Hollywood's Social and Cultural Transformation of the Los Angeles Jewish Community, 1910-1930
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS THESIS SIGNATURE PAGE THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY THESIS TITLE: Identity and Division: Hollywood's Social and Cultural Transformation of the Los Angeles Jewish Community, 1910-1930 AUTHOR: Maxim Gantman DATE OF SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE: 5/3/2018 THE THESIS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE THESIS COMMITTEE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY Dr. Jeff Charles ~ Ji. ~ T_H_E_S_IS_C_O_M_M_I_T_T-EE-CH_A_I_R__ f/i!f,fTURE ~ Dr. Jill Watts q~~ THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER - #ATtfRE DATE Dr.ZhiweiXiao ~~ ~ { } / 12°" THESIS COMMITTEE MEKIBER SIGNATURE DATE 1 Identity and Division: Hollywood’s Social and Cultural Transformation of the Los Angeles Jewish Community, 1910-1930 Maxim Gantman Abstract “Identity and Division” examines the individual choices made by prominent Hollywood Jews in negotiating the demands of their very secular industry, the largely anti-Semitic surrounding culture, and the nature of their Jewish identity. It analyzes their interactions within the non-Jewish community, such as in the social clubs they attended or other social activities they participated in. It reviews how the secular community viewed these Hollywood Jews, as well as looks at the rise of new establishments as a result of the rise of an anti-Semitic cultural reaction. Even while most tried to hide their Jewish past, the personal choices made by Louis B Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, the Warner brothers, Lewis Milestone, Alla Nazimova, and Sonya Levien shaped a kind of Jewishness. Hollywood was not Jewish, but the industry was an empire made by Jews—something that became clear when the rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s forced Hollywood Jews to confront what their identity meant to the broader culture. Thus, it is important to analyze how and why certain choices were made by Hollywood Jews, and how those choices affected the Los Angeles Jewish community and the community at large. This project also includes a website that focuses on images and maps the journeys of Louis B Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, the Warner brothers, Lewis Milestone, Alla Nazimova, and Sonya Levien, giving a visual aid in understanding the difficulties this group went through. (Hollywood Jews: Transformation of the Los Angeles Jewish Community Website (http://scalar.calstate.edu/hollywood-jews-transformation-of-the-los-angeles-jewish- 2 community).) It includes a brief description of Mayer, Goldwyn, the Warners, Jolson, Nazimova, Milestone, and and Levien as well as a background description of the Russian Empire pogroms. The website also contains several documentary shorts for each person mentioned above encompassing the 50-page article along with photographs and music providing a more visually and emotionally connected experience. The sources include films created, photographs taken between the 1900 and 1930s, and transcripts of interviews. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Immigration and The Los Angeles Jewish Community ................................................................. 9 Early Los Angeles Jews ................................................................................................................ 11 Beginnings of the Los Angeles Jewish Community ..................................................................... 13 Lower East Side and the Move to “the Garden of Eden” ............................................................. 18 The Nearly Forgotten Talent of the Hollywood Film Industry..................................................... 26 The Temples, Social Clubs, and the Transformation of Los Angeles’s Jewish Community ....... 32 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 48 Primary Sources ............................................................................................................................ 53 Secondary Sources ........................................................................................................................ 57 Introduction Located at 3663 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, modeled on Rome’s Pantheon, the Wilshire Boulevard Temple stands as a reminder of a time when Hollywood emerged as the leader in the film industry under the guidance of Hollywood moguls such as Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, and the Warner Brothers. 