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.
The Life of Carl Laemmle
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Carl Laemmle always said “It Can Be Done!” Born in 1867, he left Laupheim, Germany, at seventeen to seek his fortune in America. Learning English and adapting to life in America proved challenging. Carl had worked as an apprentice to a stationer in Germany and was friendly, so people liked him.
He became a salesman in Chicago, then a manager of a clothing store in Wisconsin. Just when motion pictures were getting started in the early 1900s, he lost his job. He decided to open a Nickelodeon Theater and called it the White Front. He married Recha Stern and had two children, Rosabelle and Julius, who everyone called "Junior," so he became known as "Carl Jr."
Business was good, so Carl opened more theaters and then began distributing films with offices around the United States. His success provoked Thomas Edison, because Carl refused to join the Motion Picture Trust and insisted on staying "Independent." Joining with other production companies for distribution, he began producing his own films, then bought a chicken ranch on the edge of Hollywood, and named it Universal City!
Universal City was the first movie making city in the world -- with filming, writing, editing, costume making, set production happening in one place -- there was even a post office and a zoo. Universal's early hits include: Phantom of the Opera, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tom Mix Westerns. In the 1930s, Carl Jr. took over as Head of Production and created the horror genre with Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy, and produced All Quiet on the Western Front, which won Universal an Academy Award for Best Production.
Recha passed away in 1919, and Carl's daughter, Rosabelle, married producer Stanley Bergerman and they had two children. Carl spent time with his grandchildren, but Junior's high budget films led to the loss of the studio in 1936.
Alarmed by the Nazi's rise in Germany, Carl turned his attention to helping his fellow Jews emigrate to America. He wrote letters to newspaper publishers and politicians, urging them to speak out against Hitler, and sponsored over three hundred people to come to the United States. He took care them after they arrived as well.
Carl Laemmle passed away in September, 1939, and was remembered fondly by Hollywood and his friends and family but as time went on he was forgotten by Hollywood. His legacy is being revitalized along with its important message.