portrayals, quite limited in previous decades, was even more narrow in the ’60s. All five of the women’s biopics of the ’60s were entertainers. African-American subjects also dwindled to one for the decade (3%). American Indians also only had a single biopic for the ’60s and the same number held true for Asians and Egyptians. Hollywood interest in Jewish subjects, on the other hand, remained at an extraordinary high level during the ’60s decade. At least ten of the biopics of the ’60s (31%) focused on Jewish subjects. That is 31% compared to 3% for African-Americans and none for Latino subjects during the same time frame. Jewish directors were assigned to at least 5 of these biopic projects, again compared to one African-American director for the decade and there were no Latino directors. Once again, Jewish involvement in the overall slate of ’60s biopics was hugely disproportionate to their presence in the general U.S. population. Jews were involved either as subjects, significant characters,

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directors, actor/actresses, producers or writers (along with one legitimate Jewish hero) in 25 of the 32 biopics of the ’60s or 78%. It is this writer’s contention that any writer/observer of the Hollywood scene, particularly one who focuses on Hollywood biopics, and fails to report these blatant patterns of bias and clear indications of discrimination at all levels in the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry, is at best, dealing in half-truths, but at worst is behaving in an intellectually dishonest manner.

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Chapter 6. Biopics of the 1970s Hollywood production of motion picture biographies increased slightly during the ’70s, up to 48 from the previous decade’s 32. The ’70s biopic output however, still did not come anywhere close to the peak number of the ’50s decade (121). The ’70s did mark the fourth decade in a row, Hollywood decision-makers chose to produce and distribute more motion picture biographies on entertainers than any other possible subject category. The ’70s decade was also the second in a row that saw biopics on criminals (or their girlfriends) featured as the second most popular subjects for motion picture biographies. Other subject categories of the ’70s with multiple biopics included political figures (mostly liberal or Democrat), athletes, Western characters and military figures, in that order. Biopic subject categories represented in the ’70s by only a single film included a civil rights activist, eccentric millionaire, European political activist, gambler, New York youth, scientist and writer. The 1970s was the first decade since the ’30s that writer biopics had dropped below 3 in number. Entertainer — The relative emphasis on the entertainer biopic had never been as great as that of the 1970s. An incredible 40% of the motion picture biographies of that ten-year period featured the lives of entertainers. That is nearly three times the next highest level of interest in a particular biopic subject category (criminals and their girl friends at 15%). The two categories together (entertainers and criminals), accounted for 55% of the motion picture biographies of the 1970s. The Hollywood decision-makers opened the 1970s with another stereotypical portrayal of a country/western entertainer from the South. Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music (1970) was a “feature about the famous country-western star.” The film travels “with Johnny to his hometown in rural Arkansas where he grew up in poverty.”1021 Robert Elfstrom directed.1022 95

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In 1972, the Paramount release Lady Sings the Blues starred Diana Ross in a “fictionalized story of [the] great [blues] singer Billie Holiday”1023 which focused on her “disastrous private life.”1024 As Judah Gribetz reports, Billie Holiday and other black performers of the day were featured at the Café Society nightclub in New York which had been opened in 1938 by the Jewish club-owner Barney Josephson. As Gribetz states, the club broke “rigid racial barriers by being the first to open its doors to racially mixed audiences.”1025 The script for the film was written by Terence McCloy, Chris Clark and Suzanne de Passe. Canadian-born Sidney J. Furie directed for producers Jay Weston and James S. White. The film also starred Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James Callahan and Sid Melton.1026 Also in 1972, MGM’s The Great Waltz presented a remake of the Johann Strauss biopic of the same name in 1938.1027 Another version of Strauss’ life appeared in The Waltz King (1963). As noted earlier, Strauss was “the son of a baptized Jewish innkeeper in Budapest.”1028 California-native Andrew L. Stone wrote, produced and directed this latest version of the Johann Strauss story, which turned out to be one of his last filmmaking opportunities. The film starred Horst Bucholtz, Nigel Patrick, Mary Costa, Rossaro Brazzi and Yvonne Mitchell.1029 Two years later, in 1974, UA’s Lenny starred Jewish actor Dustin Hoffman1030 in a “portrayal of the tortured, self-destructive, brilliantly inventive [and obscene, Jewish] comic Lenny Bruce1031 [a drug addict] . . . who died in 1966 after being harassed by the police and courts for years . . .”1032 Lester Friedman calls the biopic “the story of a real-life Jewish personality — comedian Lenny Bruce (born Leonard Alfred Schneider) — and it downplayed the title character’s Jewishness.”1033 Patricia Erens, however, states that the Lenny Bruce character in the film “represents the enormous contribution of Jews and Jewish humor to the world of comedy.”1034 The script was written by Julian Barry. Chicago-born Bob Fosse (son of a vaudeville entertainer)1035 directed for producer Marvin Worth. The film also starred Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck and Gary Morton.1036 The following year, Janis (1975) offered a documentary about Janis Joplin, although film critic Steven Scheuer says the film “doesn’t provide much insight into the talented rock singer’s tormented psyche.” Janis Joplin was originally from Port Arthur, Texas (in the South East corner of the state). Her first national notoriety came as lead singer for the San Francisco-based band Big Brother and the Holding Company. The group was managed for a time by Albert Grossman.1037 Seaton Findlay and Howard Alk directed this biopic.1038 Also in 1975, Columbia’s Funny Lady (1975) provided a follow-up to Funny Girl (1968). Jewish actress Barbra Streisand1039 reprises her role as Broadway 96

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Chapter 6. Biopics of the 1970s

star, (Jewish performer) Fanny Brice,1040 described by Steven Scheuer as “possibly the warmest, most lovable comedienne in showbiz history.”1041 As Patricia Erens reports, the film “acknowledges the Jewish components of its lead character and integrates these into” the film about “two legendary figures, both played by Jewish performers.” Fanny Brice (played by Streisand) and Billy Rose (played by Jewish actor James Caan).1042 Texas-born Jay Presson Allen and Philadelphia-born Arnold Schulman wrote the script. New Yorkborn Jewish director Herbert Ross1043 directed for producer Ray Stark (Fanny Brice’s real-life son-in-law). Also featured were Ben Vereen, Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall and Larry Gates. Finally, in 1975, The Legend of Valentino presented another “version of the life and loves of Rudolph Valentino, the legendary silent film star”1044 who was “discovered” and aided early in his career by the Russian-born Jewish actress Alla Nazimova.1045 This biopic had been preceded by Valentino (1951) and was to be followed by a film of the same name in 1977. The New Yorkborn Melville Shavelson (of How to Make a Jewish Movie fame) directed. In 1976, Bound for Glory (1976) portrayed Woody Guthrie and his leftwing politics, although they were “toned down somewhat in this, the first major screen story of how (the folksinger) left his dust-devastated Texas home in the ’30s to find work, and discovered the oppression, suffering and strength of the working people of America during the Great Depression.”1046 According to the Woody Guthrie biography in Webster’s American Biographies, Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma and went to Houston (at age 15), where he played the harmonica in barbershops and pool halls before returning to Okemah to learn to play the guitar. And, that is when the dust storms and the depression hit. Anyone who has ever been to Houston, knows you will not see dust storms in that lush semi-tropical environment. Thus, Hollywood got it wrong again. The film was directed by Utah-born Hal Ashby for producers Robert F. Blumhofe and Harold Leventhal. The script was written by Robert Getchell. The film starred David Carradine, Ronny Dox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland and John Lehne. In contrast to the earlier biography of Harry Houdini, (Paramount’s Houdini — 1953) the 1976 so-called made-for-television film The Great Houdini, made “religion . . . one of the core issues.”1047 “When young Harry brings home his new Catholic wife . . . to meet his mother . . . a confrontation ensues which affects the relationship between the three for the rest of their lives. Mrs. Weiss cannot and will not accept a Gentile daughter-in-law. In a speech described by Patricia Erens as a “sympathetic explanation from the Jewish point of view,” the mother proclaims: “I’m 5,000 years old. You think that’s nothing? From the time of Abraham, 5,000 years. The same people. Who else can say it? Do I have to tell you what it cost us? With fire they tried to finish 97

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us, with swords, with guns, with hate. Do you think I want to see them do it with love? That’s all I have to say.”1048 The film starred Paul Michael Glaser as Harry, Sally Struthers as his wife and Ruth Gordon as the mother. Louis Armstrong — Chicago Style (1976) was based “on the early career of the great jazz trumpeter . . . a musical genius who had to buck bigotry and shady characters before he could stand in front of an audience and share his genius with them.”1049 Lee Phillips directed. The film starred Ben Vereen, Jewish actor Red Buttons,1050 Margaret Avery and Janet MacLachlan. Leadbelly (1976) starred Roger E. Mosley in a “biopic about the famed bluesman”1051; “singer and guitarist Huddie Ledbetter, concentrating on his earlier years and his times in chain gangs.” Halliwell’s characterizes the film as the story of a man “who sang his way out of prison.”1052 Ernest Kinoy wrote the screenplay and African-American Gordon Parks directed for producer Marc Merson. Other stars included James Brodhead, John McDonald and Art Evans. In 1976, James Dean — A Legend in his Own Time provided a “dramatization of actor James Dean’s life as seen through the eyes of a friend.”1053 An earlier version of the actor’s life appeared in 1957 as The James Dean Story. Robert Butler directed this more recent version. Also in 1976, the British-made biopic of the “half-Jewess” French actress1054 Sarah Bernhardt, who toured widely in Europe and America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, was released in the U.S. as The Incredible Sarah. Jewish filmmaker Richard Fleischer1055 directed. The movie starred Glenda Jackson, Daniel Massey, Yvonne Mitchell, David Langdon and Douglas Wilmer. The 1976 Universal release W.C. Fields and Me chronicles the “rise to Hollywood fame of alcoholic comedian W.C. Fields.”1056 As Patricia Erens reports, the film includes the portrayal of two Jewish characters, “studio head Harry Bannerman (played by John Marley) and once again, theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld (Paul Stewart).”1057 Bob Merrill wrote the script. Arthur Hiller directed for producer Jay Weston. The film also starred Jewish actor Rod Steiger,1058 Valerie Perrine, Jack Cassidy, Billy Barty and Bernadette Peters. The following year, 1977, Scott Joplin starred Billy Dee Williams, Art Carney and Clifton Davis in a “bio of legendary music-maker Scott Joplin . . . whose music enjoyed a resurgence in popularity after it was used in the score of The Sting.”1059 Joplin was originally from Texarkana, Arkansas, “attended George Smith College for Negroes” and spent most of his professional life in St. Louis Missouri.1060 New York-born Jeremy Paul Kagan directed. Also in 1977, Valentino (UA) starred Rudolf Nureyev, Leslie Caron, Michelle Phillips and Jewish actress Carol Kane1061 in another biopic about 98

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Chapter 6. Biopics of the 1970s

“the legendary Latin Lover.”1062 In this the third version of the actor’s life, “[r]eporters quiz celebrities at [the] . . . star’s funeral, and his eccentric life unfolds.”1063 British-born Ken Russell wrote the script and directed with Mardik Martin for producer Herry Behn. In 1978, Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women, starred Paul Shenar, Texas-born Valerie Perrine, Samantha Eggar, Barbara Parkins, and Pamela Peadon in another story “of Florenz Ziegfeld, perhaps the most publicized Broadway entrepreneur of all time . . . told through the eyes of the women in his life.” New York-born Seymour “Buzz” Kulik directed.1064 Although considered a made-for-TV-move,* this marks the ninth film providing a portrayal of the Jewish showman Florenz Ziegfeld. No other historical figure comes close to this record. Also in 1978 the Columbia release The Buddy Holly Story profiled the “life of a fifties rock-and-roller who died young in an accident.”1065 Buddy Holly was originally from Lubbock, Texas. The script was written by Robert Gitler. Steve Rash directed for producer Fred Bauer. The film starred Texas-born Gary Busey, Dan Stroud, Charles Martin Smith, Bill Jordan, Conrad Janis, Dick O’Neill and Maria Richwine. In the 1979 release The Rose (20th Century-Fox) “[d]rink and drugs cause the decline and death of a famous rock singer.” According to Halliwell’s, the film was only “roughly based on Janis Joplin.”1066 Even so, it marked the second attempt at portraying some aspects of the singer’s life on the screen, the earlier version being Janis (1975). This version was filled with negative and stereotypical portrayals of people from the South (see “Hollywood’s Rape of the South” in Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies). The script for this biopic was written by Bill Kerby and Bo Goodman. New York-born Mark Rydell directed for producer Tony Ray. The film starred Jewish actress Bette Midler,1067 Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton and Barry Primus.1068 Criminals — As noted above, the 1970s marked the second decade in a row that placed significant emphasis on motion picture biographies featuring the lives of real criminals and their associates. The Hollywood establishment tends to argue that its filmmakers produce the kinds of films that audiences want to see. This book and its companion volumes argue that Hollywood movies mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers, and that this emphasis on criminal biopics is * More and more biopics were released as so-called made-for-TV-movies in recent decades. However, for purposes of this study, such a label is not relevant since some of the same production entities and the same people are involved in making the films. In addition, it is often the practice in the industry to designate a feature film as a made-for-TV-movie only after it fails to get a theatrical release. Thus, it is difficult to tell, after the fact, whether a given film was intended by its producers for a theatrical market only to end up being released direct to television and video.

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more reflective of the more narrow interests of a not-very-diverse group of Hollywood decision-makers than of audience tastes. In 1970, A Bullet for Pretty Boy presented a second “biography of gangster Pretty Boy Floyd . . . [played] as if he were just a nice guy who found himself in an unfortunate situation.”1069 The film starred former pop star Fabian and Joselyn Lane. Larry Buchanan directed. The AIP film Dillinger (1973) provided a “[v]iolence-soaked version, with black comedy touches, of the last year of Dillinger’s life.”1070 Dillinger’s story had already been told twice in Young Dillinger (1964) and Dillinger (1945). This latest version was written and directed by Missouri-born John Milius for producer Buzz Feitshans. The film starred Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Michelle Philips, Cloris Leachman, Harry Dean Stanton and Jewish actor Richard Dreyfuss.1071 AIP was owned by James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff.1072 In 1974, The Virginia Hill Story presented a “true-life tale about a poor Southern girl who hits the big time as the girlfriend of [Jewish mobster] Bugsy Siegel, who was murdered in Beverly Hills back in 1947.”1073 The film starred Jewish actress Dyan Cannon (born Samille Diane Friesen, daughter of a Baptist father and Jewish mother),1074 Jewish actor Harvey Keitel,1075 Allen Garfield (born Allen Goorwitz in New Jersey) and Jewish actor Robby Benson (born Robert Segal in Dallas).1076 New York-born Joel Schumacher directed. Also, that year (1974), The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd represented the third movie portrayal of “the legendary criminal Pretty Boy Floyd,” who was active during the ‘20s and early ’30s. It was preceded by Pretty Boy Floyd in 1960 and A Bullet for Pretty Boy Floyd in 1970. This version starred Martin Sheen (Spanish immigrant father and Irish mother),1077 Kim Darby (born Deborah Zerby in Hollywood), Michael Parks and Ellen Corby. Clyde Ware directed.1078 The following year, 1975, the 20th Century-Fox release Capone starred Ben Gazzara in a third “movie about the rise and fall of Chicago Mobster Al Capone.”1079 The 1944 film Roger Touhy, Gangster, was about a Capone associate and an earlier biopic on the top Chicago gangster appeared as Al Capone in 1959. The Capone gang competed with the Jewish gangs of the period for dominance in the Chicago neighborhoods.1080 The script for this 1975 version of the story was written by Howard Browne. New York-born Steve Carver directed for producer Roger Corman. The film starred New York-born Ben Gazzara (son of an immigrant Sicilian laborer), Sylvester Stallone, Susan Blakely, Harry Guardino and John Cassavetes (of Greek parentage).1081 Also in 1975, Israeli-born Menahem Golan directed another portrayal of Jewish gangster Louis Buchalter in Lepke, this time with the handsome Jewish actor Tony Curtis1082 in the lead role, as the head of Murder, Inc.1083 100

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Chapter 6. Biopics of the 1970s

The earlier portrayal of Lepke’s life appeared in 1960 under the title Murder, Inc. This later version also starred Anjanette Comer, Michael Callan, New York-born Jewish actor Warren Berlinger,1084 Jewish performer Milton Berle (originally Milton Berlinger)1085 and Vic Tayback. Finally, in 1979 the New World release The Lady in Red (1979) was a “biopic about John Dillinger’s gun moll.”1086 Lewis Teague directed the script written by John Sayles. The film starred Pamela Sue Martin, Robert Conrad, Louise Fletcher and Christopher Lloyd. Political — Lagging behind the Hollywood emphasis of the ’70s on biopics of entertainers and criminals were motion picture biographies of political figures. Six such biopics appeared in the 1970s. All but one (Winston Churchill) were U.S. political figures, and all of those were Democrats (although Huey Long broke with the Democratic Party in the latter stages of his political career and went even further to the political left on some issues). In 1970, The Journey of Robert F. Kennedy (1970) presented a “portrait of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the man, the politician, the husband and father and the inspired spokesman for the blacks and the poor.”1087 Mel Stuart directed. Two years later, in 1972, Young Winston became a Columbia release of a British production presenting a “biography of Winston Churchill as a young man.”1088 As Paul Johnson reports, Winston Churchill was a “lifelong friend of the Jews,”1089 Churchill was a staunch supporter of Zionism,1090 he ended the ban on Jewish immigration into Palestine in 1922,1091 he advocated more aggressive actions to prevent the killing of more Jews during World War II1092 and he used his power to permit the formation of a 25,000-man Jewish Brigade to fight in that war.1093 The script for the film was written by Chicagoborn Carl Foreman (the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia)1094 who also co-produced with Hugh French. British-born Richard Attenborough directed. The film starred Simon Ward, Anne Bancroft, Robert Shaw, John Mills, Patrick Magee, Ian Holm, Anthony Hopkins and Jack Hawkins. In the middle of the 70s decade, Give ‘Em Hell, Harry (1975) provided the James Whitmore impersonation of Democratic president Harry Truman.1095 California native Peter H. Hunt directed. As Paul Johnson reports, Truman was the U.S. President who first extended recognition to Israel as a nation in 1948.1096 Two years later, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye (1977) portrayed “John F. Kennedy’s years just after WWII, detailing his shift from war hero to politician.” New York-born Gilbert Cates (Katz) directed.1097 The film starred Paul Rudd, Burgess Meredith, Kevin Conway and William Prince. Also, that year, Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977) starred New Yorkborn Jewish actor Peter Strauss,1098 Barbara Parkins and Simon Oakland with 101

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Strauss “as Joseph Kennedy, Jr., the handsome eldest son of the Kennedy clan, groomed from childhood to be the heir of the family’s political dynasty.” Chicago-born Richard T. Heffron directed.1099 Finally, in 1977, The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish starred Missouriborn Jewish actor Edward Asner1100 in the “political saga of Huey P. Long, who rose from small-town lawyer to governor of Louisiana and U.S. senator,” or as others would say, “demagogue”1101 and “backwoods buffoon,”1102 this latter description being fairly typical of Hollywood portrayals of people from the American South (see Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies). In August of 1935, Huey Long “announced his intention to run for president, a move that was seen as a real threat to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in its potential for uniting the support of . . . disparate movements . . . into a single, sizeable bloc. A month later he was shot while at the state capitol in Baton Rouge”; he died two days later.1103 Long’s alleged assassin was a Dr. Carl Weiss. Subsequent investigations, however, have suggested that Long was accidentally shot by his own bodyguards, overreacting to a confrontation Dr. Weiss had with the Senator.1104 These factors may help to explain Hollywood’s interest in Huey Long. The film also starred Nicholas Pryor, Diane Kagan and Fred Cook. Robert Collins directed. Athletes — Biopics of athletes made a modest comeback during the ’70s with three, as compared to none in the ’60s. However, the ’70s output of motion picture biographies featuring the life stories of athletes did not come close to the peak level of 11 in the ’50s. All three of the athlete biopics of the ’70s portrayed the lives of African-Americans, who have seldom been featured in Hollywood biopics in any field other than athletics or entertainment. The 1970 20th Century-Fox release The Great White Hope told the story of a black boxer [who] becomes world heavyweight champ [in 1910] but has trouble through his affair with a white girl.” Halliwell’s called the film a “slightly whitewashed biopic of Jack Johnson” (played by James Earl Jones and named Jefferson in the film).1105 The movie was based on a play by Howard Sackler. The boxer’s manager “Goldie” (played by Lou Gilbert) is described by Patricia Erens as a “Jewish humanist.” Erens says that “[u] nlike the other whites (in the film) who heap disdain upon Jack, Goldie treats him as an equal, admiring his ambition and pride, sympathetic to his suffering.”1106 The film was directed by New York-born Martin Ritt (son of Jewish immigrants)1107 for Jewish producer Lawrence Turman1108 (originally from Los Angeles). The film also starred Jane Alexander, Joel Fluellen, Chester Morris, Robert Webber and Hal Holbrook. The Greatest (Columbia — 1977) was a biographical “film of the celebrated, outspoken heavyweight champ (Muhammad Ali).”1109 The film was directed by Chicago-born Tom Gries for producer John Marshall. The film starred 102

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Chapter 6. Biopics of the 1970s

Muhammed Ali, Ernest Borgnine, Roger E. Mosley, Lloyd Haynes, Malachi Throne, John Marley, Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones and Paul Winfield.1110 One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story (1978) was “based on the real-life story of baseball star Ron LeFlore [and] . . . chronicles the struggle, of the young black, desperately poor teenager, to escape from the horrors of the ghetto in Detroit.” William A. Graham directed.1111 The film starred Le Var Burton, Madge Sinclair, Paul Benjamin and Billy Martin. Westerns — Motion picture biographies of Western figures also made a modest comeback in the ’70s, with three, as compared to only one in the ’60s. However, just as with the athlete biopics, the Westerns still did not rise to the previous peak decades for Western biopics of the ’50s and ’40s which brought forth 15 and 14 of this genre respectively. In 1972, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean featured a “fantasia on the famous outlaw judge of the old west.”1112 The judge was born in Kentucky and settled in a community that eventually came to be called Langtry, Texas, West of the Pecos River.1113 The script was written by St. Louis native John Milius. Missouri-born John Huston directed for Jewish producer John Foreman.1114 The film starred Paul Newman (Jewish father, Catholic mother),1115 Ava Gardner, Jacqueline Bisset, Tab Hunter, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowall, Anthony Perkins and John Huston. Then in 1973, the MGM release Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid presented a “[b] lood-spattered version of [the] . . . Western legend.”1116 Rudolph Wurlitzer wrote the script. Sam Peckinpah directed for producer Gordon Carrol. The film starred James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Jewish actor/entertainer Bob Dylan,1117 (who also provided music) Richard Jaecket, Katy Jurado, Slim Pickens, Chill Wills and Jason Robards, Jr. In Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976) “Buffalo Bill Cody and his friends discuss life and his own myth . . . [d]uring winter camp for his wild west show.”1118 Mick Martin and Marsha Porter describe the film as “distorted history.”1119 The script was written by California native Alan Rudolph and Kansas-born Robert Altman (of English-Irish-German descent),1120 who also directed and produced. The film starred Paul Newman (Jewish father and Catholic mother),1121 New York-born Burt Lancaster, Jewish actor Joel Grey (Katz),1122 Kevin McCarthy, Geraldine Chaplin and Jewish actor Harvey Keitel.1123 Military Figures — Hollywood produced or released three biopics in the ’70s featuring the lives of military leaders. In 1970, 20th Century-Fox released Patton, the “World War II adventures of an aggressive American general,”1124 or what Steven Scheuer called a “portrait of the WWII general whose military bravado and love of war made him a hero, and also caused him to be relieved of his command in Sicily.”1125 Patton had liberated the 103

