Only a Nickel and a Dream

Bullock I Only a Nickel and a Dream Wallace Bullock Kean University WBullock@turbo.kean.edu Only a Nickel and a Dream Bernard Dick. City ofDreams: The Making and Remaking ofUniversal Pictures. University of Kentucky Press, 1997. ($29.95) Bernard Dick describes the development of Universal Film Studios in City ofDreams: The Making and Remaking of Universal Pictures. He traces the days of silent films through the Great Depression into the high tech billion-dollar industry of the nineties. Dick explains how in 1906, Carl Laemmele, a German immigrant and ex-manager of a clothing store opens his first theater (a nickelodeon) in Chicago. From this, Laemmele becomes involved with distribution, publicity, and filmmaking . Ultimately, he builds one of the first movie empires. Laemmele, known also as Uncle Carl, runs his business so much like a family and even invites relatives into the business . Carl later invites his second cousin from Switzerland, William Weyler, who eventually becomes one of Hollywood's best directors in the 1930's. Laemmele's son, Carl Jr., takes over the studio in 1929 when the general quality of Universal Studio products begins to improve. During this period Universal emphasizes horror films—starring Bella Lugosi and W.C. Fields—plus low cost musicals. When the Great Depression occurs, Universal too runs into economic difficulties. Nevertheless, the door now opens to a new series of CEO's and movie directors. Experimenting with social commentary, Universal produced All Quiet on Western Front; a film banned in Germany because it attacked German nationalism. The Laemmeles, who were Jews, fought strong battles against anti-Semitism when getting started in the business (Sr., included). However, Carl Sr., was never so bold as to use the medium as a vehicle for political statements. All Quiet was made under the reign of Carl Jr. and is seen as historic because it marks one of the first instances where film uses social commentary. Carl Sr., was revolutionary in a different way and wished to use motion pictures in an altruistic sense; he began by awarding college scholarships in the field of filmmaking. He recognized the best possible film scenarios were written in short story format through contests. This was an attractive deal for students because they could win a thousand dollars in additional grants toward college tuition. This book approaches film history as "a special form of historiography." When describing Universal's chronology, Dick shows that filmmaking was a new genre at the turn of the century. Dick also describes how Laemmele, a German Jewish immigrant, discovers his dream by accident. People always thought Carl was going to be a great success, but no one had ever envisioned him being the founder of Hollywood's biggest studio, gaining acclaim and international notoriety. When he was a boy in Germany Carl was only an average student and his original dreams had nothing to do with the art of filmmaking. At 13, a homesick Carl left home and for Ichenhasuser, Germany and began a bookkeeping apprenticeship. When he was 17, the idea of coming to the States was popular. His mother died in 1883 and he did not wish to remain in his home of Laupheim, Germany. Besides, Carl was not as close to his father Julius as he had been to Rebekka, his mother. A drastic age difference of47 years made Julius more like a patriarch than a parent. Thus, Carl chose to leave Germany. In Germany during the 1840's the reasons for emigration were famine, drought, unemployment, high taxes, and a rising tide ofmortality. Yet by the 1880's this situation had changed. The American Civil War, which delayed immigration , was now a historical event. Wages were higher and unemployment was low. This new exodus was now an emigration of those who did not necessarily profit socially or psychologically by an economic upswing. Carl was the tenth of thirteen children. One brother, Joseph, had already emigrated to Illinois. Carl had finally convinced his father to lend him money because there was a better opportunity for single men who already had relatives in the States. When Carl arrived in America, his brother Joseph helped him along, at least as far as business was concerned...