1 Eighty-seven years ago, several of these moguls, along with others like Irving Thalberg and Carl Laemmle, not only financed the temple but also provided craftsmen from their studios to build it in the style of movie theaters. The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, overlooking Koreatown, stands about one hundred forty feet tall. Byzantine-Moorish in style with a copper dome roof, this monumental building is entered through three towering wooden archway doors. Once inside, the temple is divided by one- 1 Susan Stamberg, Best Seat In The House of Worship: The Temple Hollywood Built, NPR Morning Edition, NPR Morning Edition (http://www.npr.org/2014/07/31/336569529/best-seat-in-the-house-of-worship-the-temple-hollywood-built) (July 31, 2014) 4 hundred-foot-wide columns. As one enters the main room, murals funded by Jack, Harry, and Abraham Warner unfold like a film strip, encircling the congregants clockwise, heading east to west along the three hundred twenty feet of wall. The murals tell the story of the Jewish people from the times of “Abraham to their arrival in the New World.”2 The Warner Brothers provided funds as well as the services of their artist, Hugo Ballin, to paint these murals. Ballin, interestingly enough, was brought to Los Angeles from New York by Samuel Goldwyn. Surrounded by the Warner Murals and the stained-glass windows funded by Louis B. Mayer, the Gothic-like setting is intended to overwhelm the soul. The three stained-glassed windows keeping an eye on the congregation from the eastern and western walls represent the twelve tribes of Israel, and the three large lunettes on the northern, eastern, and western walls vibrantly depict the Days of Creation, Psalmists and Prophets, and the Messianic Age. “In this manner,” according to Temple historians, “the congregation is surrounded by their history, their traditions, and their deepest held beliefs.”3 Just as in a theater, the floor is raked, the aisles go down to a raised “stage,” and every seat permits an unobstructed view of the “stage,” where Rabbis and Cantors perform the ceremonies and where the Holy Ark rests along with the Temple’s Torahs.4 There is no bad seat in this house. Created by a thriving Los Angeles Jewish Community with the funding and vision of Hollywood Moguls, the temple opened its doors in June of 1929, welcoming these moguls as some of their first members.5 The temple stands as a reminder of a time when Hollywood Jews negotiated between the demands of their very secular industry, the 2 Thomas Teicholz and Tom Bonner. Wilshire Boulevard Temple: Renovation. Our History as Part of the Fabric of Los Angeles. N.p.: Oro Editions, 2014, 19. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid, 18. 5 Hollywood moguls such as the Warner Brothers and Louis B. Myer provided funding for the temple, which at the time of its opening was known as Bnai B’rith. It became known as the Wilshire Boulevard Temple on Nov 30, 1937. "Our History." Our History - Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Accessed April 19, 2018. Our History - Wilshire Boulevard Temple (https://www.wbtla.org/pages/the-temple-pages/our-history). 5 nature of their Jewish identity, and the largely anti-Semitic surrounding culture. Hollywood moguls such as Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, and the Warner brothers and other Hollywood Jews such as actor Al Jolson, actress Alla Nazimova, screenwriter Sonya Levien, and director Lewis Milestone, shaped by their journey and individual choices, negotiated their way during the rise of anti-Semitism. While some tried to hide their Jewishness, others seemed to embrace it. None, however, could escape their Jewish identity. As these Hollywood Jews established themselves, they became targets for anti-Semitic groups and individuals, as did Hollywood itself and its surrounding neighborhoods.6 Although much has been written about Jews and the Hollywood film industry, much of this literature has focused on Los Angeles Jewishness as if it was monolithic. But, there were significant differences in the journey and the past of these Jewish Americans who became involved in the film industry, and these differences dramatically affected the development of the Hollywood Film industry and the Los Angeles Jewish community. This thesis examines the individual choices made by Hollywood Jews, and what they say about the relationship between Hollywood and Jewishness. Most had changed their names, in attempt to Americanize themselves. Louis B. Mayer began to claim that his birthdate was July 4th, while Samuel Goldwyn converted to Catholicism. Alla Nazimova continued to claim she was not Jewish, even after finding out she was. Most, however, could not escape their origins. They were Jewish by birth, and most kept some form of Jewish traditions alive. Shaped by the experience of movie making, the Jewish community in Los Angeles could not help but be affected by