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Buchenwald concentration camp where 60,000 had reportedly died.1126 Unfortunately, almost all of the Jews at Buchenwald had been “marched . . . to the concentration camp at Flossenberg, leaving the non-Jewish prisoners to await the arrival of U.S. troops.”1127 Franklin Schaffner (born in Tokyo to Protestant American missionaries)1128 directed for producer Frank McCarthy. The film starred George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates, Stephen Young, Michael Strong and Frank Latimore.1129 The 1977 Universal release MacArthur the Rebel General portrayed the “exploits of General MacArthur during the Pacific wars and his strained relationships with two presidents.”1130 The script was written by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins. New Jersey-born Joseph Sargent (originally Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente) directed for producers Richard D. Zanuck, New York-born David Brown and Frank McCarthy. The film starred Gregory Peck, Dan O’Herlihy, Ed Flanders, Ward Costello, Marj Dusay and Ivan Bonar. Ike: The War Years (1978) starred Robert Duvall, Lee Remick, Dana Andrews, J.D. Cannon, Ian Richardson and Laurence Luckinbill in a film that “combines . . . action sequences with a . . . romance between General Eisenhower and his driver, Kay Summersby.” New York-born Melville Shavelson (author of How to Make a Jewish Movie) and Russian-born Boris Sagal directed.1131 The balance of the ’70s biopics presented only figures that stood alone in their respective subject categories. This group of motion picture biographies included the life stories of a civil rights activist, an eccentric millionaire, a European political activist, gambler, New York youth, scientist and writer. Civil Rights Activist — In 1970, King: A Filmed Record . . . Montgomery to Memphis presented a “documentary, recording the remarkable life of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.”1132 Pennsylvania-born Joseph L. Mankiewicz (son of assimilated German-Jewish immigrants)1133 directed, along with the Philadelphia-born second-generation Jewish director Sidney Lumet.1134 Eccentric Millionaire — According to Steven Scheuer, The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) was a “study of the puzzling eccentric who had an eye for Hollywood beauties but really preferred airplanes and gadgets to people. The movie becomes an account of a deteriorating human in need of psychiatric help, but rich enough to indulge in his eccentricities.”1135 Hughes was originally from Houston, Texas and as is common with Hollywood portrayals of people from the American South, he was portrayed in this biopic in a negative manner (see Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies and “The Hollywood Outsiders” in Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry). William Graham directed this 1977 biopic. The film starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ed Flanders, James Hampton, Jewish actress Tovah Feldshuh1136 and Lee Purcell. 104

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European Political Activist — In the 20th Century-Fox release Julia, (1977) Jewish playwright1137 Lillian Hellman “reflects on the fortunes of her friend Julia, filled with enthusiasm for European causes and finally killed by the Nazis.”1138 The script was written by Alvin Sargent. Vienna-born Fred Zinnermann directed for producer Julien Derode. The film starred Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Jr., Maximillian Schell, Hal Holbrook, Rosemary Murphy, Cathleen Nesbitt and Maurice Denham. Gambler — The 1974 Paramount release The Gambler told the story of Alex Freed “a (Jewish) junior professor of literature in New York City, the grandson of a multimillionaire . . . [i]n search of money to pay his gambling debt.” Freed was played by Jewish actor James Caan.1139 The movie was directed by Karel Reisz, a Jewish Czech who worked out of England.1140 Jewish writer James Toback1141 wrote the script. Jewish producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff1142 produced. The film also starred Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton, Jewish actor Morris Carnovsky,1143 Jacqueline Brookes and Burt Young. New York Youth — Next Stop, Greenwich Village (TCF — 1976) was an “autobiographical Valentine directed and written by (Jewish filmmaker)1144 Paul Mazursky about his own growing up in New York’s Greenwich Village circa 1953.”1145 Mazursky also co-produced with Tony Ray. The film starred Lenny Baker (as Larry Lapinsky), Jewish actress Shelley Winters,1146 Ellen Greene, Lois Smith and Dori Brenner.1147 Scientist — Galileo (1974) opened “in 1609 in Padua with an impoverished Galileo seeking funds both to support his family and his scientific research, which scandalized the intellectual and political establishment of the time.”1148 The film was actually a British/Canadian production although produced by New York-born Ely Landau and directed by Wisconsin-born Joseph Losey (son of a lawyer of Dutch extraction and of Episcopalian background).1149 The script was written by Barbara Bray and Losey. The film starred the Jewish actor Topol (born Chaim Topol in Tel Aviv),1150 Edward Fox, John Gielgud and Clive Revil. Writer — In 1978, Stevie was a U.S./British production, an “account of the uneventful life of poetess Stevie Smith, lived out mainly in a London suburb under the fear of death.” The script was written by Hugh Whitemore. Robert Enders produced and directed for First Artists. The film starred Glenda Jackson, Mona Washbourne, Trevor Howard and Alec McCowen.1151 The ’70s Hollywood biopics continued a 60-year pattern of emphasis on the lives of U.S. and European subjects (40 U.S. and 7 European). In fact, not a single motion picture biography produced or released by the Hollywoodbased U.S. film companies during the ’70s focused on aspects of the lives of

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anyone other than U.S. or European figures. All other geographical areas of the world were completely omitted from the ’70s biopics. Once again, women’s life stories only constituted a small percentage of the Hollywood biopics of the ’70s. Motion picture biographies focusing on aspects of the lives of women only accounted for 8 of the 47 total biopics of the ’70s (17%), only a slight increase over the 16% of the ’60s, and still down significantly from the 26% high of the ’50s. Women’s lives, as portrayed in the ’70s biopics, also diversified only slightly. Half of the women’s biopics (4) were of entertainers. The other four subject categories represented were the girlfriends of criminals (2), 1 European political activist and 1 writer. African-Americans fared about as poorly as women in the Hollywood biopics of the ’70s. Only 8 focused on the lives of African-American subjects. In addition, these biopics were even less diverse in terms of subject categories than those for women. Once again, half (4) of the African-American biopics featured the lives of entertainers. Three were athletes, and one focused on the life of a civil rights activist. Latinos, once again, were completely ignored by the Hollywood decision-makers when it came time to produce or release motion picture biographies for the decade. Asian and Asian-American biopic subjects, in addition to American Indians were also totally excluded from the ’70s biopics. The single cultural group favored by Hollywood decision-makers, once again, was persons of Jewish heritage. A total of 10 of the ’70s biopics focused on the lives of such individuals (21%). That compares to 8 for African-Americans (17%) and none for Latinos (0%). Also, at least 8 of the motion picture biographies of the ’70s were directed by Jewish directors, and 27 (or 56%) of the ’70s biopics involved either a Jewish subject, significant connection, character, producer, director, actor, actress or hero.

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Chapter 7. Movie Biographies of the 1980s During the 1980s Hollywood produced or released some 38 motion picture biographies. Once again, entertainment figures led the way with nineteen. In a departure from earlier patterns, persons from the American South were featured in thirteen. On the other hand, most of these films continued the Hollywood pattern of bias toward portraying Southern individuals in a negative or stereotypical manner (see further analysis at the end of this chapter). Hollywood’s interest in political figures increased in the ’80s as evidenced by the presentation of eleven such biopics in the decade, up from six in the ’70s. The preference for liberal politicians continued, however. Hollywood’s fascination with European subjects (2nd only to biopic subjects from the U.S.) also continued although at a slightly diminished level (6 of the ’80s biopics focused on European-related subjects, as opposed to 7 in the ’70s). Entertainer/Europeans — Three of the ’80s biopics fall into the broad category of European entertainers. In 1980, Sophia Loren: Her Own Story featured Italian movie star Sophia Loren, John Gavin, Rip Torn and Armand Assante in the story of her “rise to riches from her poverty-stricken girlhood through her beauty-pageant days to her movie stardom under the shrewd guidance of Carlo Ponti.” Mel Stuart directed.1152 In 1984, Amadeus starred F. Murray Abraham (born in Pittsburgh, of ItalianSyrian origin) as European composer Salieri and explored his relationship with and jealousy of the younger Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.”1153 Mozart was appointed composer to the Austrian Empire in 1787. He created such works as “The Magic Flute” (1781) and “The Marriage of Figaro” (1786). Mozart’s history reveals at least two examples of what has been denoted as a significant Jewish connection to his work and career. During a portion of Mozart’s service, Lorenzo 107

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Da Ponte (of Jewish heritage) was the appointed librettist to the Imperial Opera of Vienna. Ponte was born in Italy to a family that later converted to Christianity. He wrote the libretti for some of Mozart’s most famous works including “Marriage of Figaro” and “Giovanni” (1787). In addition, the Jewish salon owner Fanny Arnstein provided financial support to Mozart. Even so, Mozart eventually died in abject poverty.1154 Jewish filmmaker Milos Forman1155 directed this film for New Jersey-born producer Saul Zaentz. The film was based on the British-born Jewish playwright1156 Peter Shaffer’s screenplay. The film also starred Wisconsin-born Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice and Christine Ebersole. Two years later, (1986), Sid & Nancy focused on the relationship between Sid Vicious (lead singer for the Sex Pistols of England) and a groupie from New York, Nancy Spungen.1157 British-born Alex Cox directed for producer Eric Fellner. The film was based on the screenplay by Cox and Abbe Wool. The film starred Gary Oldman (born in England), Chloe Webb, Drew Schofield, David Hayman, Debby Bishop and Jude Alderson. U.S. Movie Stars — The ’80s offered six biopics of U.S. movie stars, the people used by Hollywood studios to attract audiences to their movies. Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980) offered a biopic about Marilyn Monroe based on the biography of Jewish author Norman Mailer.1158 As noted above, Monroe had converted to Judaism when she was married to the Jewish playwright Arthur Miller.1159 Jack Flynn, Connecticut-born Jack Arnold and Lawrence Schiller directed.1160 The next year (1981), Mommie Dearest starred Florida-born Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay Le Sueur in Texas) in a film about her “relationship with her daughter, Christina.” The movie was inspired “by a best-selling memoir in which adopted daughter Christina Crawford portrayed her movie-star mother as a grasping, sadistic, alcoholic wretch whose own insecurities and monstrous ego made life miserable for everyone around her.”1161 Frank Perry (husband of Jewish writer Eleanor Perry)1162 directed for Jewish producer Frank Yablans.1163 Back in the ’40s, Crawford’s contract with MGM (one of the studios Yablans worked for) was terminated after she was blacklisted as “box-office poison.” She was able to bounce back, however, as a superstar at Warner Bros.1164 This film represents another in the series of negative portrayals of former movie stars, as well as a negative portrayal of a woman from the American South. In 1982, Frances starred Jessica Lange in a biopic “of the tragic ’30s legend, [actress] Frances Farmer . . . [the] true story of a woman institutionalized for being too honest for her own good.”1165 The film includes the portrayal of a Jewish studio executive at Paramount named B.B. who, as Patricia Erens points out, is “[c]ondescending and insulting” as he “cautions . . . Farmer 108

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. . . about stepping out of line and sets about to ruin her when she does not take orders from the studio like other starlets.” Erens also observes that the film “contains an unflattering depiction of (the Jewish screenwriter/ director) Clifford Odets.”1166 The script was written by Eric Bergen, Christopher Devore and Nicholas Kazan (son of Elia Kazan who was born in Constantinople of Greek heritage). Britisher Graeme Clifford directed for producer Jonathan Sanger. Kim Stanley, Sam Shepard, Bart Burns and Jeffrey de Munn also appeared in the film.1167 The one exception to the general rule that Hollywood biopics tend to portray Jewish characters in a favorable or sympathetic manner is the common portrayal of Hollywood studio executives in a negative manner. Star 80 (Warner Bros. — 1983) featured Mariel Hemingway, Roger Rees, Eric Roberts and Cliff Robertson in a biographical film about “Playboy centerfold Dorothy Stratten [who] was groomed for stardom by her possessive husband and (was) later murdered by him when fame began to pull her from his grasp.”1168 Chicago-born Bob Fosse (son of vaudeville entertainer) wrote and directed for producers Wolfgang Glattes and Kenneth Utt. Sam’s Son (1984) presented an “autobiographical film based on (Michael) Landon’s becoming a champion javelin thrower and then a movie star with the aid of his father.”1169 Landon was born “Eugene Maurice Orowitz . . . son of a Jewish movie publicist.”1170 Michael Landon starred and directed. The film also starred New York-born Jewish actor Eli Wallach,1171 Anne Jackson and Timothy Patrick Murphy. My Wicked, Wicked Ways . . . The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985) was a biopic of the famous film leading man who was “all the things colorful movie stars are accused of being — controversial, brawling, hard-drinking, womanizing, and terrific copy for gossip columns.”1172 Pennsylvania-born Don Taylor directed.1173 The film starred Duncan Regehr, Barbara Hershey and New York-born Jewish actor Hal Linden (Harold Lipshitz).1174 Ethnic Musicians — Two of Hollywood’s entertainer biopics of the ’80s featured ethnic musicians. In 1987, La Bamba starred Lou Diamond Phillips (part Cherokee)1175 in a biography focusing on the “brief life of 1950s rockand-roller Ritchie Valens, who at 17 was killed in the Buddy Holly plane crash.”1176 The talented young Hispanic performer’s “lifelong fear of flying foreshadowed his tragic death.”1177 Luis Valdez wrote and directed for producers Taylor Hackford and Bill Borden. Also starring were Esai Morales, Rosana de Soto, Elizabeth Pena, Danielle von Zerneck and Marshall Crenshaw (as Holly). This film appears to hold the distinction for being the only Hollywood film biography of a person of Hispanic/Latino heritage (other than two Mexican revolutionaries). It would be extremely difficult 109

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to avoid concluding, based on this embarrassing 90-year record of omission by the Hollywood establishment, that a considerable level of blatant antiLatino racism has not been involved in such faulty decision-making. Also in 1988, Bird (Warner Bros.) portrayed the “life of Charlie Parker . . . America’s greatest black alto saxophonist.”1178 The script was written by Joel Oliansky. Clint Eastwood produced and directed. The film starred Forest Whitaker, Diane Venora and Michael Zelnikar. The other two non-Southern related entertainer oriented biopics of the ’80s feature an American movie director and the relationship between a would-be financier/producer and his actress/mistress. In 1985, George Stevens; A Filmmaker’s Journey provided a “documentary tracing the career of one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and ambitious directors, California native George Stevens. The film was written and directed by Steven’s son,1179 George Stevens, Jr. The senior Stevens was the son of actors. He directed the western Shane (1953), and won the best-director Academy Award for Giant (1956).1180 The Hearst and Davies Affair (1985) portrayed the “celebrated love affair between millionaire newspaper tycoon (and Hollywood outsider) William Randolph Hearst and chorus-girl-turned-movie-star Marion Davies.”1181 New York-born David Lowell Rich directed. The film starred Connecticut-born Robert Mitchum, Virginia Madsen, Fritz Weaver, Doris Belack and Laura Henry (see the discussion relating to Hearst’s relationship with Hollywood at the heading entitled “The Hollywood Outsiders” in this book’s companion volume Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry). Entertainers/Southern — The balance of the entertainer biopics of the ’80s focused on Southern entertainers. Only two of the 6 did not fall into the stereotypical country/Western performer category. In 1982, Rosie The Rosemary Clooney Story chronicles the “bumpy road from band singing to recording contracts to the drug-ridden bad years . . .” of Kentucky-born Rosemary Clooney. Jackie Cooper (born John Cooper Jr. in Los Angeles) directed the film.1182 The 1989 Orion release Great Balls of Fire purported to depict the life of rock ‘n’ roller Jerry Lee Lewis, played in the film by Dennis Quaid “as a grinning simpleton with a crazy streak.”1183 The script was written by Jack Baran and Jim McBride (who also directed) for producer Adam Fields. The film also starred Minnesota-born Winona Ryder (originally Winona Laura Horowitz),1184 John Doe, Joe Bob Briggs, Texas-born Stephen Tobolowsky and Trey Wilson.1185 The decade’s string of four southern entertainers of the country/western genre began in 1980. Coal Miner’s Daughter told the story of Lorretta Lynn, the “wife of a Kentucky Hillbilly.” The script was written by Tom Rickman. 110

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British-born Michael Apted directed for producer Bob Larson. The film starred Texas-born Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones (also from Texas), Levon Helm, Jennifer Beasley and Phyllis Boyens.1186 The following year (1981), Stand by Your Man starred Annette O’Toole, Tim McIntire, Cooper Huckabee and Helen Page Camp in Tammy Wynette’s autobiographical tale of the Memphis beauty parlor student who sings her way into the hearts of country music fans despite electric shock treatment, young’uns, and stormy marriages.” Jerry Jameson directed.1187 Then in 1983, Living Proof: The Hank Williams, Jr. Story presented a biopic about the “son seeking his identity in a world where everyone knew and loved his father.” Dick Lowry directed.1188 Finally, in 1985, Sweet Dreams (TriStar) starred Jessica Lange, Ed Harris and Ann Wedgeworth in the “biography of country singer Patsy Cline.”1189 The film focused on how her rise to success affected her marriage.1190 The script was written by Robert Getchell. Karel Reisz (born in Czechoslovakia, the son of a Jewish lawyer) directed for producer Bernard Schwartz. David Clennon and James Staley also appeared in this film. Political Figures — As noted in the opening paragraph to this chapter, the ’80s decade offered eleven biopics focusing on political figures, all of which contained a distinct liberal flavor. Portrait of a Rebel: Margaret Sanger (1980) starred Bonnie Franklin, David Dukes and Richard Johnson in a film about the time American nurse “Margaret Sanger took on the medical profession, the courts, the Senate, and the Catholic church in her battle to give women birth control information.”1191 In 1916, she opened “the first U.S. birth control clinic in Brooklyn.”1192 Sanger “campaigned widely for birth control and founded (in 1929) the organization that became the Planned Parenthood Federation (1942).”1193 Virgil Vogel directed. The 1981 Paramount release Reds starred Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, and Edward Herrman in a “biography of radical journalist John Reed, his wife, Louise Bryant, and their involvement in the American radical movement and the Russian Revolution.”1194 The film focuses on the “last years of . . . Reed . . . who after stormy romantic vicissitudes goes with his wife to Russia and writes Ten Days that Shook the World.”1195 Maureen Stapleton played the “role of the Jewish revolutionary Emma Goldman.” As Patricia Erens points out, in “this retelling of early twentieth century history, Goldman emerges as intelligent, courageous, warm, and pragmatic — in short, a concerned and discerning woman.”1196 The committed “left-leaning” political liberal.1197 Beatty also wrote, produced and directed. Others featured in the film included, Jerry Kosinicki, Jack Nicholson and Paul Sorvino. The Columbia release Gandhi (1982) was the epic “account of Mahatma Gandhi’s lifelong struggle against English imperialism in India.”1198 The 111

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film depicts the liberation of India and its people through his movement, considered by many to be “one of the greatest political and economic victories of all time, achieved through nonviolent principles.”1199 Englishborn Richard Attenborough produced and directed the script written by John Briley. The film starred British actor Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Banji, the son of an Indian physician of South African origin and a British modelactress), Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Mills, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Martin Sheen, Ian Charleson, Athol Fugard and Saeed Jaffrey. The 1983 John Van Eyssen production, Daniel told the story of the “children of executed spies (who) are traumatized by the past.” The Halliwell Film Guide calls the film a “[p]atchwork vision of thirties America, with Jewishness thrown in for added weight.”1200 The story was “based on the notorious Rosenberg case, in which Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of treason for alleged involvement with a Soviet spy ring.”1201 As Judah Gribetz reported, the couple was “sentenced to death by U.S. District Judge Irving Kaufman (in 1951) following their conviction for stealing U.S. atomic bomb secrets for the Soviet Union.”1202 Steven Scheuer also observed that the film idealizes “the protagonists and the early radical Communist movement in America.”1203 Film critic Tom Milne states that “[o]nly with the last scene does one realize that it has collapsed into an empty liberal squeak.”1204 The script was written by Jewish writer E.L. Doctorow1205 and was based on his 1971 biographical work, The Book of Daniel. The film was directed by the Philadelphia-born second-generation Jewish director Sidney Lumet1206 (son of Yiddish stage actors).1207 It starred Timothy Hutton, Chicago-born Mandy Patinkin, Lindsay Crouse, Jewish actor Ed Asner,1208 Ellen Barkin and Jewish actress Tovah Feldshuh.1209 For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983) provides a “dramatization of a period of civil rights history in the south.” The Mississippi-born Medgar Evers was portrayed in the film as “one of the charismatic leaders of the movement [who] . . . was assassinated in June 1963.”1210 On the other hand Webster’s American Biographies reports that Evers was a “relatively obscure figure outside of Mississippi . . .” when he then became “a martyr to the cause of civil rights.”1211 Milwaukee-born Michael Schultz directed. Sadat (1983) starred Louis Gossett, Jr. as the “visionary Nobel Prizewinning statesman Anwar el-Sadat,”1212 the Egyptian leader who made peace with Israel. He was assassinated in 1981.1213 Richard Michaels directed.1214 Others appearing include Mandolyn Smith, John Rhys-Davies, Jeffrey Tambor, Paul Smith and Anne Heywood. The 1985 release Mussolini & I starred Bob Hoskins, Susan Sarandon and Anthony Hopkins in a biopic of the Italian World War II dictator. Alberto

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Negrin directed.1215 Mussolini’s relationship with Italian Jews was somewhat mixed. As Paul Johnson reports:

