Three Palm Trees Productions
THE STORY
Laemmle's List:
When You Save A Life, You Save A World.
One woman's quest to discover the unsung impact of her ancestor, Carl Laemmle,
one of Hollywood's founders, who rescued Jews from the Holocaust.
In this fascinating documentary, filmmaker Deborah Fletcher Blum embarks on a deeply personal journey to uncover the hidden heroism of her great-grandfather's first cousin, Carl Laemmle, a Hollywood trailblazer and one of Universal Studios founding figures. A largely unsung hero, Laemmle used his influence to save Jews from Nazi Germany, yet his courageous efforts remain scarcely acknowledged by Hollywood today.
What begins as a heartfelt mission to learn about “Uncle Carl” evolves into a powerful quest for lost history and family truth. Husband and filmmaker, Warren I. Blum, and their 11-year-old, Esther, join Deborah to travel from California to Germany, as they trace the stories of three families Carl sponsored, and uncover what became of Deborah's great-grandparents under the Nazis.
Along the way, they encounter modern-day Germans dedicated to preservation, memory and reconciliation — revealing a moving journey of courage, hope and redemption.
Carl Laemmle's Trailblazing Story
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Carl Laemmle was born in 1867 in Laupheim, Germany. At seventeen, he left to seek his fortune in America.
He worked in Chicago and Osh Kosh, Wisconsin for 20 years before losing his job and deciding to open a Nickelodeon Theater.
Married and with two children, he was happy when the
business took off. He opened more theaters and began a distribution company with offices around the United States. He then began producing his own film, which drew the ire of inventor Thomas Edison, who created a Motion Picture Trust to keep independent producers out.
Carl Laemmle joined together with other small, independent producers to start Universal Pictures and Universal Studios, then moved to Hollywood and opened Universal City, the first movie making city in the world in 1914.
In 1936, Carl Laemmle turned his attention to sponsoring Jews from his native Baden-Wurttemberg province in Southern Germany to emigrate to America. Alarmed by the Nazi's rise in Germany, he wrote letters to newspapers, senators, congressmen and those in Hollywood urging them to speak out against Hitler. He sponsored over three hundred individuals and helped them after they arrived.