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“Even Hollywood itself was created by them. One of the most famous Hollywood studios, Universal, was created by a German called Carl Laemmle. Paramount was founded by a Hungarian called Adolf Zukor. And 20th Century Fox was created by another Hungarian, William Fox. The Warner Brothers were German, and Mr Mayer and Mr Goldwyn of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were German, too. So I think all Hollywood is a central European creation.”
– István Szabá, Hungarian director, in kinoeye.org (his remarks are not 100% accurate)
Hollywood and German Film Studios
From Europe to Hollywood
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, Twentieth Century-Fox, Universal, Warner Brothers. Familiar names of American film dynasties that were, almost without exception, founded by German-Jewish immigrants or their offspring. And most of these cinema moguls-to-be, or their parents, came from Europe – Austria-Hungary, Germany, Poland, or Russia.
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| The Warner Brothers studios in Burbank, California. |
The Hollywood Studios
Some of the immigrants’ names are almost as familiar as the great studios they created: William Fox (Wilhelm Fuchs), Samuel Goldwyn, Carl Laemmle, Marcus Loew, Louis B. Mayer, the Warner brothers, and Adolf Zukor. Of the so-called original “Big Five” studios (Paramount, MGM, Twentieth Century-Fox, Warner Brothers, and RKO), all but one (RKO) were founded by “foreigners” or first-generation Americans. Of the “Little Three” (Columbia, United Artists, and Universal), Columbia was founded by two immigrant sons, and it was a spin-off of Universal, founded by a German native (Laemmle). Today, most of the great American film studios have been bought up by huge global corporations (Sony) or absorbed by giant American corporate entities (Disney, AOL Time-Warner). But the studios’ origins are classic examples of the American dream and private enterprise, not to mention the contribution of German Jews to the growth of Hollywood. Below are links to a summary of how each of the great Hollywood studios came to be, along with brief biographies of their founders.
- Fox / Twentieth Century Fox (William Fox) - Fox was born Wilhelm Fuchs (1879-1952) in Austria-Hungary, but he grew up in New York's Lower East Side. He founded the Fox Film Corporation in 1915.
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM, Marcus Loew) - MGM was founded in 1924 by the Austrian-born Marcus Loew (1870-1927) when he took over controlling interest in three companies owned by him (Metro), Samuel Goldwyn (Goldfish) and Louis B. Mayer.
- Paramount (Adolph Zukor) - The Hungarian Zukor (1873-1976) came to the US when he was 15. His Famous Players company later became Paramount.
- Universal (Carl Laemmle) - “Uncle Carl” Laemmle (1867-1939), the founder of Universal Studios, arrived in the US from Germany (Swabia) in 1884. Laemmle went from errand boy to studio owner by 1909. He founded Universal in 1912.
- Warner Brothers (Jack Warner) - Jack, Harry, and the other brothers Warner founded the Burbank studio that pioneered sound, and is now known for the popular "Harry Potter" franchise.
The German Studios
The Austrian and German exiles who came to Hollywood from Europe had formerly worked for the German studios – Ufa, Emelka and others. Some were lured to Hollywood in the 1920s to work in silent pictures. The rest came after the Nazis drove out Jewish filmmakers and their colleagues. They also ended up in Hollywood – by way of Paris or other way stations.
- Babelsberg and Ufa - The Ufa studio was at one time the only serious competition that Hollywood had. In the silent era Ufa was a world-class studio that might have continued to match Hollywood if the sound era and then two world wars hadn't intervened. Over the last decade or so, Babelsberg has been the site of filming for international productions including The Pianist, The Bourne Supremacy, and Unknown.
- An Ufa Chronology (1891-pres.) - A historical timeline that includes world cinema and other German studios.
- Bavaria Film - Emelka - Münchner Lichtspielkunst AG (MLK) was better known by the phonetic form of its initials, or Emelka. Established in Munich in 1919 as a competitor of the larger Ufa studios in Berlin, Emelka was where Alfred Hitchcock directed his first picture. Today the studio is still in business as Bavaria Film AG.
MORE > German-Hollywood Connections
Related Pages
- Famous German Movies - Films from Germany have made their mark on world cinema—and influenced Hollywood
- Germans (and Others) in Hollywood - About the three main waves of Germanic immigration to Hollywood
- German Cinema - From the German Way book
- Famous Germans, Austrians and Swiss
- Famous Graves - The graves and cemeteries of the famous
Ufa and Babelsberg on the Web
- Bavaria Film near Munich, Germany's "other" film center
- Studio Babelsberg - Official site
- Universum Film AG (Ufa) - Wikipedia (English)
MORE > German-Hollywood Connections