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Mussolini . . . oscillated all his life between philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism. It was a group of Jews who helped to convert him to intervention in the First World War, the critical moment in his life when he broke with Marxist internationalism and became a national socialist. Five Jews were among the original founders of the fasci di combattimento in 1919 and Jews were active in every branch of the (Italian) Fascist movement. The learned article on anti-Semitism in the Fascist Encyclopaedia was written by a Jewish scholar. Both Mussolini’s biographer, Margharita Sarfatti, and his Minister of Finance Guido Jung, were Jews. When Hitler came to power, Mussolini set himself up as the European protector of the Jew and was hailed by Stefan Zweig as “wunderbar Mussolini.” Once the Duce fell under Hitler’s spell . . . , [however], . . . his anti-Semitic side became uppermost but it had no deep emotional roots. There was a definite anti-Semitic fringe within the Fascist Party and government but it was much less powerful than in the Vichy regime [of France] and seems to have had no popular support at all.1216

The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) starred Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn in an anti-CIA story, supposedly true, about “a couple of California kids who were caught selling government secrets to the Russians.”1217 The original impetus for the Timothy Hutton character to participate in the scheme was his repugnance at some of the secret activities of the CIA, thus, that U.S. government agency is once again portrayed in a negative light by a Hollywood movie (see Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies). London-born John Schlesinger (the son of a Jewish pediatrician)1218 directed and co-produced with Gabriel Katska. Steven Saillian wrote the screenplay. Also appearing were Pat Hingle, Joyce Van Patten, David Suchet and Boris Leskin. The next two ’80s biopics show the stark contrast in Hollywood choices and treatments relating to a liberal Democrat hailing from the Northeast as opposed to one from the American South. On the one hand, Hollywood decision-makers choose to provide a sympathetic presentation of the Kennedy brothers, while on the other hand, to feature in a Southern biopic, a political scoundrel. The film Huey Long (1985) provided another history lesson for the socalled “Will Rogers of demagoguery, a gifted cracker-barrel philosopher who gave the poor what they wanted with one hand and took whatever he could get for himself with the other.”1219 Huey Long’s life had been previously treated in The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish (1977). Ken Burns directed. As noted in the discussion of the earlier biopic, special circumstances surrounding the assassination of Senator Long (in addition to Hollywood’s 113

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long-standing anti-Southern bias) may account for Hollywood’s interest in the Long character (i.e., Long’s alleged assassin was a Dr. Carl Weiss, and subsequent investigations suggest Long may have been accidentally shot by his own body guards).1220 Call to Glory: JFK (1985) focused “on the days preceding and following the assassination of (Democratic) President Kennedy.” Peter Levin directed.1221 The film starred Craig T. Nelson, Cindy Picket and C. Thomas Howell. Finally, although not specifically about a political figure, the 1986 presentation of The Ted Kennedy, Jr. Story focused on the son of a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts. The film starred Craig T. Nelson, Susan Blakely and Kimber Shoop in the story of “Ted Kennedy, Jr. as a twelve-year old boy who lost a leg to cancer and then bounced back from this trauma to lead a productive life.” Kansas-born Delbert Mann directed.1222 The film also featured Michael J. Shannon, Dennis Creaghan and David Healy. The only biopic of the decade that appears to portray a political conservative is Will, G. Gordon Liddy (1982), the G. Gordon Liddy film biography based on Liddy’s best-selling autobiography.”1223 The film starred Chicago-born Robert Conrad (born Conrad Robert Falk),1224 Kathy Cannon, Gary Bayer, Peter Ratray and James Rebhorn. Robert Leiberman directed. It must be remembered, however, that Liddy helped to bring down a Republican President, thus may be considered a hero to many political liberals of the country. Also, in the ’80s, the U.S. film industry finally paid tribute to the father of the country in a 1986 presentation, George Washington: The Forging of a Nation, (although the film was a so-called made-for-TV-movie).1225 William A. Graham directed. The film starred Barry Bostwick, Patty Duke, Penny Fuller, Jeffrey Jones, Richard Bekins, Paul Collins, Guy Paul and Farnham Scott. Athletic Figures — Three of the 1980s biopics focused on athletic figures. In 1980, New York-born Robert De Niro (of Italian-Jewish heritage)1226 starred in the United Artists release Raging Bull as the former boxing champion Jake La Motta. The film was based “on the life of La Motta, who came out of the slums of the Bronx to become middleweight champion in the 1940s.” The Martin Scorsese directed film was “about brute force, anger, and grief . . . [and] about a man’s inability to understand a woman except in terms of the only two roles he knows how to assign her: virgin or whore.” As Roger Ebert explains, “[i]t amounts to a man having such low self-esteem that he (a) cannot respect a woman who would sleep with him, and (b) is convinced that, given the choice, she would rather be sleeping with someone else.”1227 New York-born Martin Scorsese (son of Sicilian immigrant) directed for Jewish producer Irwin Winkler1228 and the New York-born Jewish producer Robert Chartoff1229 with the screenplay by Paul Schrader (born in Michigan, 114

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Chapter 7. Movie Biographies of the 1980s

the son of strict Calvinists of Dutch-German descent) and Mardick Martin. The film also starred Cathy Moriarty, New Jersey-born Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto. The Jesse Owens Story (1984) presented the “tale of the black Olympics champion who peaked early (1936 Olympic Games in Berlin) and then could find little meaningful use for his talents.” Richard Irving directed.1230 The film starred Dorian Harewood, George Stanford Brown, Debbi Morgan, Jewish actor Tom Bosley,1231 Le Var Burton, Ronny Cox, Greg Morris, Ben Vereen and George Kennedy. In The Bear (1984) Gary Busey (born in Texas) played Paul “Bear” Bryant, the legendary coach of the U. of Alabama.1232 The film also starred Cynthia Lake, Carmen Thomas, Harry Dean Stanton, Jon-Erik Hexum and Steve Greenstein. New York-born Richard C. Sarafian (of Armenian descent) directed. Writers — Two of the 1980s biopics featured writers and both were Jewish. The 1986 release Heartburn was essentially based on Jewish writer “Nora Ephron’s1233 autobiographical novel about her troubled marriage to Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein.”1234 The script was written by the New York-born Ephron, daughter of Jewish playwrights/screenwriters Henry Ephron and Phoebe Ephron (Wolkind).1235 Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky, in Berlin, the son of a Russian-born Jewish doctor)1236 directed and produced (with New York-born Robert Greenhut). The film starred Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, Maureen Stapleton, Stockard Channing, Richard Masure, Jewish actor Steven Hill,1237 Jewish actor Milos Forman1238 and Catherine O’Hara. The second of the 1980s writer biopics, Waiting for the Moon (1987) starred Linda Hunt, Linda Bassett, Bernadette Lafont, Bruce McGill and Andrew McCarthy in a “re-creation of the lives of Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein.”1239 According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Toklas was an American writer primarily “remembered as the secretary and longtime companion of Gertrude Stein,”1240 a Jewish American author and art critic who had settled in Paris in 1902. She wrote The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas which was in reality the biography of Gertrude Stein rather than that of Miss Toklas.1241 As Judah Gribetz reports, Stein was a “prominent expatriate and . . . the center of a celebrated literary and artistic circle.”1242 in Europe. Jill Godmillow directed.1243 European Biopics — A couple of the 1980s biopics focused specifically on Europeans. David Lynch’s 1980 motion picture biography of John Merrick, The Elephant Man told the story of how “a penniless man deformed by a rare illness is rescued by a doctor from a fairground freak show, and becomes a member of fashionable society (in 1884 London).” The script was written 115

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by Christopher de Vore, Eric Bergren and Montana-born David Lynch (who directed) for producer Stuart Cornfield. The film starred Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, John Gielgud, Anne Bancroft, Freddie Jones, Wendy Hiller, Michael Elphick and Hannah Gordon.1244 Also, Out of Africa (1985) told the story of a Danish expatriate Karen Blixen who arrived in Africa “for a marriage of convenience with a German baron who ignores her”; then “a white hunter remedies the situation.”1245 The movie is set during that period in history when the countries of East Africa “were attracting waves of European settlers discontented with life at home in the years around World War I.”1246 The script was written by Kurt Leudtke. Indiana-born Sydney Pollack (son of first-generation RussianJewish Americans)1247 produced and directed. The film starred New Jerseyborn Meryl Streep, California “native” Robert Redford, Austrian-born Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen and Michael Gough (born in Malaysia, to British parents)1248 Journalist — One journalist was featured in a motion picture biography during the ’80s decade, and although originally from the American South, he would have to be considered a political liberal. Murrow (1986) starred Daniel J. Travanti, Texas-born Dabney Coleman and Edward Herrmann (originally from D.C.) in a film “about the charismatic newscaster who broadened the horizon of network journalism and whose liberal ideals made history, particularly with his challenge of McCarthyism, on-air.”1249 Many observers saw a distinct anti-Semitic flavor in Senator Joseph McCarthy’s relentless attacks on Communists in the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry, thus Murrow could fairly be considered a Jewish hero for purposes of this analysis. Edward R. Murrow was originally from North Carolina, but grew up in Washington state. British-born Jack Gold directed.1250 Military — The ’80s biopics also featured a single U.S. military leader. In 1986, the Last Days of Patton presented the (WWII) general in peacetime, after the German surrender up until the freak accident that proved fatal.”1251 Kansas-born Delbert Mann directed.1252 The film starred George C. Scott, Eva Marie Saint, Richard Drysart, Murray Hamilton, Ed Lauter and Kathryn Leigh Scott. Religious — One religious figure was also prominently portrayed in a motion picture biography of the 1980s. Pope John Paul II (1984) provided “[f]lashbacks into [the Pope’s] . . . early days, including his yearning to be an actor and the harsh, ambition-dampening realities of the Nazi takeover of Poland in WWII.” Herbert Wise directed.1253 The film starred Albert Finney, Alfred Burke, John McEnery, Ronald Pickup, Nigel Hawthorne, Brian Cox and Alfred Burke.

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Eccentric Millionaire Revisited — Continuing its compulsive fascination with the dark side of the American South, Hollywood offered a look at an eccentric millionaire in Melvin & Howard (Universal — 1980). The film starred Paul LeMat, Jason Robards, Jr., and Mary Steenburgen in the story of “Melvin Dummar, a hapless soul, (who) gives eccentric Howard Hughes a lift to Las Vegas, and no one believes him when Hughes bequeaths him the bulk of his multi-million dollar estate.”1254 Thus, the Hollywood outsider, Howard Hughes, is portrayed in two biographical films, (earlier in The Amazing Howard Hughes) both times in a negative manner. New York-born Jonathan Demme directed for producer Terry Nelson. The script was written by New York-born Bo Goldman. Elizabeth Cheshire, Michael J. Pollard and Gloria Grahame also appeared.1255 Western — Hollywood only visited the Wild West once for a 1980s biographical presentation. In the Vestron release of the Morgan Creek production Young Guns (1988), “Billy Bonney joins a group of young ranch hands and they are quickly transformed into Billy the Kid and a gang of outlaws.” The script was written by John Fusco. Christopher Cain directed and co-produced with New York-born Joe Roth. The film starred Emilio Estevez, Keifer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips (part Cherokee)1256 and Charlie Sheen.1257 Criminals — Finally, the film colony used some good judgment in not portraying more than one crime figure for the ’80s decade, and the entire nation probably would have been better off without this contribution to the genre. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) told the story of “a drifter who kills strangers, efficiently and without remorse.” The film was “[l]oosely inspired by the confessions, since recanted, of a self-described mass murderer named Henry Lucas . . .”1258 son of a prostitute and drifter who ended up on death row in Texas. John McNaughton directed for producer Waleed Ali. Both were from Chicago. The screenplay was written by Richard Fire. The film starred Alabama-born Michael Rooker, Tom Towles and Tracy Arnold. As noted in the chapter introduction, the Hollywood biopics of the ’80s, included nineteen that focused on entertainment or entertainment-related figures, eleven politically-related subjects, three individuals involved in athletics, two writers, and one each of religious figure, American Western character, journalist, military leader, big game hunter, deformed individual and serial killer. Thirteen of the biopics featured individuals from the American South, although 6 of those were entertainers (4 of which were stereotypically portrayed as Country/Western singers). The others from the South included a liberal Democratic politician, a black political activist, a politically liberal journalist, a black athlete, an eccentric college coach, an actress who was negatively portrayed, and an eccentric millionaire 117

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(also negatively portrayed). Six of the ’80s biopics focused on Europeans, including an Italian movie star, a composer, a rock & roll couple, a deformed man in European society, Europeans in Africa and a political figure. Each of the writers featured in the two ’80s motion picture biographies on writers were Jewish. Women fared somewhat better in the ’80s in terms of the relative number of biopics focusing on female subjects. Thirteen of the 38 motion picture biographies of the decade (34%) featured aspects of the lives of women. Unfortunately, the vast majority (9) of those were still entertainers. Only three additional female subject categories were presented in the ‘80s biopics: two writers, a political active nurse and an African settler. African-Americans lost ground in the ‘’80s in terms of the number of motion picture biographies. Hollywood only presented three biopics in the decade focusing on the lives of African-Americans, and subject categories had previously been established as somewhat typical (i.e., entertainer, civil rights activist and athlete). As noted earlier, only one biopic of the decade featured a U.S. Latino individual. The only other Hispanic figures portrayed in Hollywood biopics were both Mexican revolutionaries and those films were produced back in the ’30s and ’50s respectively. As can be seen from the above discussion, at least seven of the ’80s biopics were directed by Jewish directors. Thus, the now 70-year tradition of a disproportionate number of Hollywood motion picture biographies being directed by Jewish directors remains uninterrupted. In addition, a total of fourteen (or 38%) of the biopics of the decade either focused on Jewish subjects, the subject’s relationships with specific persons of Jewish heritage or received substantial contributions from Jewish actors, producers, screenwriters, directors or playwrights. Such a disproportionately high percentage, and the other patterns of biopic biases demonstrated during the ’80s decade tends to confirm the theses statements of this current series of books on Hollywood: (1) movies mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers and (2) Hollywood is controlled by a small group of politically liberal, not very religious Jewish males of European heritage (see Who Really Controls Hollywood). The percentage of Jewish-related films reported here would actually be higher except that many persons of Jewish heritage are not commonly identified as such in industry literature. In addition, if this analysis included consideration of the religious/cultural background of the studio executives who actually decide which films are to be produced and/or released, the percentage favoring Jewish connections or contributions would be even more significant (again, see Who Really Controls Hollywood).

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Chapter 8. Biopics of the Early 1990s As of the writing of this volume, Hollywood had produced and/or released some twenty-two biopics during the first part of the 1990s. The leading category, once again, (although only by a slim margin during this decade, thus far), were the motion picture biographies about entertainers. Entertainers — In 1993, Chaplin starred Robert Downey, Jr. as the famous film comedian. But as Roger Ebert points out, “the film is not about a genius who made movies. It is about a man who used his movies to finance his life-style, his sex life, and his famous exile in Switzerland.”1259 The biopic prominently features segments from Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940) which as Patricia Erens reports, was “the first Hollywood film to squarely confront German anti-Semitism and to speak out clearly against Nazi political policies.”1260 Even though the film indirectly addresses one of the favored issues of the Hollywood control group (i.e., anti-Semitism) Erens also discusses the fact that there is some question with regard to whether Chaplin was actually Jewish. As she states, “[t]his issue is clouded, helped by Chaplin’s own contradictory statements.” In addition, Chaplin biographer John McCabe reported that “Charlie Chaplin is virtually part Jewish almost most of the time.”1261 Erens reports that “no definite evidence exists to substantiate a Jewish heritage.”1262 Webster’s American Biographies reports that Chaplin was born in London in 1889, “the son of music-hall performers.” However, he was left on his own at an early age “and grew up in poverty, shunted from one drab institution to another and sometimes living in the streets.”1263 Nevertheless, Erens states, “aspects of his persona draw upon the traditions of Jewish comedy.” Erens also goes on to point out that “Chaplin never actually portrayed a clearly identifiable Jew except in The Great Dictator . . .” although “[s]everal Chaplin shorts have passing references 119

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to Jewish characters and themes.”1264 In any case, Chaplin’s character the little tramp became “representative of the harassed and bewildered victims of circumstance everywhere.”1265 Also, Clayton Koppes and Gregory Black credit Chaplin’s The Great Dictator with being “perhaps the most significant antifascist film, both politically and artistically.”1266 Thus, Chaplin clearly qualifies as a legitimate Jewish hero, even if not Jewish, thus supplying part of the possible motivation for moving the project forward in Hollywood. Chaplin’s life also provides the commonly-present European background for this Hollywood production. The British-born Richard Attenborough directed Chaplin and produced with Mario Kassar. William Boyd, Bryan Forbes (also from England) and third-generation Jewish novelist/screenwriter William Goldman1267 wrote the screenplay. Other stars appearing in the film included Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin, Kevin Dunn, Anthony Hopkins, Milla Jovovich, Kevin Kline (Jewish father/Catholic mother),1268 Diane Lane, Penelope Ann Miller, Paul Rhys, John Thaw, Marisa Tomei, Nancy Travis and James Woods. The 1994 Columbia release Immortal Beloved focuses on a famous European composer and thus also falls into the entertainer category of motion picture biographies. The film reprises the Citizen Kane tactic “of using a death’s door clue left by a difficult great man to penetrate his secret self. The man in question here is Ludwig van Beethoven,” who is portrayed as a rather despicable human being, partly because of his deafness (which was, in turn, very likely caused by a father who was physically abusive) and because of the trauma of losing his true love to his brother. One of his letters, “found soon after his death addressed to an unnamed Immortal Beloved . . .” said, “among other things, that ‘I can live only completely with you or not at all.’ As the brilliant composer never married and was not known to have had any deep romantic attachments toward the end of his life, despite countless earlier affairs, the identity of his beloved has stumped all biographers over the years . . . Beginning with the hero’s death in 1827 and his lavish funeral, [the] film follows the travels throughout Middle Europe of Anton Schindler (Jereon Krabbe), Beethoven’s loyal [secretary] . . . as he pursues all his leads in the Immortal Beloved mystery.”1269 Interestingly, the music publishing firm owned by the German-Jew Adolf Martin Schlesinger first began publishing music by Beethoven in 1810.1270 The script for the film was written by Bernard Rose, who also directed, for producer Bruce Davey. The film starred Gary Oldman (as Beethoven), Jeroen Krabbe as (Schindler), Johanna Ter Steege as Johanna Reiss), and Isabella Rossellini (as Anna Marie Erbody). Also, in the entertainer category, the 1994 Buena Vista release Ed Wood provided a comedic review of the life of the “man often described as the worst 120

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Chapter 8. Biopics of the Early 1990s

film director of all time.” Tim Burton directed this biopic and co-produced with Denise Di Novi. Michael Lehmann served as executive producer. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski wrote the screenplay. The film starred Johnny Depp, Jewish actor Martin Landau,1271 Patricia Arquette (born into a Russian-French-Jewish show-business family)1272 and Sarah Jessica Parker.1273 Writers — Following close on the heels of the entertainer category of 1990s biopics, Hollywood also offered three motion picture biographies on the sometimes related lives of writers. In 1990, Henry and June was “based loosely on a period in the 1930s when [American author Henry Miller and his wife June] . . . fell into the orbit of Anais Nin, the great free spirit of her Parisian literary generation.”1274 Miller wrote Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer in the ’30s, but their belated publication in the U.S. (Cancer in 1961, Capricorn in 1962) “provoked a series of obscenity trials that culminated in a 1964 Supreme Court decision affirming their right to publication.”1275 Chicago-born Philip Kaufman (grandson of German-Jewish immigrants)1276 directed for his producer son Peter Kaufman. The screenplay was written by Philip Kaufman and his wife Rose (Fisher) Kaufman. Shadowlands (a 1993 Savoy release) was an “account of a late-in-life love between English writer and scholar C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham, an American poet.” The film is set “in the early 1950s, it’s a quiet, pensive tale of two eccentric individuals whose personae, lifestyles and cultures couldn’t have been more different. A middle-aged bachelor, (Anthony) Hopkins (playing the part of C.S. Lewis) is a reserved, repressed intellectual who lives an orderly life with his brother Warnie (Edward Hardwicke) and spends his leisure time with his male colleagues in a most habitual manner. For years, he’s been the literary hero of Joy Gresham (Jewish actress Debra Winger),1277 a feisty, straightforward American who is in the process of recovering from a failed marriage to an alcoholic.” The character is “not only a woman, but an American Jew whose outspoken and uninhibited behavior defies Oxford’s rigid sensibility . . . she was perceived as an adventurous woman who refused to be intimidated by a sexist, male-dominated bastion and challenged its notion of a ‘woman’s place.’”1278 Also, note that both of these writer stories have a strong European connection and politically liberal sensibilities. The 1994 Miramax release Tom & Viv was a British/U.S. co-production released in the U.S. by the Disney subsidiary. It features Willem Dafoe as poet T.S. Eliot in “a study of a doomed love affair between a highly refined poet and an all-out nut case.” The tale “opens in 1914, with spoiled socialite Vivienne Haigh-Wood (played by Miranda Richardson) visiting Merton College, Oxford . . . to see American student Tom Eliot . . . Following a whirlwind affair, the couple marry . . . In London, [they] share a flat with Tom’s friend Bertrand Russell (Nickolas Grace). Tom is barely accepted by Viv’s snooty parents, 121

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while her own behavioral changes are diagnosed incorrectly and treated with yet more medication . . . Tom finally has her committed to an asylum . . . Ten years later . . . [h]er condition is finally diagnosed by an American researcher as a hormonal imbalance triggered by her menstrual cycle.” The script “makes only fleeting reference to Eliot’s . . .” growing reputation as a poet, his career or his “most famous work, ‘The Waste Land’.”1279 Royalty — More of Hollywood’s continuing preoccupation with European subjects came through in the 1994 Samuel Goldwyn release The Madness of King George which follows the long-standing major studio pattern of emphasizing European royalty. The film told the story “of the tormented king who almost lost his mind.” The tale begins in 1788, with King George III (played by Nigel Hawthorne) . . . a vibrant, robust leader, almost 30 years into his reign . . . Yet here, almost from the beginning, the king behaves in a strange, eccentric way. He is the kind of energetic leader who insists on knowing — and interfering in — every aspect of his monarchy. The king’s veneer of respectability is shattered in a series of brief scenes that disclose his ‘darker side’, as he spews obscenities at the queen or sexually assaults her attractive Mistress of the Robes, Lady Pembroke (Amanda Donohoe).” The film supposedly provides “a sharply focused, behind-the-scenes look at King George . . .” including “the broader political context, most notably his loss of the American colonies. Some of the sharpest dialogue concerns the King’s obsession with the rebellious territory.” Stephen Evans and David Parfitt produced. Nicholas Hytner directed. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett. Helen Mirren starred as Queen Charlotte. Other stars included Ian Holm, Rupert Everett, Rupert Graves, John Wood and Julian Rhind-Tutt.1280 Hollywood’s interest in royalty of a somewhat different nature was presented in the 1994 TriStar release Princess Caraboo, which was supposedly “[b]ased on a true story . . . about a Pacific island princess in 1817 England.” The princess (played by Phoebe Cates) “shows up in a country village unable to speak or write English, but slowly conveys a story of her kidnapping from a royal household and her swimming for safety from a pirate ship off the English coast. The Worrals (Jim Broadbent, Wendy Hughes) — at bottom of the upper classes — see the princess as a means to increase their wealth and prestige. Their problem is Gutch (Stephen Rea), a local reporter who is suspicious of the princess even as he finds himself falling in love.” The central plot point of the film “concerns whether Caraboo is on the level.”1281 Michal Austin directed and wrote the screenplay with John Wells. The film was produced by Andrew Karsch and Simon Bosanquet with executive producers, Armyan Berstein, Tom Rosenberg and Marc Abraham. The film also featured Kevin Kline (whose father was Jewish),1282 John Lithgow and Peter Eyre. 122

