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Event
JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival - Carl Laemmle
It was Laemmle as much as anybody who invented the modern movie business. Back in 1908, he led the fight against Thomas Edisons ruthless attempts to monopolize the film industry. He also led the immigration of filmmakers to Hollywood where he founded Universal Pictures and created Universal City, an entire city built for the sole purpose of making movies.
And yet Carl Laemmle harbored even loftier ambitions. Securing the rights to the anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Laemmles film version of Erich Maria Remarques book (which told the story of WWI from the German or enemys point of view) resulted in Universals first Academy Award for Best Picture in 1930. Yet when the film was released in Germany, Laemmles message of peace became an immediate threat to Adolph Hitlers plans to militarize Germany. Laemmle had begun by tangling with Thomas Edison. He would end by tangling with Adolf Hitler.
In 1936, due to the effects of the Depression and bad management decisions, Carl Laemmle was forced to sell Universal Pictures. Yet, losing his studio gave him the opportunity to devote himself to an even greater cause: saving lives.
Shortly before the pogrom that became known as Kristallnacht, Carl Laemmle began doing what few studio heads would do: rescuing Jews from Nazi Germany. Battling not just the Nazis, but the U.S. State Department (then notoriously anti-Semitic and uninterested in the fate of European Jews), Carl wrote hundreds of affidavits and spent a great deal of his fortune finding jobs and homes for German refugees. By the time of his death in 1939, Carl Laemmle had saved over 300 Jewish families, creating a legacy in their many descendants that thrives to this day.
Join filmmaker, James Freeman, for a Q&A following the showing.
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LocationArcLight Cinemas - Glenview (View)
1850 Tower Dr, Glenview, IL 60026
Glenview, IL 60026
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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