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Athletes — After entertainers, writers and European stories, Hollywood has also shown some slight preference for athletes during the first part of the 1990s. In 1992, The Babe starred John Goodman as the legendary Babe Ruth in the second biopic on the life of this American baseball player. The earlier film appeared in 1948 as The Babe Ruth Story. The more recent version was scripted by John Fusco who also produced. The Canadian-born Arthur Hiller directed. Other stars included Kelly McGillis, Trini Alvarado, Bruce Boxleitner, James Cromwell, Peter Donat, Bernard Kates and Michael McGrady. Although marketed as a biopic, the 1994 Warner Bros. release Cobb is actually “the chronicle of how sports scribe Al Stump (Robert Wuhl) was summoned to the bedside of the ailing Ty Cobb (Tommy Lee Jones) to write the official bio of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s first inductee . . . Stump’s dilemma is a crisis of conscience — whether to write the naked truth or print the legend.” David Lester produced with the Israeli-born executive producer Arnon Milchan.1283 Ron Shelton wrote and directed. The film also starred Lolita Davidovich, Lou Myers, Stephen Mendillo, William Utay, J. Kenneth Campbell, Rhoda Griffis and Allan Malamud.1284 Criminal Figures — The early 1990s Hollywood presentations of motion picture biographies about criminal figures ranked right up there with writers and athletes in terms of the number of biopics (two), thus another Hollywood pattern of bias continued into the ’90s. Reversal of Fortune told “the story of Claus von Bulow’s two trials on the charge of attempting to murder his wife.” It was “based on a book by Alan J. Dershowitz, the famous Harvard professor who conducted Claus von Bulow’s appeal.”1285 Attorney Dershowitz is Jewish1286 and according to the New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, he “has been a leading spokesman for civil rights and has acted as counsel in many key cases involving civil liberties,” including the Patricia Hearst and Claus von Bulow cases. “He has also taken up many Jewish causes and was the U.S. lawyer for Anatol Scharansky.” His autobiography is entitled Chutzpah.1287 Barbet Schroeder (raised in Iran, Argentina and France as the son of a German geologist) directed for New York-born Jewish producer Edward R. Pressman1288 and Oliver Stone (also from New York). Nicholas Kazan (son of Elia Kazan, whose parents were Greek)1289 wrote the screenplay. In 1991, Bugsy starred one of Hollywood’s most handsome men (Warren Beatty) as the famous Jewish mobster Bugsy Siegel,1290 and Annette Benning as his girl friend Virginia Hill. The Jewish actor Harvey Keitel1291 played the role of Jewish gangster Mickey Cohen,1292 Ben Kingsley played the Jewish bootlegger/gambler Meyer Lansky and Jewish actor Elliott Gould1293 played the Jewish organized crime figure Harry Greenberg. The film told the story of Siegel’s work on the West coast using “some of the eastern mob’s investment funds in the early 1940s.”1294 Barry Levinson (whose Jewish grandparents 123

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came to America from Russia)1295 directed and co-produced with Beatty and Mark Johnson. New York-born Jewish writer James Toback1296 wrote the screenplay. Although surrounded by other mobsters clearly identified as Jewish or Italian, Bugsy himself was not specifically identified as being Jewish in this film. This film represents a rather extreme example of what can happen, and what routinely occurs in Hollywood, when a single narrowly-defined interest group is allowed to control an important communications medium. Not only is the story filtered through the cultural sensibilities of the members of that single interest group, but many members of other ethnic, religious, racial or cultural groups are arbitrarily denied opportunities to work on the film. Although not a criminal figure per se, 1992’s Hoffa starring Jack Nicholson, did tell the story of a famous labor leader with strong organized crime connections. Even so, this Hollywood presentation of Hoffa was a fairly positive portrayal of the character. The 1994 Film Review reports that Hoffa was portrayed in the film as “flawed” but as a “crusading saint.”1297 After becoming one of the most powerful labor leaders in the country (in real life), Hoffa was eventually “found guilty of having tampered with the jury in a trial . . .” and he began “an eight-year [prison] sentence, to which a five-year sentence for mail fraud and mishandling of the union’s welfare fund had been added after a conviction of those charges.”1298 His sentence was commuted by President Richard M. Nixon, and Hoffa only served four years and nine months. New Jersey-born Danny DeVito directed and co-produced with New York-born Jewish producer Edward R. Pressman1299 and Caldecot Chubb. Chicago-born Jewish writer David Mamet1300 wrote the screenplay. Western Criminals — Although crime figures of a different era, the Hollywood presentation of Young Guns II was nevertheless a biopic of Western outlaws, thus continuing the long-standing Hollywood tradition of glorification of the lives of criminals. In this 1990 Fox film, “Billy the Kid and his gang . . . run from justice [and] . . . face death as they begin to squabble among themselves.” The screenplay was written by John Fusco. Geoff Murphy (originally from New Zealand) directed for producers Paul Schiff and Irby Smith. The film starred Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips and Christian Slater.1301 American Indians — One more favored biopic category for the early ’90s were stories about American Indians. In 1993, Geronimo — An American Legend (Columbia) became another in the series of Hollywood biopics focusing on the life of an American Indian, and as in most of the previous cases, the portrayal was fairly positive. The film also contains an anti-government theme, relating “the final stages of the U.S. government’s subjugation of the West’s native population.”1302 The great Indian warrior is portrayed as “a 124

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complex figure who surrenders himself to the white man, only to rise up in anger after soldiers murder an Indian ghost dancer in the middle of a ritual. The original script, written by John Milius . . .” indicated that the main reason Geronimo left the reservation was that he hated being a farmer.”1303 This film also contained Hollywood’s traditional negative portrayal of White Southerners (more specifically in this case Texans) and a line voiced by the Robert Duval character that “Texans were the lowest form of human life.” Even if considered humorous and/or in a work of fiction, such a negative description of a class of human beings should not be tolerated, and, of course, would have created a controversial firestorm if it had been directed toward others, such as African-Americans, Latinos or Jews. This highlights the problem with a powerful communications medium like film being dominated by any particular racial, ethnic, religious, cultural or other group. There is a tendency for such movies to mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of the films’ makers, and the views of others are more often than not, overlooked. The 1994 Buena Vista release of Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale focused on the life of “a 17th century Native American . . .” named Squanto (played by Adam Beach) who had just “recently married when a band of British traders arrives in his village to exchange trinkets for furs. The friendly transactions sour as the sailors forcibly take him and others aboard their ship and back to England for display and sport. Shortly after arriving in Plymouth, England, Squanto escapes during a public contest pitting him against a bear. His flight fortuitously takes him into the protective care of a band of learned monks.”1304 African-American Leader — One lone African-American leader was the subject of a biopic in the early ’90s and that almost did not happen. The Spike Lee film Malcolm X (Warner Bros. — 1992) presented a very revealing struggle between a U.S. film industry controlled by a small group of politically liberal, not very religious Jewish males of European heritage and the leading African-American director who insisted on directing the film biography of an African-American figure who had allegedly exhibited anti-Semitic tendencies. As noted earlier, director Spike Lee actually had to “shame” Oscar-winning director Norman Jewison “into backing out . . .” as the designated director for Malcolm X1305 “on the grounds that this crucial biography should be directed by an African-American.”1306 Malcolm X (originally Malcolm Little) was the “son of a Baptist minister”1307 from Nebraska. As a young man he became “involved in a number of petty criminal activities and . . . was convicted on several counts of robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison . . .” where he became acquainted with the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, leader of the ‘Nation of Islam,’ the Black 125

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Muslims. Adopting this faith, he set about educating himself, and upon his release in 1952, changed his name to Malcolm X and devoted himself to religious and social work.” He became “the sect’s first ‘national minister’ in 1963.” But, “in March 1964, he broke publicly with Elijah Muhammad, forming his own Muslim group.”1308 Webster’s American Biographies reports that Malcolm X often had “radical disagreements with other black leaders . . .”1309 and Howard Sachar states that he was “slain in 1965 in a rift with other Black Muslims,” which is also how the movie depicts the murder. In discussing the life of Malcolm X, Howard Sachar calls attention to his “invective against ‘ghetto [Jewish] merchants and slum landlords who use their ill-gotten gains to sustain a Zionist state.’” Sachar suggests that the “Nation of Islam . . . substantially assimilated . . .” the anti-Semitism of Malcolm X.1310 On the other hand, a close associate of Malcolm X within the Black Muslim community, stated on the Orlando Bagwell produced and directed documentary Malcolm X: Make It Plain (aired on KCET television, Los Angeles, February 5, 1995) that Malcolm X was not anti-Semitic. The Hollywood movie itself hardly raises the issue. There were very few references to Jews in the film, although it was filled with statements about “white racism” and made several references to the Ku Klux Klan. In other words, a film industry controlled by Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious are perfectly willing to allow African-American director Spike Lee to include numerous references to “white racism” in his movie about Malcolm X, but will not permit any similar emphasis on anti-Jewish sentiment in the film, although the real world complaints about Malcolm X’s alleged anti-Semitism would suggest the omission provides an inaccurate and non-historical portrayal of the man. The nature of the private censorship ongoing in Hollywood is self-serving indeed. The one specific statement about Jewish relations with Blacks made by Malcolm X (in the film), was actually uttered in defense of Elijah Muhammad. In that statement, Malcolm “X” said that “Jews, who have been guilty of exploiting the Black people, for I don’t know how long, try to hide their guilt by accusing the honorable Elijah Muhammad of being anti-Semitic.” Even with the inclusion of that lone statement, the theme of Malcolm X’s alleged anti-Semitism was down played in this Hollywood movie. In any case, credit for the screenplay of the feature film was ultimately shared by Spike Lee, although as Leonard Maltin reports, Lee developed the project “[b]uilding on the foundation of an existing script by Arnold Perl, and a twenty-year-old documentary Perl had made with producer Marvin Worth (who executive produced the Spike Lee/Warner Bros. release).”1311 Lee and Worth also co-produced Malcolm X. Lee went on to develop what Leonard Maltin calls a “surprisingly even-handed portrait of the fiery 126

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Chapter 8. Biopics of the Early 1990s

historical figure.”1312 On the other hand, considering the history of the U.S. film industry as portrayed in this book, it should not really be surprising that the alleged anti-Semitism of Malcolm X is de‑emphasized in Lee’s film, and therefore Maltin can call the presentation “even-handed,” although this analysis disagrees with the Maltin judgment. In point of fact, Spike Lee never had full control of the Malcolm X project. He was saddled with a screenplay that was already approved by the Hollywood studio that put up the production money and the studio’s executives held approval rights over the script. Thus, Lee could not make substantial changes without studio approval. Lee also had to satisfy the concerns of his co-executive producer Marvin Worth, who stayed on the project with the approval of Warner Bros. The result in such cases is invariably a compromise and a presentation that the Hollywood control group ultimately approves. The film starred Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee, Theresa Randle, Kate Verson, Lonette McKee and Tommy Hollis. This movie represents only one of five Hollywood biopics released during the nearly 90-year history of the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry that features an African-American male who was not an entertainer or an athlete. In the meantime an independently produced documentary Brother Minister: The Assassination of Malcolm X “tries to prove the men convicted of shooting down Malcolm X in the Audubon Ballroom were innocent. The movie also traces the origins of the Nation of Islam,” but as its director Jack Baxter reports, no distributor was willing to take it on.1313 The treatment of Malcolm X on film raises an important question as to whether the relationship between the African-American and Jewish communities in America has been accurately portrayed in Hollywood films. For example, as Judah Gribetz reports “[m]any Jewish store owners who had remained in the Watts area of Los Angeles after it changed from a mainly Jewish to a mainly black neighborhood suffer[ed] heavy losses in the riots there [in the summer of 1965].” Gribetz goes on to say that the “Los Angeles Jewish Federation [acting in its own self-interest] denied . . . the riots had anti-Semitic implications. However, Newsweek magazine stated . . . that ‘looting and burning revealed a virulent strain of anti-Semitism . . .”1314 Thus, to the extent that African-American anti-Semitism exists in America, it would appear that the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry controlled by a small group of Jewish males of European heritage, who are under constant pressure from an organized Jewish community not to portray anything in film that might inflame or encourage anti-Semitism amongst blacks, has opted to consistently portray the existence of anti-Semitism in America almost exclusively among the WASP population (and to principally portray 127

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Motion Picture Biographies

the source of anti-Black prejudice and discrimination as non-Jews, again primarily among WASPs and/or White Southerners). Again, the danger to a culturally diverse society of allowing any narrowly defined cultural or other interest group to control a significant medium for the communication of ideas is made apparent by the above related events. Artist — Hollywood produced a single biopic focusing on the life of a great artist in the early 1990s. As might be expected, the artist was European. Vincent and Theo (1990) told the story of the relationship between the great artist Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo. “The movie takes place inside and outside the claustrophobic art world of Paris in the late nineteenth century, where the two Dutch brothers try to make their mark.”1315 Kansasborn Robert Altman (of English-Irish-German/Catholic descent)1316 directed for producer Ludi Boeken. The screenplay was written by Julian Mitchell. Jewish Savior — In addition to falling into the analytical categories (as set forth in this book’s companion volume Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies) of a Jewish story and an anti-Nazi film, the 1993 Universal release Schindler’s List provides a “searing historical and biographical drama, about a Nazi industrialist who saved some 1,100 Jews from certain death in the concentration camps.” The film was produced and directed by Jewish producer/director Steven Spielberg.1317 Steven Zaillian wrote the screenplay. The film’s stars were Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagalle and Embeth Davidtz.1318 Medieval Scholar/Prophet (Jewish) — The 1994 Orion Classics release Nostradamus represented a “conventional biopic about the noted medieval scholar/prophet.” The film focused “on the life of the famous philosopher/ scientist, Michel de Nostradame (1503–1566) . . . who devoted his life to fighting the ravaging ills of 16th-century Europe: uncontrollable plagues, a conservative medical establishment and the terror of the Inquisition . . . He went on to study new forms of medicine, hoping to find a cure for the plague, but his nonconformist personality and unorthodox methods irritated the Catholic Church as well as the medical profession . . . Born Jewish, he managed to survive the Inquisition, the plague and the devastating death of his first wife, Marie (Julia Ormond), who shared his interest in science.”1319 Women/Early American — Although Shadowlands, Tom and Viv and Henry and June all involved women prominently in featured relationships, the 1994 Columbia release Little Women was the only offering of the early ’90s focusing specifically on the life of a woman (with the possible exception of Princess Caraboo). Unfortunately, the underlying writing for the film had to come from an earlier century. The screenplay was based on the famous Louisa May Alcott autobiographical novel about her family life, “the growing up of four sisters in Concord, Mass., during and after the Civil War.” The 128

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Chapter 8. Biopics of the Early 1990s

story had also been previously filmed three times. The film weaves in issues relating to how difficult it was for women to pursue careers in a masculine dominated world. For example, Jo (played by Winona Ryder) “is only able to publish her sensationalist fiction under the name Joseph.” During her stay in New York “she meets a German immigrant philosophy professor, Friedrich Bhaer (Gabriel Byrne), with whom she has an instant accord.” The ethnic background of the professor is not disclosed in the film, although his European heritage is made clear. The movie was produced by Denise Di Novi. Robin Swicord co-produced and wrote the script. Other stars included Trini Alvarado, Samantha Mathis, Kirsten Dunst and Susan Sarandon.1320 This survey of the early ’90s Hollywood biopics reveals another longstanding Hollywood tradition, an emphasis on the lives of male figures as opposed to female. During the period covered by this chapter, only two motion picture biographies featured the lives of women, three focused on couples, while sixteen presented male figures. Evidence of the continuing Hollywood preoccupation with biopic subjects from the U.S. and Europe is also quite apparent from the early ’90s biopics. Ten of these motion picture biographies focused on strictly U.S. subjects while a total of 12 featured European characters, settings, backgrounds, or other significant European connections. There were no biographical subjects in this group from Asia, Africa, Australia, Canada, Mexico, South America, India or China. The one film featuring a Pacific Island Princess was actually set in England. The strong Hollywood bias in favor of its base country, along with Europe, and against all other parts of the world has never been stronger. Hollywood’s interest in African-American motion picture biographies remained relatively weak during the early years of the 1990s. Only one socalled Hollywood production of an African-American figure was presented. A second, focusing on the same personality (Malcolm X) could hardly be considered a Hollywood production or release. American Indian biopics were more popular among Hollywood decisionmakers in the ’90s than at any time since the ’50s. Two of the ’90s motion picture biographies focused on aspects of the lives of American Indians. Latinos, however, were again shut out completely during the early part of the 1990s. The early ’90s biopics also demonstrate the continuing high involvement of Jewish interests in such films. At least 3 of the 22 biopics of the early ’90s (14%) were directed by Jewish directors. The same disproportionate number and percentage focused on Jewish subjects. At least 11 of the 22 total motion picture biographies of this early 1990s survey (50%) involved Jewish subjects, heroes, actors, directors, screenwriters, producers or 129

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other significant Jewish-related possible motivation for moving the project forward in an industry controlled by politically liberal, not very religious, Jewish males of European heritage.

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Chapter 9. Concluding Observations Analysis of this body of films, the Hollywood biopics, considers the geographic setting for such films, the occupations portrayed, time and sex biases, ideology, historical accuracy and the race, culture and ethnicity of the biopic subjects. In some instances, the conclusions of the author of the earlier work in this area (George Custen’s Bio/Pics) are compared with those of the more contemporary study. In other instances, this later study places an emphasis on different issues that the earlier study overlooked or omitted, and which are critical in gaining an understanding of the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry. Geography — As Custen points out, “[i]n their projection of biography onto a world map, Hollywood created a distorted view of accomplishment that sustained an image of history that . . . made it appear that entire domains of achievement had been invented by Americans.”1321 Custen’s study of biopics, which only surveyed the genre through the middle of the century, reveals that “[t]wo-thirds of all biopics are either about Americans or set in America” and “[a]fter the United States, Europe appears to be the center of the biographical universe, with 22% of films set there.” As Custen pointed out, if “the American and European totals (are combined) . . . 89% of all famous people are either American or European . . . Asia and Africa account for only 3% of all biopics [considered in his study].”1322 Custen’s study also revealed that “America’s (former) . . . rival, the U.S.S.R, as well as uncolonized Asia,” were “[n]oticeably under-represented.” Custen points out that these “enormous voids represent a kind of cinematic equivalent to isolationism,* a willful ignoring of entire nations whose ethnicity, race, ideology, * This form of movie biopic “isolationism” is quite interesting and specifically inconsistent with the film industry’s strident opposition to and consistent vilification of the preWorld War II political isolationists.

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or, dangerously, all three prevented them from gaining the credentials needed for entering biographyland.”1323 In Custen’s study “[f]ilms set in Japan and China (less than 1%) take place either in the long ago past (The Adventures of Marco Polo), or present Asian nationals as outmoded resisters to the voice of American modernity.”1324 The weighted geographic distribution appears to have continued (and even increased) in more contemporary biopics. This later study of Hollywood biopics reveals that the films focusing on American subjects were far greater in number than any other country or continent. There were 324 Hollywood biopics with American subjects. The next significant level of subjects came from Europe (101), and considering the European heritage of many of those in the Hollywood film community, that is not surprising. The American and European subjects combined (from the more recent expanded study) account for slightly more than 95% of the biopics in this larger study. The next highest number of subjects from an area of the world was the Middle East with 9 films and then Australia and Asia with 3 each. Biopic subjects from Africa and India were featured in 2 films each. There were also only 2 films featuring subjects from our nearest neighbor to the south, Mexico. There was only one Hollywood biopic featuring a subject from Greece. None of the biopics focused on a subject from our nearest neighbor to the north, Canada. There were also none from any of the Central or South American countries. Occupations — As Custen reports the “great man as a tragic or grand royal figure or the famous statesman, popular before World War II [was] . . . replaced by the great man as a giant of some branch of the entertainment industry. While military figures and gangsters would be honored equally with biopics, particularly during the 1950s, the era of the biopic of the statesman vanished with the close of the war.”1325 Custen reported that “by weighting the universe of fame so that it is numerically biased in favor of fame in the performing or creative fields, the movies justify their own system, lending credibility to idols of consumption rather than idols of production. In short, the dominance of performer biopics is a grand justification for the legitimacy of popular entertainment.”1326 Leo Lowenthal observed similar tendencies in his 1944 study of magazine biographies. In seeking to discern in magazines, biographical patterns over time, Lowenthal noted “a shift both in the subjects of biography and in the explanations proffered for why a particular life was meritorious. His content analysis of 1,003 issues of Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post, covering sixteen sample years, found that while magazines of the first decades of the century had focused their attention on the biographies of what he called ‘idols of production’ (captains of industry, the military, and other members 132

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Chapter 9. Concluding Observations

of conventional ruling elites), later magazines, inspired by the new media, radio and the motion picture, chose to highlight what Lowenthal called ‘idols of consumption.’ In this change from idols of production to idols of consumption, he detected a shift in American values and a shift in the morality lessons — ‘lessons of history’ — that readers might derive from these magazines. Power through the making of the world had been replaced by power through ownership of its coveted items.”1327 “Lowenthal shared [with others of his day, including Theodore Adorno, Walter Benjamin, and Max Horkheimer] a fearful contempt for the products of the mass media, which according to his view, increasingly manipulated audience members into an authoritarian view of history . . . ‘corrupting the educational conscience by delivering goods which bear an educational trademark but are not the genuine article.’ ”1328 Continuing to reflect the interests of Hollywood filmmakers, this more recent expanded biopic study also revealed that the most common occupation for biopic subjects was people in the entertainment field, including actors, actresses, singers, musicians and composers. There were 130 of those representing 29% of the biopics in the period studied. The next most common occupation favored by Hollywood was the criminal/gangster/ outlaw at 50 (11%), thus the criminal/gangster/outlaw biopic has now surpassed the military hero. In some instances the gangsters and entertainers were also involved with each other. The criminal/gangster/outlaw and entertainer biopics combined accounted for 40% of all occupations portrayed in Hollywood motion picture biographies covering an 82-year period. Another favorite Hollywood biopic topic was the Western. There were 38 of those, including the 7 of the Custen study that could easily be identified as Westerns from their titles alone (see footnote). Also, 6 of these Western biopics focused on Indian subjects. Then there were 30 (7%) athletes featured in the biopics (20 white; 6 black; 1 Indian; 1 woman; and 2 horses). Unfortunately, there were no American women athletes honored with Hollywood biopics throughout the period covered. Also, there were 25 military heroes (6%), 24 royalty (5%), 22 politicians or government leaders, 18 writers (including poets and playwrights), 14 religious leaders, 8 biopic subjects from law enforcement, 8 aviators, 7 businessmen, 7 dentists and doctors, 6 spies, 6 journalist/reporters, 5 inventors, 5 scientists, 4 artist/ painters, 4 ambassador/diplomats, 4 nurses, 3 explorers, 1 banker, 1 teacher and 1 Supreme Court Justice represented. Men vs. Women — In Custen’s study of studio biopics he discovered that there “are almost two and a half times as many male biographies as females. Moreover, the bulk of female biographies are of entertainers and paramours.” Custen noted that “in general, the distribution of power in 133

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society is mirrored by the distribution and limitation of the lives women are allowed to depict.”1329 Custen’s study showed that “men have numeric superiority in twelve careers [while] . . . films on women dominate only four areas. After paramour and educator, they are royalty and medical . . . the biography of the single famous woman accounts for only one-quarter (25.8%) of all biopics [in Custen’s study] . . . men alone account for 65% of all biographies, more than twice the number of biopics than women . . .”1330 “One might also add that . . . three categories — entertainer, royalty, paramour — make the female the object of a male gaze.”1331 Those trends were altered even more in favor of men in the more contemporary study, which revealed that 83% of the subjects were male and only 17% were female. Even though the mistress, entertainer, Royalty and nurse categories dominated among women in the later study, other occupational fields like writer, poet, intern, governess, athlete, orphanage founder, gangster, scientist, aviator, were included along with peasant girl, wife and groupie. Time Bias — Custen’s study also revealed a “time bias” in Hollywood biopics. He reported that “59% of all films set in the United States take place in the twentieth century, 39% in the nineteenth century, and only 2% in the seventeenth century. This is in contrast to Europe, where only 8.5% of all films are set in the twentieth century.”1332 As Custen reports, “biographies of those before the Renaissance are rare indeed (4%), and limited to charismatic biblical figures or Egyptian or Greek royalty.”1333 “More than 80% of all entertainment biopics . . .” in Custen’s study “are set in the eighty years between 1880 and 1960. Of these entertainer biopics, almost a third are about vaudevillians . . .”1334 Custen determined that if the subjects of the biopics spoke German, chances are that they “lived in the nineteenth century (the ‘good’ Germany) and composed music (Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss) or were a scientist (Erlich), or a humanitarian entrepreneur whose fondest wish was for ‘one world’ (Julius Reuter).” On the other hand, if the subject of the biopic was French, such a person “lived in the nineteenth century, or [was] . . . either an intensely romantic eighteenth-century female (Madame Du Barry, Marie Antoinette, etc.) or an intensely political writer (Zola), statesman, and military figure (Napoleon), or, in the case of Louis Pasteur, a man dedicated almost equally to the advancement of science and the honor of France.” In addition, both the Zola and Ehrlich biographies dealt with antiSemitism.1335 Paul Ehrlich, the scientist “who discovered a treatment for syphilis, was consciously selected as a subject for a biopic [Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet] because he was both German and a Jew. As Warners story editor Finlay McDermid explained to Will Hays (who was concerned with the explicitness of the ‘syphilis’ angle in Ehrlich), ‘the reason for picking Ehrlich 134

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Chapter 9. Concluding Observations

as a protagonist had very little to do with syphilis and its cure. Ehrlich happened to be a great humanitarian and a German Jew.’”1336 Ideology — Political orientation is one of the areas that cannot always be ascertained by a review of a film’s synopsis. For example, there were only 23 readily identifiable political liberals in the expanded sample of biopics. Even so, the liberals significantly outnumbered the political conservatives, since there were only 4 of the latter. The portrayal of the major political parties of U.S. Presidents was much closer, with 7 biopics of Democratic presidents and 6 of Republicans, although only one of the Republican presidents was in office in the last forty years (Eisenhower 1952–1960). The Soviet Union, and its overall absence from Custen’s study of studio biopics, “cannot easily be explained [as racist] . . . Here, the barrier to representation is ideological . . . with studio heads being even more afraid of Communism than they were of the threat of the Nazis. Thus, ‘Russia’ (represented in eight films of Custen’s study) had to mean pre-revolutionary Russia . . . The incredible cinematic possibilities available in the Russian Revolution are, of course, off-limits to the virulently anti-Communist industry . . . Moreover, many of the early movie moguls were immigrants from Russia or Eastern Europe where, as Jews, they were subject to a variety of forms of discrimination and persecution.”1337 Of course, the film industry was not as “virulently anti-Communist” as Custen would suggest since it is well known that many Communists worked in the industry (primarily as writers, actors and directors) before the anti-communist purges in the 1950s. In addition, the studio housecleanings came only after the studio heads began to fear that the public furor over communists might negatively impact the amount of money that could be earned at the box office with their movies. In other words, it would be more accurate to say that many on the creative side of the film industry were Communists or sympathetic to Communism, whereas the studio heads themselves were either anti-Communist or simply pragmatic. Custen further suggests, however, that many forces militated “against producing any biopic of a Communist or totalitarian leader. Although ideological censorship may seem to be the most obvious explanation for these absences ,” there are other reasons. For example, a “substantial number of biopics explain famous people with reference to their families, their neighborhood or home roots, their education and friends. Such humanizing touches might render the lives of these charismatic but forbidden lives empathetic, perhaps even providing social explanations for their ‘evil’ behavior that might seem to excuse it . . . Being masters at propaganda, Hollywood realized that the normal biopic treatment simply could not be used for these (Communist) figures.”1338 Of course, the Hollywood decision135

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Motion Picture Biographies

makers have had no similar hesitation in providing “social explanations” for the “evil behavior” of the many criminals, gangsters and outlaws they have chosen to portray in their biopics and other films. Historical Accuracy — Few if any of the biopics in Custen’s or this more recent and broader study can be considered historically accurate. Part of the reason for that, of course, was the attitude of the studio executives. Darryl Zanuck, for example, expressed his belief in a memo dated July 28, 1936, that historical inaccuracies in biopics do not “cause any trouble.” For example, he said, in the biopic “Rothschild” he “made Rothschild (from the Jewish banking family) an English Baron and there never was a Rothschild a Baron.” Zanuck went on to say that he “had the King of England give [Rothschild] . . . the honor, and that at this time there was no King of England as the king was in the insane asylum.”1339 Hayden White also noted that “[n]o history, visual or verbal, ‘mirrors’ all or even the greater parts of the events or scenes of which it purports to be an account.”1340 In addition, Daniel Leab points out that “[t]ruth, accuracy, and a proper respect for history . . . have been routinely subordinated to the need for dramatic effect and even the whims of filmmakers.”1341 On the other hand, in the sample of 100 biopics Custen used for “content analysis, 90%. . . were prefaced by a written, spoken introduction . . . that asserted the truth status of the narrative that was about to unfold.”1342 Despite such blatantly false Hollywood promotional claims, the various reviews of Hollywood biopics commonly state that a given film is only “loosely based” on the truth, or that it is “fictionalized,” “unhistorical,” “romanticized” or only “moderately truthful.” Thus, there appears to have been a significant difference between the film industry’s marketing claims with respect to the historical accuracy of its biopics and what actually is portrayed on the screen, a difference that may rise to the level of irresponsible representations, and a difference that appears to carry over to the film industry’s advertising of its other movies as well (see discussion of “The World’s Greatest PR Machine” in Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry). In addition, this consistent historical inaccuracy in motion picture biographies raises even more questions about why the patterns of Hollywood bias toward the subjects chosen exists. After all, if the movie makers are free to substantially fictionalize, therefore almost anyone’s life story could be made of interest to moviegoers (i.e., commercial). In other words, any attempt by Hollywood decision-makers to explain that certain subjects were not chosen for biopic treatment because there was nothing of interest to the typical moviegoer in the proposed subject’s background, can now be recognized for exactly what it is: Hollywood rationalization and doubletalk! 136

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Custen ultimately concluded that “Hollywood biography is to history what Caesar’s Palace is to architectural history: an enormous, engaging distortion, which after a time convinces us of its own kind of authenticity. Hollywood biographies are real not because they are believable. Rather, one must treat them as real because despite the obvious distortions ranging from the minor to the outright camp, Hollywood films are believed to be real by many viewers.”1343 “The biographical film (the ‘biopic’) routinely integrates disparate historical episodes of selected individual lives into a nearly monochromatic ‘Hollywood view of history’ . . . These films build a pattern of narrative that is selective in its attention to profession, differential in the role it assigns to gender, and limited in its historical settings.”1344 As stated earlier in this work and its companion volume Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies, “movies mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers.” Expressing a similar theme, Custen pointed out that the biopics of his study appear to be “in-house reflections of the community of producers” that made them. For example, he cites the relationship between Jewish performer George Jessel’s1345 background as a vaudeville performer and his “production of six biographies for Zanuck at Fox . . . all [of which] placed vaudeville at the center of the universe.”1346 Custen also observed that the studio biopics “are the product of institutional pressures that located authority in the hands of one or more powerful figures whose world view was . . . remarkably narrow,”1347 and that “the producers of [the Hollywood biopics] . . . often filtered the content of a great life through the sieve of their own experiences, values, and personalities.”1348 In any case, the “studios tried to control, through various means, the attempts of others to shape their making of history. They accomplished this — in part for reasons of efficiency, in part for ideological purposes.”1349 This more current and extended study of the Hollywood biopics demonstrates that these phenomena continue without significant change. In addition to historical inaccuracy (in the extreme in some cases), there are at least two other aspects of the Hollywood biopics that stand out, as this body of films are reviewed: (1) quite commonly Hollywood tends to place a great deal of emphasis on the subject’s romantic involvements, regardless of how significant such relationships were to the individual in real life, and (2) many of the subjects are relatively obscure or little known individuals. One further characteristic of the Hollywood biopic, as with other films produced by entities in the U.S. film capital, is the involvement of a disproportionate number of producers, directors, writers, actors and actresses of Jewish heritage, adding further support for the contention that a movie industry controlled by a small group of Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious (who also 137

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routinely engage in nepotism, favoritism, cronyism, blacklisting and other forms of discrimination), do tend to favor those who share their religious/ cultural background and routinely deny opportunities to those who do not share that background (see Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry). Race, Culture and Ethnicity — In Custen’s study of biopics there were only twelve films (4%) made about non-white North Americans. “Only two professions, athlete and professional entertainer, are associated with black Americans, representing in a simplistic way many people’s perceptions of the limited careers open to blacks. Native Americans are represented largely as defeated warriors, victims of superior white military strength.”1350 Although, this more contemporary study reveals a few more biopics featuring favorable portrayals of Indians (6 biopics focused on American Indians), only 16 biopics in total featured African-Americans and only 5 of those portrayed African-Americans who were not athletes or entertainers. In addition, there were no other U.S. Hispanic/Latino subjects honored other than the 1 entertainer featured in La Bamba (1987). To put this in perspective, (to graphically illustrate whose lives are worthy of a biopic) there were more Hollywood biopics of criminals, gangsters and outlaws (51) than for all American Indians, African-Americans and Hispanic/Latinos put together. This one component of Hollywood’s bias is a national disgrace! In contrast, and continuing to mirror the makeup of Hollywood, the biopics from 1912 to 1994 included at least 53 (12%) Jewish subjects (a conservative estimate, since no person in this study is identified as being Jewish or having a Jewish heritage without published authority such as Lyman, Friedman, Katz, Erens, Dinnerstein, Gabler, Lacey, Johnson, etc.). Another 32 biopics (7%) included significant roles played by Jewish characters. In addition, 27 of the biopics in the contemporary study contained subjects which may be fairly characterized as “Jewish heroes” (i.e., non-Jews who took significant actions that favored Jewish interests), while another 12 of these biopics may be characterized as films featuring Jewish “enemies” (i.e., negative portrayals of people who were considered hostile toward Jews). Thus, a total of 124 (28%) of the biopics in the contemporary study featured Jewish subjects, Jews in significant roles, “Jewish heroes” or Jewish “enemies.” Also, in contrast to the above record, only 26 people from the American South were featured in Hollywood biopics and they were mostly portrayed in a negative or stereotypical manner, as gangsters, outlaws or countrywestern entertainers. Thus, this study of Hollywood biopics further confirms a significant Hollywood prejudice towards persons from the American South as well as other religious, ethnic, cultural, racial or regional groups 138

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Chapter 9. Concluding Observations

arbitrarily excluded from the Hollywood insiders’ club (the persons who control Hollywood and share a common background, that is, Jewish males of European heritage who are politically liberal and not very religious). Examining the participation of persons of Jewish heritage in the creation of these biopics, a similar pattern emerges. At least 65 (15%) of the Hollywood biopics in the more contemporary study were directed by directors of Jewish heritage. Actors or actresses of Jewish heritage appeared in 119 or 27%. Producers of Jewish heritage produced some 72 or 16% of these films and at least 46 or 10% of the biopics were based on scripts written by writers of Jewish heritage. In total, 269 of the 443 Hollywood biopics in this study (61%) involved the efforts of creative persons of Jewish heritage. Again, this 61% figure does not count Jewish studio executives, talent agents, entertainment attorneys, composers, editors, cinematographers or others of Jewish background not listed above who may have participated in the creation of these films. Also, this study does not go so far as to do so, but if the films with Jewish creative elements were to be combined with the biopics featuring Jewish subjects, significant roles for Jewish characters, “Jewish heroes” and Jewish “enemies,” the entire body of Hollywood biopics with Jewish elements would likely reach into the 70 percentage range, an incredibly disproportionate number for an industry supposedly based on merit. As can be seen from the analysis of the background of the filmmakers of the biopics discussed above, in many instances, some combination of multiple participants (i.e., studio executives, producers, directors, screenwriters, actors and/or actresses) shared a Jewish background. Under such circumstances, no credible person could seriously assert that such instances could actually result in a true free market system, unhindered by powerful anti-competitive forces. From a sociological point of view, it may be reasonably asked, what combination of factors produces such a result? Would it be fair to assume that such factors as cultural arrogance, culture promotion, prejudice or collective insecurity may be involved in producing the patterns of bias described herein? Would it be fair to say that the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry, among other things, is actually a privately controlled culture promotion machine, at least inadvertently supported by U.S. federal policy and the financial contributions of the mass movie-going public that has been duped into believing that movies are merely entertainment, when in fact, Hollywood movies taken as a whole, and because of their consistent patterns of bias over time, actually rise to the level of special interest propaganda? The answers to such questions are beyond the scope of this work, but may be legitimately pursued by others in the future, after all, the motion picture 139

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Motion Picture Biographies

is an important medium of communication, and in a democracy, should be free from bias. It does appear to be quite clear that the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry has always been (and continues to be) controlled by a small group of Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious (see Who Really Controls Hollywood). And, that among other things, this control group has engaged in extensive nepotism, favoritism and cronyism, in addition to reciprocal preferences, primarily based on the Jewish heritage of the beneficiaries of those forms of discrimination (see Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry). In addition, it is clear that as a result of that control, Hollywood movies have consistently portrayed people, places and things associated with the Jewish culture in a more favorable manner, while at the same time, consistently portraying people, places and things that are not Jewish in a more negative manner, and because of its consistency over time, this pattern of bias rises to the level of propaganda, in fact, a privately-controlled culture promotion machine. Of course, others have forewarned that following the publication of this book, there is a very good chance that someone will step forward and make the accusation that its contents are anti-Semitic. Aside from being an entirely false accusation without any evidentiary basis, the truth of the matter is, that the circumstances of Hollywood were created by others. This book and the other works cited herein, are primarily reports of observations, along with descriptions of the circumstances that actually exist in Hollywood. In other words, such writers are merely the messengers who are describing the reallife factual circumstances created by others. It may be, on the other hand, that this presentation has been more honest than most of the other writings about Hollywood in the past and more accurate (or more specific) than others in many of the reported observations. Neither the additional level of honesty nor the increased accuracy or specificity, however, can form a reasonable basis for a charge of anti-Semitism. This book has merely attempted to discuss and make reasonable judgments based on the facts relating to who controls Hollywood and how that control reveals itself with respect to who gets to participate in the making of Hollywood movies, which movies get made and the content of those movies; all circumstances controlled by third parties, and circumstances that have merely been observed and reported here with more honesty and accuracy. As the 100th anniversary of the film industry comes and goes, it is time that the bias of this important communications medium be discarded, so that all segments of this nation’s multi-cultural society have a fair and equal opportunity to tell their important cultural stories through this significant 140

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medium for the communication of ideas. After all, it is also clear that regardless of who controls Hollywood and with what results, it is absolutely inappropriate in our multi-cultural society for any readily identifiable interest group (whether the group identity is based on ethnicity, culture, religion, race, class or otherwise) to be allowed to dominate or control this, or any other important communications medium.

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Endnotes

1 Custen, George F., Bio/PicsBHow Hollywood Constructed Public History, Rutgers University Press, 1992. 2 Custen, 235. 3 Custen, 235.

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Chapter 1 Endnotes 4 Gabler, 119. 5 Katz, 122. 6 Wigoder, 141. 7 Custen, 5 & 6. 8 Martin, 701, Walker, 1075. 9 Katz, 350 & Wakeman 209. 10 Wigoder, 579 & Sachar, 360. 11 Gabler, 107. 12 Walker, 88. 13 Walker, 97. 14 Katz, 121. 15 Erens, 165. 16 Walker, 440. 17 Friedman, 13 & Erens, 125. 18 Walker, 566. 19 Scheuer, 212. 20 Walker, 302. 21 Wigoder, 122. 22 Johnson, 311.

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Motion Picture Biographies 23 Johnson, 311. 24 Johnson, 323. 25 Erens, 158.

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Chapter 2 Endnotes 26 Wigoder, 680. 27 Walker, 324. 28 Heritage, 567. 29 Walker, 324. 30 Gabler, 218. 31 Walker, 902. 32 Custen, 261 & 262. 33 Katz, 973. 34 Walker, 902. 35 Gabler, 342. 36 Erens, 125. 37 Katz, 889. 38 Walker, 891. 39 Walker, 956. 40 Gribetz, 233 & 234. 41 Katz, 1296 & Wakeman, 1041. 42 Lyman, 117. 43 Walker, 956. 44 Walker, 683. 45 Wigoder, 680. 46 Katz, 318. 47 Wigoder, 680. 48 Katz, 432. 49 Walker, 195. 50 Heritage, 323 & 1538. 51 Walker, 777. 52 Gribetz, 1660. 53 Gribetz, 206 & 207. 54 Gabler, 340 & 341. 55 Fraser 79 & 80. 56 Gribetz, 185. 57 Gribetz, 212. 58 Katz, 139. 59 Walker, 713. 60 Walker, 1160. 61 Johnson, 322. 62 Johnson, 322 & 323. 63 Lyan, 271.

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Endnotes 64 Walker, 1160. 65 Walker, 546. 66 Walker, 709. 67 Lyman, 184. 68 Fraser, 125. 69 Lyman, 14. 70 Walker, 709. 71 Walker, 998. 72 Johnson, 322. 73 Lyman, 271. 74 Walker, 998. 75 Walker, 882. 76 Heritage, 598. 77 Gribetz, 185 & 212. 78 Fraser, 77. 79 Katz, 314. 80 Walker, 220. 81 Gribetz, 53. 82 Wigoder, 680. 83 Lyman, 263. 84 Katz, 350. 85 Walker, 624. 86 Scheuer 438. 87 Scheuer, 518. 88 Walker, 730. 89 Wigoder, 994. 90 Scheuer, 325. 91 Erens, 161. 92 Wigoder, 680. 93 Scheuer, 324. 94 Heritage, 748. 95 Erens, 392. 96 Scheuer, 324. 97 Walker, 462. 98 Johnson, 409. 99 Walker, 462. 100 Walker, 462. 101 Heritage, 844. 102 Scheuer, 324. 103 Walker, 1058. 104 Heritage, 717. 105 Webster’s American Biographies 359. 106 Lyman, 119. 107 Walker, 1041.

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Motion Picture Biographies 108 Heritage, 298. 109 Wigoder, 408. 110 Gabler, 340 & 341. 111 Katz, 56. 112 Lyman, 250. 113 Walker, 4. 114 Walker, 21. 115 Walker, 701. 116 Scheuer, 602. 117 Custen, 275. 118 Heritage, 1317. 119 Custen, 153. 120 Erens, 392. 121 Walker, 844. 122 Walker, 1227. 123 Walker, 1227. 124 Fried, 23. 125 Scheuer, 759. 126 Lacey, 49. 127 Katz, 1228. 128 Wallis, 1. 129 Erens, 392 & Scheuer, 377. 130 Lyman, 163. 131 Walker,’95, 788. 132 Erens, 199. 133 Wigoder, 431. 134 Katz, 609. 135 Erens, 190. 136 Katz, 350. 137 Erens, 196. 138 Walker, 160. 139 Walker, 115. 140 Walker, 580. 141 Fraser, 210. 142 Walker, 414. 143 Sachar, 53. 144 Martin, 1084. 145 Sachar, 22 & 23. 146 Martin, 1084. 147 Walker, 715. 148 Walker, 1223. 149 Walker, 46. 150 The American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition, 1222. 151 American, Heritage, 441.

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Endnotes 152 Wigoder, 1247. 153 Walker, 1191. 154 Walker, 452. 155 Webster’s American Biographies, 310. 156 Wigoder, 626. 157 Lyman, 14 & Erens, 136. 158 Walker, 235. 159 Johnson, 240. 160 Johnson, 306. 161 Johnson, 307. 162 Johnson, 310. 163 Walker, 805. 164 Heritage, 306. 165 Walker, 805. 166 Walker, 805. 167 Wakeman, 360. 168 Scheuer, 630. 169 Walker, 880. 170 Walker, 242. 171 Erens, 194 172 Walker, 916. 173 Lyman, 179. 174 Scheuer, 716. 175 Walker, 992. 176 Walker, 1957. 177 Walker, 382. 178 Scheuer, 746. 179 Scheuer, 119. 180 Walker, 185. 181 Gribetz, 196. 182 Walker, 185. 183 Walker, 146. 184 Erens, 145. 185 Gabler, 299. 186 Walker, 81. 187 Gribetz, 289. 188 Lyman, 196. 189 Gabler, 218. 190 Lyman, 163. 191 Lyman, 184. 192 Wigoder, 583. 193 Johnson, 385-390. 194 Erens, 162. 195 Gabler, 3 & 123.

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Motion Picture Biographies 196 Walker, 1165. 197 Gribetz, 227 & 228. 198 Scheuer, 371. 199 Johnson, 314. 200 Walker, 526. 201 Erens, 161. 202 LA Herald Examiner, 8-19-69. 203 Walker, 14. 204 Katz, 972. 205 Walker, 221. 206 Scheuer, 148. 207 LA Herald Examiner, 8-19-69. 208 Katz, 61. 209 Walker, 1040. 210 Wigoder, 398. 211 Lyman, 163. 212 Erens, 196. 213 Walker, 1040. 214 Walker, 12. 215 Gribetz, 135. 216 Sachar, 360. 217 Walker, 1050. 218 Wigoder, 122. 219 Erens, 194. 220 Lyman, 184. 221 Walker, 296. 222 Walker, 296. 223 Walker, 1116. 224 American Heritage Dictionary, 687. 225 Custen, 85. 226 Sachar, 352. 227 Walker, 1039. 228 Wigoder, 299. 229 Scheuer, 497. 230 Walker, 698. 231 Katz, 361. 232 Walker, 428.

Chapter 3 Endnotes 233 234 235 236

Walker, 649. Wigoder, 254. Webster’s American Biographies, 905. Walker, 649.

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Endnotes 237 Sachar, 356. 238 Walker, 623. 239 Katz, 122. 240 Walker, 781. 241 Heritage, 1616. 242 Heritage, 166. 243 Webster’s American Biographies, 1158 & 1159. 244 Walker, 700. 245 Erens, 188. 246 Erens, 125. 247 Lyman, 203. 248 Walker, 766. 249 Friedman, 13. 250 Scheuer, 397. 251 Lyman, 261. 252 Walker, 566. 253 Webster’s American Biographies, 320. 254 Scheuer, 213. 255 Walker, 304. 256 Walker, 1219. 257 Custen, 160. 258 Erens, 392. 259 Wallis, 1. 260 Lyman, 244. 261 Walker, 983. 262 Katz, 1123. 263 Lyman, 264. 264 Walker, 564. 265 Lyman, 258. 266 Friedman, 48. 267 Walker, 918. 268 Sachar, 360. 269 Walker, 312. 270 Friedman, 48. 271 Wigoder, 408. 272 Erens, 186. 273 Lyman, 256. 274 Walker, 312. 275 Scheuer, 388 & 389. 276 Walker, 554. 277 Lyman, 163. 278 Scheuer, 734. 279 Erens, 125. 280 Walker, 1015.

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Motion Picture Biographies 281 Walker, 1110. 282 Friedman, 48. 283 Erens, 99. 284 Lyman, 259. 285 Lyman, 198. 286 Walker, 784. 287 Katz, 314. 288 Walker, 784. 289 Friedman, 13. 290 Scheuer, 411. 291 Walker, 586. 292 Lyman, 261. 293 Lyman, 248. 294 Walker, 586. 295 Walker, 769. 296 Scheuer, 488 & Wigoder, 650. 297 Walker, 357. 298 Heritage, 553. 299 Walker, 357. 300 Scheuer, 734. 301 Heritage, 1616. 302 Trager, 466. 303 Walker, 1015. 304 Scheuer, 609. 305 Katz, 1453. 306 Wigoder, 802. 307 Wigoder, 408. 308 Erens, 199. 309 Lucaire, 84. 310 Walker, 1213. 311 Martin, 481. 312 Walker, 121. 313 Erens, 196. 314 Scheuer, 587. 315 Walker, 810. 316 Erens, 392. 317 Lyman, 256. 318 Walker, 663. 319 Ephron, 40. 320 Walker, 663. 321 Erens, 125. 322 Lyman, 261. 323 Lyman, 248. 324 Walker, 586.

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Endnotes 325 Sachar, 498. 326 Erens, 194. 327 Walker, 914. 328 Erens, 194. 329 Walker, 1186. 330 Scheuer, 99. 331 Custen, 159. 332 Walker, 612. 333 Walker, 612. 334 Walker, 115 335 Walker, 115. 336 Martin, 1098. 337 Walker, 96. 338 Heritage, 1755. 339 Walker, 161. 340 Walker, 764. 341 Sachar, 53. 342 Walker, 261. 343 Lyman, 268. 344 Walker, 580. 345 Walker, 544. 346 Lyman, 256. 347 Walker, 544. 348 Walker, 11. 349 Walker, 542. 350 Erens, 194. 351 Walker, 542. 352 Walker, 1228. 353 Lyman 247. 354 Scheuer, 430. 355 Webster’s American Biographies, 885. 356 Custen, 55. 357 Custen, 86. 358 Walker, 426. 359 Scheuer, 628. 360 Sachar, 360. 361 Katz, 891. 362 Scheuer, 397. 363 Walker, 565. 364 Walker, 459. 365 Webster’s American Biographies, 1006. 366 Walker, 66. 367 Walker, 1045. 368 Scheuer, 759.

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Motion Picture Biographies 369 Gabler, 82; Katz, 312 & Farber, Dynasties, 63. 370 Walker, 3. 371 Gribetz, 288. 372 Gribetz 284. 373 Lyman, 74. 374 Scheuer, 628. 375 Johnson, 323. 376 Walker, 877. 377 Scheuer, 787. 378 Gribetz, 286 & 287. 379 Gribetz 286 & 287. 380 Katz, 756 & Wigoder, 563. 381 Walker, 1157. 382 Walker, 1227. 383 Walker, 738. 384 Koppes, 186. 385 Erens, 392. 386 Lyman, 111. 387 Johnson, 464 & Katz, 326. 388 Scheuer, 887. 389 Sachar, 219. 390 Sachar, 242 & 243. 391 Sachar, 244. 392 Sachar, 254. 393 Sachar, 257. 394 Sachar 314 & 315. 395 Gabler, 349. 396 Sachar, 360. 397 Walker, 969. 398 Walker, 1039. 399 Katz, 350. 400 Walker, 1050. 401 Lyman, 117. 402 Katz, 690. 403 Scheuer, 628. 404 Friedman, 137. 405 Katz, 888. 406 Erens, 188. 407 Lyman, 87. 408 Wigoder, 680. 409 Katz, 1422. 410 Erens, 16 & Gribetz, 436. 411 Walker, 442. 412 Scheuer, 309.

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Endnotes 413 Walker, 181 & 182. 414 Heritage, 1551. 415 Walker, 892. 416 Trager, 837. 417 Walker, 892. 418 Walker, 930. 419 Scheuer, 669. 420 Lyman, 268. 421 Walker, 930. 422 Walker, 182. 423 Lyman, 257. 424 Scheuer, 210. 425 Walker, 299. 426 Webster’s American Biographies, 278. 427 Scheuer, 686. 428 Walker, 954. 429 Wakeman, 105. 430 Erens, 196. 431 Walker, 954. 432 Walker, 675. 433 Scheuer, 403. 434 Walker, 575. 435 Martin, 578 & 579. 436 Gribetz, 352. 437 Webster’s American Biographies, 646. 438 Walker, 12. 439 Gribetz, 332. 440 Sachar, 360. 441 Walker, 12. 442 Katz, 122. 443 Walker, 295. 444 Scheuer, 166. 445 Walker, 851. 446 Walker, 819. 447 Walker, 1014. 448 Lyman, 67. 449 Scheuer, 409. 450 Heritage, 969. 451 Gabler, 342. 452 Gabler, 299. 453 Walker, 1228. 454 Scheuer, 232. 455 Gabler, 299. 456 Rawlence, Christopher, The Missing Reel, Atheneum, 1990.

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Motion Picture Biographies 457 Walker, 1007. 458 Heritage, 1112. 459 Scheuer, 271. 460 Webster’s American Biographies, 307. 461 Scheuer, 271. 462 Walker, 386. 463 Scheuer, 292. 464 Walker, 419. 465 Walker, 302. 466 Heritage, 1543. 467 Johnson, 316. 468 Wigoder, 798. 469 Lyman, 179. 470 Katz, 96. 471 Walker, 1040. 472 Walker, 306. 473 Johnson, 405. 474 Custen, 153. 475 Lyman, 179. 476 Walker, 306. 477 Scheuer, 487. 478 Heritage, 457. 479 Erens, 392. 480 Walker, 683. 481 Walker, 28. 482 Katz, 830 & Wakeman, 677. 483 Gabler, 123 & Wallis, 1. 484 Walker, 938. 485 Heritage, 303. 486 Gribetz, 233 & 240. 487 Erens, 190. 488 Friedman, 49 & Erens, 166. 489 Sachar, 98. 490 Walker, 44. 491 Lyman, 67. 492 Katz, 1122. 493 Walker, 829. 494 Walker, 829. 495 Erens, 392. 496 Walker, 457. 497 Scheuer, 754. 498 Scheuer, 323. 499 Walker, 460. 500 Martin, 682.

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Endnotes 501 Walker, 131. 502 Katz, 818. 503 Walker, 131. 504 Walker, 619. 505 Custen, 53. 506 Scheuer, 673. 507 Erens, 392.

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Chapter 4 Endnotes 508 Walker, 1227. 509 Webster’s American Biographies, 82. 510 Heritage, 168. 511 Katz, 473. 512 Erens, 392. 513 Erens, 188. 514 Lyman, 29. 515 Katz, 1238. 516 Walker, 271. 517 Katz, 719 & Walker, 1103. 518 Gabler, 82; Katz, 312 & Farber, Dynasties, 63. 519 Lyman, 237 & Katz, 1480. 520 Walker, 1154. 521 Taltin, 896. 522 Katz, 1400. 523 Lyman, 261. 524 Maltin, 896. 525 Maltin, 896. 526 Katz, 362. 527 Walker, 1154. 528 Scheuer, 321. 529 Walker, 456. 530 Erens, 199. 531 Walker, 456. 532 Lyman, 256. 533 Walker, 446. 534 Walker, 548. 535 Erens, 234. 536 Erens, 234. 537 Katz, 1238. 538 Erens, 392. 539 Katz, 1343. 540 Walker, 548. 541 Walker, ‘95, 71.

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Motion Picture Biographies 542 Erens, 136. 543 Katz, 1228. 544 Houseman, 15. 545 Walker, 1041. 546 Erens, 234. 547 Sachar, 543. 548 Katz, 314. 549 Gribetz, 462. 550 Lyman, 59. 551 Walker, 1041. 552 Walker, 538. 553 Scheuer, 731 & Friedman, 13. 554 Walker, 1010. 555 Katz, 168 & Lyman, 38. 556 Lyman, 270. 557 Walker, 1205. 558 Walker, 1205. 559 Sachar, 498. 560 Walker, 1032. 561 Walker, 8. 562 Walker, 8. 563 Katz, 542. 564 Wigoder, 680. 565 Maltin, 344. 566 Sachar, 767. 567 Katz, 647. 568 Scheuer, 369. 569 Lyman, 112. 570 Walker, 524. 571 Erens, 136. 572 Erens, 223. 573 Walker, 524. 574 Erens, 234. 575 Heritage, 883. 576 Lyman, 256. 577 Lyman, 263. 578 Lyman, 263. 579 Walker, 1040. 580 Walker, 1007. 581 Katz, 965. 582 Walker, 1007. 583 Walker, ‘95, 328. 584 Lyman, 59. 585 Erens, 224.

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Endnotes 586 Erens, 234. 587 Erens, 198 & Cohen, 270. 588 Walker, 328. 589 Walker, 537. 590 Custen, 171. 591 Lyman, 256. 592 Lyman, 258. 593 Wigoder, 803. 594 Walker, 284. 595 Erens, 234. 596 Erens, 198. 597 Wakeman II, 273. 598 Walker, 284. 599 Scheuer, 307. 600 Katz, 972. 601 Walker, 99. 602 Friedman, 66. 603 Walker, 99. 604 Erens, 224. 605 Lyman, 255. 606 Walker, 99. 607 Walker, 561. 608 Katz, 122. 609 Gabler, 82; Katz, 312 & Farber, Dynasties, 63. 610 Scheuer, 628. 611 Walker, 878. 612 Erens, 259. 613 Lyman, 264. 614 Walker, 547. 615 Katz, 893. 616 Walker, 672. 617 Katz, 426. 618 Erens, 236. 619 Sachar, 383-385. 620 Erens, 199. 621 Walker, 972. 622 Walker, 333. 623 Monder, 34. 624 Erens, 188. 625 Lyman, 119. 626 Walker, 101. 627 Ephron, 40. 628 Katz, 314. 629 Ephron, 40.

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Motion Picture Biographies 630 Walker, 586. 631 Walker, 586. 632 Sachar, 383-385. 633 Monder, 34. 634 Erens, 136. 635 Walker, 579. 636 Walker, 493. 637 Erens, 392. 638 Lyman, 14. 639 Lyman, 257. 640 Erens, 234. 641 Walker, 167. 642 Lyman, 144. 643 Scheuer, 405. 644 Katz, 339. 645 Walker, 945. 646 Walker, 1120. 647 Erens, 234. 648 Katz, 90. 649 Walker, 1120. 650 Lyman, 124. 651 Walker, 382. 652 Walker, 424. 653 Gribetz, 412 & 416. 654 Monder, 34. 655 Erens, 199. 656 Walker, 46. 657 Martin, 1118. 658 Walker, 635. 659 Walker, 565. 660 Heritage, 225. 661 Lyman, 270. 662 Walker, 173. 663 Walker, 627. 664 Walker, 715. 665 Katz, 962. 666 Walker, 996. 667 Walker, 208. 668 Scheuer, 188. 669 Scheuer, 440. 670 Walker, 627. 671 Scheuer, 188. 672 Walker, 1169. 673 Walker, 1134.

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Endnotes 674 Webster’s American Biographies, 118. 675 Walker, 637. 676 Scheuer, 450. 677 Lyman, 14. 678 Walker, 637. 679 Scheuer, 403. 680 Walker, 582. 681 Katz, 314. 682 Walker, 391. 683 Webster’s American Biographies, 496. 684 Walker, 391. 685 Walker, 1203. 686 Gabler, 284. 687 Katz, 479. 688 Scheuer, 628. 689 Walker, 887. 690 Katz, 891. 691 Walker, 877. 692 Scheuer, 520. 693 Walker, 732. 694 Katz, 818. 695 Lyman, 225. 696 Webster’s American Biographies, 649 & 650. 697 Sachar, 353. 698 Walker, 135. 699 Navasky, 113. 700 Walker, 1010. 701 Katz, 1006. 702 Custen, 163. 703 Lyman, 247. 704 Erens, 224. 705 Erens, 392 & Cohen, 270. 706 Erens, 392. 707 Walker, 1010. 708 Walker, 368. 709 Katz, 1051. 710 Scheuer, 528. 711 Walker, 747. 712 Erens, 224. 713 Sachar, 353. 714 Lucaire, 83. 715 Walker, 287. 716 Gribetz, 469 & 471. 717 Lyman, 19.

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Motion Picture Biographies 718 Walker, 581. 719 Monder, 34. 720 Scheuer, 166. 721 Trager, 745. 722 Heritage, 1157. 723 Walker, 243. 724 Gabler, 275. 725 Sperling, 346. 726 Friedman, 49. 727 Lyman, 206. 728 Walker, 243. 729 Walker, 680. 730 Scheuer, 511. 731 Webster’s American Biographies, 754. 732 Walker, 1115. 733 Walker, 21. 734 Wigoder, 34. 735 Katz, 1179. 736 Lyman, 43. 737 Walker, 945. 738 Heritage, 1277 & Trager, 143. 739 Erens, 166. 740 Lyman, 271. 741 Erens, 207. 742 Walker, 536. 743 Erens, 207. 744 Lyman, 271. 745 Lyman, 142. 746 Scheuer, 410. 747 Walker, 298. 748 Lyman, 184. 749 Lyman, 255. 750 Lyman, 237. 751 Walker, 459. 752 Walker, 652. 753 Walker, 652. 754 Walker, 185. 755 Walker, 185. 756 Walker, 435. 757 Katz, 460 & Wigoder, 335. 758 Lyman, 19. 759 Walker, 69. 760 Lacey, 88. 761 Erens, 392 & Wakeman, 997.

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Endnotes 762 Walker, 69. 763 Walker, 543. 764 Katz, 891 & 892. 765 Erens, 392. 766 Gabler, 342. 767 Lyman, 41. 768 Walker, 139. 769 Scheuer, 87. 770 Erens, 392. 771 Walker, 139. 772 Walker, 160. 773 Heritage, 1007. 774 Gabler, 34. 775 Katz, 1112. 776 Katz, 350. 777 Katz, 1458. 778 Lyman, 43. 779 Walker, 20. 780 Fried, 105. 781 Lyman, 206. 782 Lyman, 31. 783 Walker, 20. 784 Walker, 1225. 785 Monder, 34. 786 Walker, 1225. 787 Walker, 289. 788 Johnson, 240, 306, 307 & 310. 789 Erens, 392. 790 Sachar, 498. 791 Walker, 88. 792 Scheuer, 54. 793 Katz, 122. 794 Lyman, 14. 795 Walker, 88. 796 Walker, 619. 797 Gabler, 289. 798 Walker, 1163. 799 Wigoder, 182. 800 Sachar, 498. 801 Walker, 1163. 802 Walker, 37. 803 Erens, 392. 804 Sachar, 498 & Katz, 830. 805 Erens, 196.

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Motion Picture Biographies 806 Katz, 360. 807 Scheuer, 209. 808 Walker, 297. 809 Katz, 756 & Wigoder, 563. 810 Walker, 297. 811 Walker, 478. 812 Heritage, 68. 813 Erens, 259. 814 Sachar 360. 815 Scheuer, 50. 816 Walker, 81. 817 Gribetz, 289. 818 Erens, 199. 819 Erens, 392. 820 Walker, 1154. 821 Walker, 1203. 822 Katz, 1437. 823 Katz, 1186. 824 Scheuer, 58. 825 Walker, 97. 826 Sachar, 326. 827 Erens, 188. 828 Walker, 97. 829 Walker, 543. 830 Erens, 237. 831 Walker, 325. 832 Scheuer, 834. 833 Gabler, 284. 834 Scheuer, 181. 835 Scheuer, 534. 836 Walker, 754. 837 Lyman, 78. 838 Scheuer, 483. 839 Heritage, 1974. 840 Wigoder, 350. 841 Lyman, 14 & Katz, 647. 842 Walker, 773. 843 Scheuer, 551. 844 Heritage, 784. 845 Funk & Wagnalls, 425. 846 Gribetz, 178. 847 Wakeman, 657. 848 Sachar, 498. 849 Walker, 205.

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Endnotes 850 Walker, 205. 851 Walker, 96. 852 Ephron, 40. 853 Walker, 435. 854 Walker, 435. 855 Walker, 1101. 856 Lyman, 67. 857 Walker, 1101. 858 Walker, 876. 859 Sachar 45-48. 860 Walker, 89. 861 Sachar, 393-396. 862 Lyman, 36. 863 Lyman, 256. 864 Erens, 125. 865 Wigoder, 968. 866 Sachar, 498. 867 Walker, 694. 868 Walker, 1075. 869 Wigoder, 579. 870 Katz, 350. 871 Lyman, 179. 872 Walker, 970. 873 Heritage, 244. 874 Walker, 970. 875 Walker, 813. 876 Gribetz, 107 & 108. 877 Custen, 67. 878 Erens, 392. 879 Walker, 604. 880 Scheuer, 741. 881 Walker, 1023. 882 Gribetz, 440. 883 Sachar, 767. 884 Walker, 79. 885 Custen, 99. 886 Lyman, 117. 887 Walker, 79. 888 Walker, 493. 889 Heritage, 1316. 890 Johnson, 119. 891 Erens, 392. 892 Scheuer, 490. 893 Erens, 202.

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Motion Picture Biographies 894 Erens, 202. 895 Walker, 688. 896 Walker, 1165. 897 Lyman, 235. 898 Scheuer, 602. 899 Katz, 496. 900 Walker, 843. 901 Walker, 381. 902 Katz, 891 & 892. 903 Walker, 381.

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Chapter 5 Endnotes 904 Walker, 1015. 905 Erens, 125, & Sachar, 767. 906 Katz, 535, Gabler, 82 & LA Herald Examiner, 8-19-69. 907 Walker, 1015. 908 Scheuer, 406. 909 Martin, 580. 910 Scheuer, 406. 911 Scheuer, 862. 912 Johnson, 409. 913 Scheuer, 504. 914 Wigoder, 659 & Cohen, 270. 915 Lyman, 157 & 158. 916 Scheuer, 504. 917 Lyman, 53. 918 Scheuer, 906. 919 Erens, 297. 920 Lyman, 257. 921 Gabler, 82. 922 Lyman, 53. 923 Katz, 121. 924 Lyman, 31. 925 Scheuer, 340. 926 Walker, 483. 927 Erens, 199. 928 Walker, 416. 929 Erens, 269. 930 Lyman, 210. 931 Erens, 269. 932 Erens, 234. 933 Erens, 269. 934 Wigoder, 680.

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Endnotes 935 Walker, 566. 936 Scheuer, 481. 937 Walker, 566. 938 Katz, 1137. 939 Walker, 924. 940 Lyman, 225. 941 Erens, 294. 942 Erens, 293. 943 Gabler, 275. 944 Lyman, 266. 945 Walker, ‘95, 744. 946 Fried, xv. 947 Erens, 294. 948 Erens, 294. 949 Lyman, 83. 950 Lyman, 261. 951 Scheuer, 627. 952 Walker, 427. 953 Katz, 1116. 954 Fried, 234, 245 & 246. 955 Walker, 427. 956 Fried, 23. 957 Scheuer, 426. 958 Erens, 294. 959 Friedman, 183. 960 Friedman, 183. 961 Friedman, 183. 962 Lyman, 237 & Katz, 1480. 963 Lyman, 184. 964 Scheuer, 623. 965 Lacy, 50. 966 Fried, 103. 967 Walker, 872. 968 Walker, 1226. 969 Webster’s American Biographies, 446. 970 Walker, 419. 971 Scheuer, 635. 972 Katz, 908. 973 Katz, 479. 974 Walker, 425. 975 Lyman, 222. 976 Erens, 136. 977 Friedman, 165. 978 Wigoder, 14.

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Motion Picture Biographies 979 Lyman, 270. 980 Wigoder, 548 & Walker, ‘95, 7. 981 Friedman, 63. 982 Erens, 256. 983 Erens, 259. 984 Gabler, 299. 985 Lyman, 103. 986 Lyman, 43. 987 Walker, 1213. 988 Lyman, 111. 989 Walker, 1226. 990 Erens, 392. 991 Katz, 1283. 992 Walker, 635. 993 Scheuer, 449. 994 Katz, 1059. 995 Martin, 504. 996 Gabler, 342. 997 Katz, 891 & 892. 998 Lyman, 214. 999 Lyman, 133. 1000 Walker, 459. 1001 Lyman, 70. 1002 Walker, 428. 1003 Lyman, 259. 1004 Walker, ‘95, 403. 1005 Katz, 759. 1006 Erens, 295. 1007 Lyman, 261. 1008 Lyman, 257. 1009 Walker, 1054. 1010 Sachar, 446. 1011 Sachar, 450. 1012 Sachar, 486. 1013 Sachar, 545. 1014 Sachar, 575. 1015 Gabler, 299. 1016 Walker, 1054. 1017 Scheuer, 585. 1018 Walker, 820. 1019 Walker, 699 & Scheuer 497. 1020 Scheuer, 904.

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Endnotes

Chapter 6 Endnotes

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1021 Scheuer, 410. 1022 Scheuer, 410. 1023 Scheuer, 438. 1024 Walker, 622. 1025 Gribetz, 416. 1026 Walker, 622. 1027 Walker, 462. 1028 Johnson, 409. 1029 Walker, 462. 1030 Erens, 256. 1031 Lyman, 247. 1032 Scheuer, 452. 1033 Friedman, 81. 1034 Erens, 351. 1035 Katz, 475. 1036 Walker, 638. 1037 Internet: “Tribute to Janis Joplin” at http://www.pce.net/morris/janis1.htm. 1038 Scheuer, 405. 1039 Erens, 256. 1040 Erens, 125. 1041 Scheuer, 290. 1042 Erens, 352 & 392. 1043 Erens, 327. 1044 Scheuer, 451. 1045 Maltin, 896 & Lyman, 261. 1046 Scheuer, 458. 1047 Erens, 223. 1048 Erens, 223 & 224. 1049 Scheuer, 475. 1050 Lyman, 53. 1051 Scheuer, 449. 1052 Walker, ‘95, 623. 1053 Martin, 579. 1054 Wigoder, 141. 1055 Katz, 460 & Wigoder, 335. 1056 Walker, ‘95, 1153. 1057 Erens, 362. 1058 Lyman, 206. 1059 Scheuer, 689. 1060 Webster’s American Biographies, 562. 1061 Lucaire, 243. 1062 Scheuer, 849. 1063 Walker, 1154.

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Motion Picture Biographies 1064 Scheuer, 908. 1065 Walker, 161. 1066 Walker, 935. 1067 Lyman, 156. 1068 Walker, 935. 1069 Scheuer, 106. 1070 Walker, 300. 1071 Lyman, 82. 1072 Katz, 30. 1073 Scheuer, 857. 1074 Lyman, 58. 1075 Lyman, 256. 1076 Lucaire, 243 & Katz, 113. 1077 Katz, 1241. 1078 Scheuer, 754. 1079 Scheuer, 116. 1080 Fried, 105. 1081 Wakeman, 189. 1082 Lyman, 70. 1083 Martin, 98. 1084 Lyman, 245. 1085 Lyman, 38. 1086 Scheuer, 436. 1087 Scheuer, 412. 1088 Scheuer, 905. 1089 Johnson, 457. 1090 Johnson, 425. 1091 Johnson, 443. 1092 Johnson, 505. 1093 Johnson, 521. 1094 Katz, 473. 1095 Scheuer, 305 & 306. 1096 Johnson, 611. 1097 Scheuer, 411. 1098 Lyman, 266. 1099 Scheuer, 904. 1100 Lyman, 28. 1101 Scheuer, 456. 1102 Webster’s American Biographies, 647. 1103 Webster’s American Biographies, 647. 1104 Unsolved Mysteries, Lifetime Television, Monday, August 19, 1996. 1105 Walker, 462. 1106 Erens, 357. 1107 Katz, 1153.

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Endnotes 1108 Erens, 392. 1109 Scheuer, 324. 1110 Walker, 462. 1111 Scheuer, 584. 1112 Walker, 644. 1113 Webster’s American Biographies, 77 & 78. 1114 Erens, 392. 1115 Katz, 1006. 1116 Walker, ‘95, 831. 1117 Lyman, 248. 1118 Walker, 162. 1119 Martin, 1080. 1120 Katz, 27. 1121 Katz, 1006. 1122 Lyman, 100. 1123 Lyman, 256. 1124 Walker, 848. 1125 Scheuer, 605. 1126 Trager, 894. 1127 Gribetz, 475. 1128 Katz, 1205. 1129 Walker, 848. 1130 Walker, 679. 1131 Scheuer, 383. 1132 Scheuer, 424. 1133 Katz, 891. 1134 Sachar, 442 & 767. 1135 Scheuer, 20. 1136 Lyman, 250. 1137 Wigoder, 434. 1138 Walker, ‘95, 579. 1139 Erens, 392. 1140 Erens, 340. 1141 Cohen, 266. 1142 Erens, 392. 1143 Lyman, 62. 1144 Katz, 922. 1145 Scheuer, 558. 1146 Lyman, 232. 1147 Walker, 782. 1148 Scheuer, 292. 1149 Palmer, 4 & Katz, 843. 1150 Lyman, 270. 1151 Walker, 1036.

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Chapter 7 Endnotes 1152 Scheuer, 735. 1153 Ebert, 20. 1154 Gribetz, 236-238 & 253. 1155 Sachar, 767 & Wakeman II, 349. 1156 Wigoder, 850. 1157 Ebert, 603. 1158 Sachar, 777 &778 and Wigoder, 621. 1159 Lyman, 158. 1160 Scheuer, 504. 1161 Ebert, 440. 1162 Erens, 392. 1163 Bart, 70. 1164 Katz, 303. 1165 Scheuer, 283. 1166 Erens, 16 & 389. 1167 Walker, 405. 1168 Scheuer, 746. 1169 Scheuer, 681. 1170 Katz, 782. 1171 Lyman, 222. 1172 Scheuer, 298. 1173 Scheuer, 548. 1174 Lyman, 141. 1175 Lucaire, 85. 1176 Walker, ‘95, 75. 1177 Scheuer, 432. 1178 Walker, 115. 1179 Scheuer, 298. 1180 Katz, 1298. 1181 Scheuer, 345. 1182 Scheuer, 673. 1183 Ebert, 267. 1184 Katz, 1192. 1185 Walker, 456. 1186 Walker, 223. 1187 Scheuer, 745. 1188 Scheuer, 466. 1189 Scheuer, 772. 1190 Walker, 1059. 1191 Scheuer, 623. 1192 Gribetz, 366. 1193 Heritage, 1598. 1194 Scheuer, 652.

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Endnotes 1195 Walker, 909. 1196 Erens, 389. 1197 Brownstein, 204 & 205. 1198 Scheuer, 293. 1199 Ebert, 249. 1200 Walker, 267. 1201 Scheuer, 184. 1202 Gribetz, 512. 1203 Scheuer, 184. 1204 Walker, 267. 1205 Sachar, 778. 1206 Sachar, 442. 1207 Katz, 853. 1208 Lyman, 28. 1209 Lyman, 250. 1210 Scheuer, 276. 1211 Webster’s American Biographies, 326. 1212 Scheuer, 677. 1213 Gribetz, 658. 1214 Scheuer, 677. 1215 Scheuer, 543. 1216 Johnson, 501. 1217 Ebert, 210. 1218 Katz, 1210. 1219 Scheuer, 375. 1220 Unsolved Mysteries, Lifetime Television, Monday, August 19, 1996. 1221 Scheuer, 113. 1222 Scheuer, 784. 1223 Scheuer, 886. 1224 Katz, 282. 1225 Scheuer, 298. 1226 1223 Lucaire, 83. 1227 Ebert, 541. 1228 Erens, 392. 1229 Erens, 392. 1230 Scheuer, 407. 1231 Lyman,246. 1232 Scheuer, 458. 1233 Ephron, 40. 1234 Scheuer, 346. 1235 Ephron, 40. 1236 Katz, 101. 1237 Lyman, 253. 1238 Sachar, 767.

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Motion Picture Biographies 1239 Scheuer, 860. 1240 Heritage, 1884. 1241 Webster’s American Biographies, 979. 1242 Gribetz, 400. 1243 Scheuer, 860. 1244 Walker, 337. 1245 Walker, 831. 1246 Ebert, 493. 1247 Katz, 1089. 1248 Katz, 543. 1249 Scheuer, 543. 1250 Scheuer, 543. 1251 Scheuer, 440. 1252 Scheuer, 440. 1253 Scheuer, 622. 1254 Scheuer, 514. 1255 Walker, 722. 1256 Lucaire, 85. 1257 Walker, 1226. 1258 Ebert, 294.

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Chapter 8 Endnotes 1259 Ebert, 111. 1260 Erens, 153. 1261 Erens, 153 & 154. 1262 Erens, 153. 1263 Webster’s American Biographies, 191 & 192. 1264 Erens, 153 & 154. 1265 Webster’s American Biographies, 192. 1266 Koppes, 31. 1267 Erens, 278. 1268 Katz, 754. 1269 McCarthy, Todd, “Film Reviews,” Variety, December, 12-18, 1994, 77 & 82. 1270 Gribetz, 251. 1271 Lyman, 133. 1272 Katz, 52. 1273 McCarthy, Todd, “Film Reviews - Ed Wood,” Variety, September 12-18, 1994, 39. 1274 Ebert, 293. 1275 Webster’s American Biographies, 722. 1276 Katz, 725. 1277 Lyman, 229. 1278 Levy, Emanuel, Film Review, Daily Variety, December 3, 1993, 4 & 28. 1279 Elley, Derek, “Film Reviews - Tom & Viv,” Variety, April 18-24, 1994, 61 & 62.

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Endnotes 1280 Levy, Emanuel, “Film Reviews,” Variety, Dec 19, 1994 - Jan 1, 1995, 71. 1281 Kimmel, Daniel M., “Film Reviews - Princess Caraboo,” Variety, August 29 September 4, 1994, 42. 1282 Katz, 754. 1283 Katz, 940. 1284 Klady, Leonard, Film Reviews, Variety, November 28 - December 4, 1994, 94. 1285 Ebert, 555. 1286 Wigoder, 267. 1287 Wigoder, 267. 1288 Erens, 392. 1289 Katz, 728. 1290 Sachar, 661 & 662. 1291 Lyman, 256. 1292 Sachar, 662. 1293 Lyman, 94. 1294 Ebert, 95. 1295 Ebert, 40. 1296 Cohen, 266. 1297 Wilson, 46. 1298 Webster’s American Biographies, 495. 1299 Erens, 392. 1300 Gribetz, 666. 1301 Walker, 1226. 1302 McCarthy, Todd, “Film Reviews,” Variety, Dec 13, 1993, 36. 1303 Bart, Peter, “‘Tis the PC Season,” Variety, December 13, 1993. 1304 Klady, Leonard, Film Reviews,” Variety, October 31-November 6, 1994, 89. 1305 “The Twelve Greats of Christmas,” Premiere, October 1992, 101. 1306 “Holiday Movie Preview,” Entertainment Weekly (Supplement), November 13, 1992, 16. 1307 Sachar, 809. 1308 Webster’s American Biographies, 683. 1309 Webster’s, 683. 1310 Sachar, 809. 1311 Maltin, 512 & 513. 1312 Maltin, 513. 1313 “Distributor Wanted,” Variety, March 21-27, 1994, 8. 1314 Gribetz, 578. 1315 Ebert, 728. 1316 Waxman, 1. 1317 Erens, 392. 1318 McCarthy, Todd, “Film Reviews,” Variety, Dec 13, 1993, 36 1319 Levy, Emanuel, “Film Reviews - Nostradamus,” Variety, September 19 - 25, 1994, 77. 1320 McCarthy, Todd, “Film Reviews,” Variety, Dec 19, 1994 - Jan 1, 1995, 71.

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Chapter 9 Endnotes 1321 Custen, 92. 1322 Custen, 91 & 92. 1323 Custen, 97 & 98. 1324 Custen, 99. 1325 Custen, 85. 1326 Custen, 88 & 89. 1327 Custen, 32 & 33; Lowenthal, Leo, “Biographies in Popular Magazines,” In Radio Research: 1942-1943, ed Paul Lazarsfeld and Frank Stanton, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1944. 1328 Custen, 33. 1329 Custen, 66. 1330 Custen, 103. 1331 Custen, 106. 1332 Custen, 93. 1333 Custen, 94. 1334 Custen, 94. 1335 Custen, 96. 1336 Quoted in Behlmer, 1985: 105; reported at Custen, 96 & 97. 1337 Custen, 99 & 100. 1338 Custen, 101. 1339 Custen, 38. 1340 White, Hayden, “Historiography and Historiophoty,” American Historical Review 93, no 5 (December, 1988), 1194. 1341 Leab, Daniel, “The Movie Image as Interpreter of History - Telling the Dancer from the Dance.” In Image as Artifact: The Historical Analysis of Film and Television, ed John E O’Connor, 69-95, Malabar, Fla.: Robert E Krieger. 1342 Custen, 260. 1343 Custen, 7. 1344 Custen, 3. 1345 Wigoder, 509. 1346 Custen, 47. 1347 Custen, 146 & 147. 1348 Custen, 4. 1349 Custen, 22. 1350 Custen, 98.

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Selected Bibliography

Articles, Films, Media Reports and Papers Abode, P.J., “Pick-Ups, Pre-Sales and Co-Ventures,” Montage (IFP/West publication), Winter 1991/1992. Achbar, Mark and Wintonick, Peter, Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, (a documentary film), 1992. Auf der Maur, Rolf, Enforcement of Antitrust Law and the Motion Picture Industry, student paper presented to UCLA Extension class “The Feature Film Distribution Deal” (instructor, John W. Cones), 1991. Barsky, Hertz, Ros, and Vinnick, Legal Aspects of Film Financing, April, 1990.

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Berry, Jennifer, Female Studio Executives, (a research paper for “Film Finance and Distribution,” UCLA Producer’s Program, Fall, 1994.] Bertz, Michael A., “Pattern of Racketeering Activity—A Jury Issue,” Beverly Hills Bar Journal, Vo. 26, No. 1, Winter, 1992. Bertz, Michael A., “Pursuing a Business Fraud RICO Claim,” California Western Law Review, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1985. Bibicoff, Hillary, “Net Profit Participations in the Motion Picture Industry,” Loyola Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 11, 1991. Bowser, Kathryn, “Opportunities Knock (Co-Production Possibilities with Japan and Britain),” The Independent, November, 1991. Brett, Barry J., and Friedman, Michael D., “A Fresh Look At The Paramount Decrees,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Volume 9, Number 3, Fall 1991, 1. 175

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Motion Picture Biographies

Brooks, David, “A Fantasy at the Speed of Sound,” Insight, May 26, 1986. Cash William, “Too Many Hoorays for Hollywood,” The Spectator, October, 1992. Chrystie, Stephen, Gould, David and Spoto, Lou, “Insolvency and the Production and Distribution of Entertainment Products,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 6, No. 4, Spring 1988. Cohen, Roger, “Steve Ross Defends His Paychecks,” The New York Times Magazine, March 22, 1992. Cohodas, Nadine, “Reagan Seeks Relaxation of Antitrust Laws,” Congressional Quarterly, February 1, 1986, 190. Colton, Edward E., “How to Negotiate Contracts, Deals in the Movie Industry,” Edward E. Colton, New York Law Journal, September 23, 1988. Colton, Edward E., “What to Include in Pacts Between Author & Film Co.,” New York Law Journal, October 7, 1988. Colton, Edward E., “Defining Net Profits, Shares for a Motion Picture Deal,” New York Law Journal, September 30, 1988. Cones, John W., “Feature Film Limited Partnerships: A Practical Guide Focusing on Securities and Marketing for Independent Producers and Their Attorneys,” Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Journal, 1992. Cones, John W., “Three Hundred Thirty-Seven Reported Business Practices of the Major Studio/Distributors,” (self-published compilation, 1991). Cones, John W., “Maximizing Producers’ Negative Pick-Up Profits,” Entertainment Law & Finance, Vol. VIII, No. 3, June, 1992. Continuing Education of the Bar, California, Tax Literacy for the Business Lawyer, (seminar handout, September 1991). Corliss, Richard, “The Magistrate of Morals,” Richard Corliss, Time, October 12, 1992. Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

Fleming, Karl, “Who Is Ted Ashley?” New York, June 24, 1974. The Hollywood Reporter, “Antitrust Suit By Theater to Proceed,” January 14, 1992, 6. “JFK and Costello,” New York Times, July 27, 1973. Custolito, Karen and Parisi, Paula, “Power Surge — Women in Entertainment,” The Hollywood Reporter, December 6, 1994. Dekom, Peter J., “The Net Effect: Making Net Profit Mean Something,” American Premiere, May-June, 1992. Dellaverson, John J., “The Director’s Right of Final Cut — How Final Is Final?,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vo. 7, No. 1, Summer/Fall 1988. Denby, David, “Can the Movies be Saved?,” New York, July 21, 1986. 176

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Selected Bibliography

Disner, Eliot G., “Is There Antitrust After ‘Syufy’? — Recent Ninth Court Cases Create Barriers to Enforcement,” California Lawyer, March 1991, 63. Eshman, Jill Mazirow, “Bank Financing of a Motion Picture Production,” Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Journal, 1992. Farrell, L.M., “Financial Guidelines for Investing in Motion Picture Limited Partnerships,” Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Journal, 1992. Faulkner, Robert R. and Anderson, Andy B., “Short-Term Projects and Emergent Careers: Evidence from Hollywood,” American Journal of Sociology, Volume 92, Number 4, January 1987. Feller, Richard L., “Unreported Decisions and Other Developments (RICO and Entertainment Litigation),” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1984. Freshman, Elena R., “Commissions to Non-Broker/Dealers Under California Law,” Beverly Hills Bar Journal, Volume 22, Number 2. Gaydos, Steven, “Piercing Indictment, Steven Gaydos,” Los Angeles Reader, December, 1992. Glasser, Theodore L., “Competition and Diversity Among Radio Formats: Legal and Structural Issues,” Journal of Broadcasting, Vol. 28:2, Spring 1984. Goldman Sachs, “Movie Industry Update — 1991,” (Investment Research Report), 1991. Gomery, Douglas, Failed Opportunities: “The Integration of the U.S. Motion Picture and Television Industries,” Quarterly Review of Film Studies, Volume 9, Number 3, Summer 1984. Goodell, Jeffrey, “Hollywood’s Hard Times,” Premiere, January, 1992.

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Granger, Rod and Toumarkine, Doris, “The Un-Stoppables,” Spy, November, 1988. Greenspan, David, “Miramax Films Corp. V. Motion Picture Ass’n of Amer., Inc. The Ratings Systems Survives, for Now,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 9, No. 2, Summer 1991. Greenwald, John, “The Man With the Iron Grasp,” Time, September 27, 1993. Gregory, Keith M., “Blind Bidding: A Need For Change,” Beverly Hills Bar Journal, Winter 1982-1983. Hammond, Robert A. and Melamed, Douglas A., “Antitrust in the Entertainment Industry: Reviewing the Classic Texts in The Image Factory,” Gannet Center Journal, Summer 1989. Hanson, Wes, “Restraint, Responsibility & the Entertainment Media,” Wes Hanson, Ethics Magazine, Josephson Institute, 1993.

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Motion Picture Biographies

Harris, Kathryn, “Movie Companies, TV Networks and Publishers Have Been Forced to Audition the Same Act: Cost Cutting,” Forbes, January 6, 1992. Honeycutt, Kirk, “Film Producer Mark Rosenberg Dies at Age 44,” The Hollywood Reporter, November 9, 1992. Independent Feature Project/West, “Feature Development: From Concept to Production,” (seminar), November, 1991. Jacobson, Marc, “Film Directors Agreements,” The Entertainment & Sports Lawyer, Vol. 8, No. 1, Spring 1990. Jacobson, Marc, “Structuring Film Development Deals,” Entertainment Law & Finance, September, 1990. Kagan, Paul, and Associates, Motion Picture Investor (newsletter), June and December issues, 1990. Kagan, Paul, and Associates, Motion Picture Finance, (seminar), November, 1991. Kasindorf, Martin, “Cant’ Pay? Won’t Pay!,” Empire, June 1990. Kopelson, Arnold, “One Producer’s Inside View of Foreign and Domestic Pre-Sales in the Independent Financing of Motion Pictures,” Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Journal, 1992. Layne, Barry and Tourmarkine, Doris, “Court Vacates Consent Decree Against Loews,” The Hollywood Reporter, February 20, 1992, 3. Lazarus, Paul N, III, “Ensuring a Fair Cut of a Hit Film’s Profits,” Entertainment Law & Finance, Leader Publications, November, 1989.

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Leedy, David J., “Projecting Profits from a Motion Picture” (excerpts from an unpublished work), presented Fall 1991, for UCLA Extension class: “Contractual Aspects of Producing, Financing and Distributing Film.” Levine, Michael and Zitzerman, David B., “Foreign Productions and Foreign Financing — The Canadian Perspective,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 5, No. 4, Spring 1987. Litwak, Mark, “Lessons In Self Defense — Distribution Contracts and Arbitration Clauses,” Mark Litwak, The Independent, 1993. Litwak, Mark, Successful Producing in the Entertainment Industry (seminar), UCLA Extension, 1990. Logan, Michael, “He’ll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again!,” Los Angeles Magazine, September 1992. Los Angeles Times, “Film Studios Threaten Retaliation Against States Banning Blind Bids,” June 1, 1981.

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Selected Bibliography

Marcus, Adam J., “Buchwald v. Paramount Pictures Corp. and the Future of Net Profit,” Cardoza Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 9, 1991. Mathews, Jack, “Rules of the Game,” American Film, March, 1990. McCoy, Charles W. “Tim,” Jr., “The Paramount Cases: Golden Anniversary in a Rapidly Changing Marketplace,” Antitrust, Summer 1988, 32. McDougal, Dennis, “A Blockbuster Deficit,” Dennis McDougal, Los Angeles Times, March 21, 1991. Medved, Michael, “Researching the Truth About Hollywood’s Impact — Consensus and Denial,” Ethics Magazine, Josephson Institute, 1993. Moore, Schuyler M., “Entertainment Financing for the ’90s: Super Pre-Sales,” Stroock & Stroock & Lavan Corporate Entertainment Newsletter, Vol. 1, Q1 1992. Morris, Chris, “Roger Corman: The Schlemiel as Outlaw,” in Todd McCarthy and Charles Flynn, eds., King of the Bs, New York: Dutton, 1975. Nochimson, David and Brachman, Leon, “Contingent Compensation for Theatrical Motion Pictures,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 5, No. 1, Summer 1986. O’Donnell, Pierce, “Killing the Golden Goose: Hollywood’s Death Wish,” Beverly Hills Bar Journal, Summer, 1992. Olswang, Simon M., “The Last Emperor and Co-Producing in China: The Impossible Made Easy, and the Easy Made Impossible,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 6, No. 2, Fall 1987. Phillips, Mark, C., “Role of Completion Bonding Companies in Independent Productions,” Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Journal, 1992.

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Phillips, Gerald F., “Block Booking — Perhaps Forgotten, Perhaps Misunderstood, But Still Illegal,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vo. 6, No. 1, Summer 1987. Phillips, Gerald F., “The Recent Acquisition of Theatre Circuits by Major Distributors,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 5, No. 3, Winter 1987, 1. Powers, Stephen P., Rothman, David J., and Rothman, Stanley, “Hollywood Movies, Society, and Political Criticism,” The World & I, April 1991. Pristin, Terry, “Hollywood’s Family Ways,” Los Angeles Times Calendar Section, January 31, 1993. Richardson, John H., “Hollywood’s Actress-Hookers — When Glamour Turns Grim,” John H. Richardson, Premiere, 1992. Robb, David, “Police Net is Arrested by Boxoffice Drop,” The Hollywood Reporter, September 8, 1992.

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Motion Picture Biographies

Robb, David, “Net Profits: One Man’s View from Both Sides,” The Hollywood Reporter, August, 31, 1992. Robb, David, “Net Profits, No Myth, But Hard to Get Hands On,” The Hollywood Reporter, August 17, 1992. Robb, David, “Net Profits: Breaking Even is Hard to Do,” The Hollywood Reporter, September, 14, 1992. Robb, David, “Net Profits, ‘Endangered’ by Big Budgets,” The Hollywood Reporter, August 24, 1992. Rodman, Howard, “Unequal Access, Unequal Pay: Hollywood’s Gentleman’s Agreement,” Montage, October 1989. Royal, David, “Making Millions and Going Broke, How Production Companies Make Fortunes and Bankrupt Themselves,” American Premiere, November/December 1991. Sarna, Jonathan, D., “The Jewish Way of Crime,” Commentary, August, 1984. Schiff, Gunther, H., “The Profit Participation Conundrum: A Glossary of Common Terms and Suggestions for Negotiation,” Gunther H. Schiff, Beverly Hills Bar Journal, Summer, 1992. Screen, “Vertical Integration, Horizontal Regulation — The Growth of Rupert Murdoch’s Media Empire,” Volume 28, Number 4 (May-August, 1986). Sills, Steven D., and Axelrod, Ivan L., “Profit Participation In The Motion Picture Industry,” Los Angeles Lawyer, April, 1989. Simensky, Melvin, “Determining Damages for Breach of Entertainment Agreements,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 8, No. 1, Spring 1990. Simon, John, Film — “Charlatans Rampant,” National Review, February 1, 1993. Sinclair, Nigel, “U.S./Foreign Film Funding (Co-Production Tips),” Entertainment Law & Finance, March, 1991.

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Sinclair, Nigel, “Long-Term Contracts for Independent Producers,” Entertainment Law & Finance, November, 1986. Sinclair, Nigel, “How to Draft Multi-Picture Deals,” Entertainment Law & Finance, January, 1987. Sinclair and Gerse, “Representing Independent Motion Picture Producers,” Los Angeles Lawyer, May, 1988. Sobel, Lionel, S., “Protecting Your Ideas in Hollywood,” Writer’s Friendly Legal Guide, Writer’s Digest Books, 1989. Sobel, Lionel S., “Financing the Production of Theatrical Motion Pictures,” Entertainment Law Reporter, May, 1984. Sperry, Paul, “Do Politics Drive Hollywood? Or do Markets Determine What Studios Make?,” Paul Sperry, Investor’s Business Daily, March 19, 1993 180

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Selected Bibliography

Stauth, Cameron, “Masters of the Deal,” American Film, May, 1991. Tagliabue, Paul J., “Anti-Trust Developments in Sports and Entertainment Law,” Anti-Trust Law Journal, 1987. UCLA Entertainment Law Symposium, Never Enough: The “A” Deal, Business, Legal and Ethical Realities, (Sixteenth Annual), February, 1992. Whitney, Simon N., “Antitrust Policies and the Motion Picture Industry” (article appearing in Gorham Kindem’s book: The American Movie Industry — The Business of Motion Pictures, Southern Illinois University Press, 1982. Wilson, Kurt E., “How Contracts Escalate into Torts,” California Lawyer, January, 1992. Wolf, Brian J., “The Prohibitions Against Studio Ownership of Theaters: Are They An Anachronism?,” Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. 13, 413. Zitzerman, David B. and Levine, Michael A., “Producing a Film in Canada — The Legal and Regulatory Framework,” The Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 8, No. 4, Winter 1991. Books Andersen, Arthur & Co., Tax Shelters — The Basics, Harper & Row, Publishers, 1983. Anger, Kenneth, Hollywood Babylon, Dell Publishing, 1981. Anger, Kenneth, Hollywood Babylon II, Penguin Books, 1984. Armour, Robert A., Fritz Lang, Twayne Publishers, 1977.

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Bach, Steven, Final Cut — Dreams and Disaster in the Making of Heaven’s Gate, William Morrow & Co., 1985. Ballio, T. ed., The American Film Industry, 2nd rev. ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985. Bart, Peter, Fade Out — The Calamitous Final Days of MGM, Anchor Books, 1991. Baumgarten, Paul A., Farber, Donald C. and Fleischer, Mark, Producing, Financing and Distributing Film — A Comprehensive Legal and Business Guide, 2nd edition, Limelight Editions, 1992. Bayer, William, Breaking Through, Selling Out, Dropping Dead and Other Notes on Filmmaking, First Limelight Edition, 1989. Behrman, S.N., People In A Diary — A Memoir, Little, Brown & Co., 1972. Biederman, Berry, Pierson, Silfen and Glasser, Law and Business of the Entertainment Industries, Auburn House, 1987. 181

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Motion Picture Biographies

Billboard Publications, Inc., Producer’s Masterguide, 1989, 1990 & 1991. Billboard Publications, Hollywood Reporter Blu-Book, 1990. Blum, Richard A., Television Writing (From Concept to Contract), Focal Press, 1984. Brady, Frank, Citizen Welles — A Biography of Orson Welles, Anchor Books, 1989. Brownstein, Ronald, The Power and the Glitter — The Hollywood-Washington Connection, Vintage Books, 1992. Cameron-Wilson, James & Speed, F. Maurice, Film Review 1994, St. Martin’s Press, 1993. Cohen, Sarah Blacher, From Hester Street to Hollywood, Indiana University Press, 1983. Collier, Peter & Horowitz, David, The Kennedys — An American Drama, Warner Books, 1984. Commerce Clearing House, Inc., Blue Sky Law Reporter, 1984. Cones, John W., The Feature Film Distribution Deal, (self-published), 1995. Cones, John W., Film Finance and Distribution — A Dictionary of Terms, SilmanJames Press, 1992. Cones, John W., Film Industry Contracts, (self-published) 1993. Cones, John W., Forty-Three Ways to Finance Your Feature Film, Southern Illinois University Press, 1995. Cones, John W., How the Movie Wars Were Won, (self-published), 1995. Considine, Shawn, The Life and Work of Paddy Chayefsky, Random House, 1994. Corman, Roger & Jerome, Jim, How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime, Dell Publishing, 1990. Curran, Trisha, Financing Your Film, Praeger Publishers, 1985.

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Custen, George F., Bio/Pics — How Hollywood Constructed Public History, Rutgers University Press, 1992. Delson, Donn and Jacob, Stuart, Delson’s Dictionary of Motion Picture Marketing Terms, Bradson Press, Inc., 1980. Dinnerstein, Leonard, Anti-Semitism In America, Oxford University Press, 1994. Downes, John and Goodman Jordan Elliot, Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms — 2nd Ed, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 1987. Duncliffe, William J., The Life and Times of Joseph P. Kennedy, New York, 1965. Ebert, Roger, Roger Ebert’s Video Companion, 1994 Edition, Andrews and McMeel, 1993. Eberts, Jake and Lott, Terry, My Indecision Is Final, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990. 182

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Selected Bibliography

Eisenberg, Dennis et al., Meyer Lansky: Mogul of the Mob, New York, 1979. Ephron, Henry, We Thought We Could Do Anything, W.W. Norton & Co., 1977. Erens, Patricia, The Jew in American Cinema, Indiana University Press, 1984. Evans, Robert, The Kid Stays in the Picture, Hyperion, 1994. Farber, Stephen and Green, Marc, Hollywood Dynasties, Putnam Publishing, 1984. Farber, Stephen and Green, Marc, Outrageous Conduct, Morrow, 1988. Farber, Donald C., Entertainment Industry Contracts; Negotiating and Drafting Guide, Matthew Bender, 1990. Field, Syd, Screenplay — The Foundations of Screenwriting, Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1985. Fox, Stuart, Jewish Films in the United States, G.K. Hall & Co., 1976. Fraser, George MacDonald, The Hollywood History of the World, Viking Penguin, Inc., 1989. Frederickson, Jim & Stewart, Steve, Film Annual–1992, Companion Publications, 1992. Fried, Albert, The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America, Revised Edition, Columbia University Press, 1993. Friedman, Lester, The Jewish Image in American Film, Citadel Press, 1987. Gabler, Neal, An Empire of Their Own — How the Jews Invented Hollywood, Anchor Books, 1988. Gilroy, Frank, D., I Wake Up Screening — Everything You Need to Know About Making Independent Films Including a Thousand Reasons Not To, Southern Illinois University Press, 1993. Goldberg, Fred, Motion Picture Marketing and Distribution — Getting Movies into a Theatre Near You, Focal Press, 1991, 158. Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

Goldman, William, Adventures in the Screen Trade, Warner Books, 1983. Gomery, Douglas, Movie History: A Survey, Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1991. Gomery, Douglas, The Hollywood Studio System, MacMillan, 1986; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986. Goodell, Gregory, Independent Feature Film Production, St. Martin’s Press, 1982. Goodman, Ezra, The Fifty Year Decline and Fall of Hollywood, Simon & Schuster, 1961. Gribetz, Judah, Greenstein, Edward L. and Stein, Rigina, The Timetables of Jewish History, Simon & Schuster, 1993. 183

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Motion Picture Biographies

Hearst, William Randolph, Jr.. & Casserly, Jack, The Hearsts — Father and Son, Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1991. Herrman, Dorothy, S.J. Perelman, A Life, Simon & Schuster, 1986. Higham, Charles, Howard Hughes — The Secret Life, Berkley Books, 1993. Hill, Geoffrey, Illuminating Shadows: The Mythic Power of Film, Shambhala, 1992 Holsinger, Ralph L., Media Law, McGraw-Hill, Inc. (2nd edition), 1991. Houghton, Buck, What a Producer Does — The Art of Moviemaking (Not the Business), Silman-James Press, 1991. Houseman, John, John Houseman — Run Through, Simon and Schuster, 1972. Hurst, Walter E., Minus, Johnny and Hale, William Storm, Film-TV Law — 3rd Ed, Seven Arts Press, Inc., 1976. Johnson, Paul, A History of the Jews, Harper & Row, 1987. Katz, Ephraim, The Film Encyclopedia, Harper Collins, 1994. Kennedy, Joseph P., ed. The Story of the Films, W. W. Shaw Company, 1927; reprint, Jerome S. Ozer, 1971. Kent, Nicolas, Naked Hollywood — Money and Power in The Movies Today, St. Martin’s Press, 1991. Kim, Erwin, Franklin J. Schaffner, Scarecrow Press, 1985. Kindem, Gorham, The American Movie Industry — The Business of Motion Pictures, Southern Illinois University Press, 1982. King, Morgan D., California Corporate Practice Guide — 2nd Ed, Lawpress Corporation, 1989. Kipps, Charles, Out of Focus, Century Hutchinson, 1989.

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Koppes, Clayton R. and Black, Gregory D., Hollywood Goes to War — How Politics, Profits and Propaganda Shaped World War II Movies, University of California Press, 1987. Kosberg, Robert, How to Sell Your Idea to Hollywood, HarperCollins, 1991. Kotkin, Joel, Tribes — How Race, Religion and Identity Determine Success in the New Global Economy, Random House, 1993. Lasky, Betty, RKO — The Biggest Little Major of Them All, Roundtable Publishing, 1989. Lasky, Jesse, Jr., Whatever Happened to Hollywood?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1975. LeRoy, Mervyn and Kelmer, Dick, Mervyn LeRoy: Take One, Hawthorn Books, 1974. Levy, Emanuel, George Cukor — Master of Elegance, William Morris, 1994.

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Selected Bibliography

Linson, Art, A Pound of Flesh — Perilous Tales of How to Produce Movies in Hollywood, Grove Press, 1993. Litwak, Mark, Dealmaking in the Film & Television Industry — From Negotiations to Final Contracts, Silman-James Press, 1994. Litwak, Mark, Reel Power — The Struggle for Influence and Success in the New Hollywood, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1986. Lucaire, Ed, The Celebrity Almanac, Prentice Hall, 1991. Lyman, Darryl, Great Jews on Stage and Screen, Jonathan David Publishers, 1987. Maltin, Leonard, Leonard Maltin’s Movie Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1994. Martin, Mick and Porter, Marsha, Video Movie Guide — 1989, First Ballantine Books, 1988. McClintick, David, Indecent Exposure, Dell Publishing, Company, 1983. Medved, Michael, Hollywood vs. America — Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values, Harper Collins, 1992. Medved, Harry & Medved, Michael, The Hollywood Hall of Shame — The Most Expensive Flops in Movie History, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1984. Moldea, Dan E., Dark Victory (Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob), Penguin Books, 1987. Monder, Eric, George Sidney: A Bio-Bibliography, Greenwood Press, 1994. Murphy, Art, Art Murphy’s Box Office Register, 1990. National Association of Securities Dealers, NASD Manuel, September 1990. National Association of Theatre Owners, Encyclopedia of Exhibition, 1990. Navasky, Victor S., Naming Names, Penguin Books, 1980.

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O’Donnell, Pierce and McDougal, Dennis, Fatal Subtraction — How Hollywood Really Does Business, Doubleday, 1992. Palmer, James & Riley, Michael, The Films of Joseph Losey, Cambridge University Press, 1993. Parrish, James Robert, The Hollywood Celebrity Death Book, Pioneer Books, 1993. Penney, Edmund, Dictionary of Media Terms, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1984. Phillips, Julia, You’ll Never Eat Lunch in this Town Again, Julia Phillips, Penguin Books, 1991. Powdermaker, Hortense., Hollywood: the Dream Factory; an Anthropologist Looks at the Movie-Makers, Reprint of 1950 ed. New York: Ayer, 1979. Pratley, Gerald, The Cinema of John Frankenheimer, A.S. Barnes & Co., 1969. Prifti, William M., Securities: Public and Private Offerings — (Rev Ed), Callaghan & Company, 1980. 185

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Motion Picture Biographies

Prindle, David F., Risky Business — The Political Economy of Hollywood, Westview Press, 1993. Rappleye, Charles and Becker, Ed, All American Mafioso — The Johnny Rosselli Story, Doubleday, 1991. Ratner, David L., Securities Regulation — 3rd Ed, West Publishing Company, 1989. Rawlence, Christopher, The Missing Reel, Atheneum, 1990. Research Institute of America, Inc., Federal Tax Coordinator 2d, 1990. Reynolds, Christopher, Hollywood Power Stats — 1994, Cineview Publishing, November, 1993. Rollyson, Carl, Lillian Hellman — Her Legend and Her Legacy, St. Martin’s Press, 1988. Rosen, David and Hamilton, Peter, Off-Hollywood: The Making & Marketing of American Specialty Films, The Sundance Institute and the Independent Feature Project, 1986. Rosenberg, David, The Movie That Changed My Life, Viking Penguin, 1991. Rosenfield, Paul, The Club Rules — Power, Money, Sex, and Fear — How It Works in Hollywood, Warner Books, 1992. Russo, Vito, The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies, rev. ed., Harper & Row, 1987. Sachar, Howard M., A History of the Jews in America, Vintage Books, 1993. Scheuer, Steven H., Movies on TV and Videocassette, Bantam, 1987. Schwartz, Nancy Lynn, The Hollywood Writers’ Wars, McGraw-Hill, 1982. Shapiro, Michael, The Jewish 100 — A Ranking of the Most Influential Jews of All Time, Citadel Press, 1994.

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Sherman, Allan, A Gift of Laughter — The Autobiography of Allan Sherman, Atheneum Publishers, 1965. Siegel, Eric S., Schultz, Loren A., Ford, Brian R. and Carney, David C., Ernst & Young Business Plan Guide, John Wiley & Sons, 1987. Silfen, Martin E. (chairman), Counseling Clients in the Entertainment Industry (seminar book), Practicing Law Institute, 1989. Simensky, Melvin and Selz, Thomas, Entertainment Law, 1984. Sinclair, Andrew, Spiegel — The Man Behind the Pictures, Little, Brown & Co., 1987. Sinetar, Marsha, Reel Power: Spiritual Growth Though Film, Triumph Books, 1993 Singleton, Ralph S., Filmmaker’s Dictionary, Lone Eagle Publishing Co., 1990. 186

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Selected Bibliography

Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies, Random House, 1975. Sperling, Cass Warner and Millner, Cork, Hollywood Be Thy Name — The Warner Brothers Story, Prima Publishing, 1994. Squire, Jason E., The Movie Business Book, (2nd edition), Simon & Schuster, 1992. Stanger, Robert A., Tax Shelters — The Bottom Line, Robert A. Stanger & Company, Publisher, 1982. Steel, Dawn, They Can Kill You...But They Can’t Eat You — Lessons From the Front, Pocket Books, 1993. Tartikoff, Brandon and Leerhsen, Charles, The Last Great Ride, Random House, 1992. Trager, James, The People’s Chronology, Henry Holt & Co., 1992. Ursini, James, The Fabulous Life & Times of Preston Sturges, Curtis Books, 1973. Van Doren, Charles, Webster’s American Biographies, Merriam-Webster, 1984. Vidal, Gore, Who Makes the Movies?, (a collection of essays), “Pink Triangle and Yellow Star,” published by William Heinemann, Ltd., London, 1982. Vogel, Harold L., Entertainment Industry Economics — A Guide for Financial Analysis, Cambridge University Press, 1986 & 1990. Von Sternberg, Josef, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, Mercury House, 1965. Wakeman, John, World Film Directors (Volumes One & Two, 1890-1985), 1987. Walker, John, Halliwell’s Film Guide, Harper Collins, 1991 & 1994. Wallis, Hal and Higham, Charles, Starmaker, The Autobiography of Hal Wallis, MacMillan, 1980.

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Warshawski, Morrie, Distributing Independent Films & Video, The Media Project (Portland, Oregon) and Foundation for Independent Video and Filmmakers (New York), 1989. Waxman, Virginia Wright & Bisplinghoff, Gunther, Robert Altman — A Guide to Reference & Reason, G.K. Hall & Co., 1984. Wigoder, Dr. Geoffrey, The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, 7th Edition, Facts on File, 1992. Writers Guild of America Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement, 1988. Yule, Andrew, Picture Shows — The Life and Films of Peter Bogdanovich, Limelight Editions, 1992.

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Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved. Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

About the Author John W. Cones is a securities and entertainment attorney who was based in Los Angeles for 23 years. He now resides in Austin, where he maintains a private solo practice advising independent feature film, video, television and theatrical producer clients. A frequent lecturer on film finance and distribution, his lectures on “Investor Financing of Entertainment Projects” have been presented in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Houston, Boise, Sacramento, Portland, San Francisco, Charleston and Washington, D.C. and have been sponsored by the American Film Institute, IFP/West, state film commissions, independent producer organizations and American University among others. He has also lectured for the USC Cinema-TV School, the UCLA (graduate level) Producer’s Program, UCLA Extension and the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. His previous publications include Dictionary of Film Finance and Distribution — A Guide for Independent Filmmakers, Film Industry Contracts (a collection of 100 sample film industry agreements, available in hard-copy form or electronically), 43 Ways to Finance Your Feature Film, The Feature Film Distribution Deal — A Critical Analysis of the Single Most Important Film Industry Agreement, Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry, Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies, and numerous magazine and journal articles on related topics.

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Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved. Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Copyright © 2015. Algora Publishing. All rights reserved.

Other Books by the Same Author Dictionary of Film Finance & Distribution — A Guide for Independent Filmmakers (Agora 2013) — Definitions of some 3,800 terms used in the film industry in the finance and distribution of feature films. In addition, to the definitions, examples of usage and commentary are provided for some terms. Film Industry Contracts — A collection of 100 sample film industry agreements relating to acquisition, development, packaging, employment, lender financing, investor financing, production, distribution, exhibition, merchandising and licensing. 43 Ways to Finance Your Feature Film — A comprehensive overview of film finance with a discussion of advantages and disadvantages of forty-three different ways to finance feature films and other entertainment projects. The Feature Film Distribution Deal — A provision by provision critical analysis of the single most important film industry agreement. The book also provides samples of five different film distribution agreements in its appendix. Patterns of Bias in Hollywood Movies (Algora 2012) — A survey of the people, places and things that are consistently portrayed in a negative or stereotypical manner in Hollywood films, based on thousands of movie reviews. This study also provides a description of the populations that are consistently portrayed in Hollywood movies in a more favorable light. Who Really Controls Hollywood — A re-examination of the question raised earlier by Neal Gabler, Michael Medved, Joel Kotkin and others with respect to who really controls the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry and is therefore primarily responsible for the decisions made with respect to which movies are produced and released, who gets to work on those movies and the actual content of such films. 191

Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest

Motion Picture Biographies

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Hollywood Wars — How Insiders Gained and Maintain Illegitimate Control Over the Film Industry — A comprehensive analysis and discussion of hundreds of the specific business practices used during the nearly 100-year span of control of the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry by the so-called Hollywood control group (or traditional Hollywood management). Motion Picture Industry Reform — A discussion of various techniques, strategies and methods that may be useful in bringing about the long-term reform of the U.S. motion picture industry, which is considered by the author to be one of the most significant media for the communication of ideas yet devised by human beings.

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Cones, John W.. Motion Picture Biographies : The Hollywood Spin on Historical Figures, Algora Publishing, 2015. ProQuest