The Birth of Hollywood

Introduction

In the early 1900s, Hollywood as we know it did not yet exist, but there were plenty of immigrants in the States. People fled from poverty and  pogroms A "pogrom" is a violent, organized attack or massacre, typically targeting a specific ethnic, religious, or social group, often with the intent to intimidate, persecute, or exterminate the members of that group. Pogroms have historically been associated with anti-Semitic violence in Eastern Europe but can apply to other forms of targeted violence against minority groups as well.  . About two and a half million Jews immigrated to the US between 1880 and 1924. Most of them - over 90% - were from Eastern Europe.  There were places for them to go. The number of working hours per week was slowly but steadily decreasing at the factories: some immigrant workers were gaining more time off, while others got a chance to keep them entertained. It goes without saying how important movies are to the entertainment industry. No longer a fairground curiosity as at the turn of the century, movie-going was gradually becoming a new habit. Across the East Coast - primarily in New York and Chicago - there emerge a plethora of nickelodeons (so named for their 5-cent admission fee, or 'nickel’). There were fewer and fewer newsreels in the program, and increasingly more feature stories. There was considerable profit to be made out of these ventures; with so many spectators passing through the halls the costs were recovered by a factor of tens or hundreds. The cinema in the 1900s transcended its role as mere entertainment, emerging as a profitable entrepreneurial endeavor. Transitioning from overseeing a haberdashery or drugstore to owning a movie theater presented a viable route to financial prosperity. This was a young industry, geared towards the young. Indeed, those who were the first to rush to the movies were individuals who, just a short time ago as teenagers aged 12, 15, or 16, had arrived with their families at the docks of New York. Today, they have amassed their initial start-up capital.

By 1907, the tide of emigration was at its peak, with more than a million foreigners from Europe (mostly South and East) arriving in the United States. Judging by Henrietta Sold's records, the Jewish population in America by this time stood at 1,777,185 (with 850,000 of them residing in New York City).

 In the same year 1907 new developments took place in T. A. Edison's never-ending litigation against the use of his patented devices by other companies. The so-called War of Patents had been going on since 1897. However, a decade later, Edison suffered his first loss against AM&B (American Mutoscope & Biograph), his main competitor, and finally decided to merge. In December 1908, Edison and AM&B started the MPPC (Motion Picture Patent Company) casting a shadow of oligopoly looming over the budding film industry.

The MPPC then controlled all three stages of film production: the making of the film, its distribution and screening. Only those who had paid their share for using proprietary equipment can produce films. Only firms licensed by the MPPC could release films. Moreover, those who wanted to distribute films made by members of the MPPC (which now included half a dozen leading companies besides Edison and AM&B) had to pay a weekly tax. Furthermore, Kodak agreed to sell film exclusively to MPPC members (in return they would only use Kodak film).

Against this bleak background, the Trust's investigators prowled looking for any and all stolen technology and smashing up studio equipment, to say nothing of their clashes with the crew members. Consequently, people began to grow disgruntled one by one. At first, they tried to dodge the harassment and relocate to the west coast, to California, where it was not only safer, but also shooting conditions were much better - sunshine all year round. Eventually, having somewhat consolidated, the discontented turn into independents and give a proper fight back. As early as by 1915 the MPPC could forget about its former glory: by that time the Trust not only lost its patent rights to the Latham loop (the mechanism was used all over the place and eventually was made universally available regardless of the Trust's claims), but also found itself charged by the State with creating unfair trade conditions. Then came the time for the future Hollywood giants to rise. All of them - Louis B. Mayer, Adolph Zukor and a dozen other industrious immigrants - started off in the unruly 1900s with their own movie theaters. They then moved to Hollywood and by the mid 1920s, had set up the Hollywood film industry for the next half-century.

Paramount and Adolph Zukor

Paramount would become one of the first Hollywood majors discovering a new way to take control over all three production stages and to implement a block-booking system whereby cinemas will have to buy out and distribute the company's films in batches, with no option for individual film purchases. Nevertheless, Paramount would in many ways suffer the same fate as MPPC, appearing as a defendant in the 1948 U.S. v. Paramount case. This lawsuit would seriously disrupt the Hollywood system and clear the way for a New Hollywood, with new independent companies for the production, distribution and theater release of films. But in the meantime, the future leader of the company, Adolph Zukor, was just starting out on his journey.

A native of Ricse, a  shtetl A "shtetl" is a Yiddish term for a small Jewish town or village, particularly found in Eastern Europe.  in Hungary, Adolf with his older brother Arthur had lost his father at an and when Arthur goes off to study in Berlin, Adolph is just turning 15. The world is buzzing around him. Ever more often and more appealingly, there are stories from the people who have emigrated to the States. As Arthur departed for studies in Berlin, a 15-year-old Adolph became immersed in a world vibrating with enticing stories from those who had ventured to the States. So Zukor decided to make the trip. He was still underage, so he passed an interview with an agency in charge of providing money for orphans. They sent the required amount of money to his brother in Berlin, and the latter sent Adolf on a ship to Hamburg. So with $40 sewn into his belt, Zukor set sail to New York.

Zukor started working in a fur store, showed great results quickly, saved up and opened his own movie theater. However, it was not called Nickelodeon - Zukor charged twice as much for entrance, 10 cents - instead it was called Comedy Theater. His intuition did not fail him. He sat in the movie screening after screening, observing the audience's reaction, and then decided to take on the expensive release of "Queen Elisabeth" with Sarah Bernhardt.This presented a gamble: the film was extraordinarily lengthy for its era, reaching over 40 minutes across four parts, and additionally, Zukor intended to establish a lofty price for featuring the renowned actress.The plan worked out. Zukor proceeded on to produce his own films, applying the success formula: cast famous actors in famous plays. Mary Pickford became his first star. At the time, Paramount was the biggest distributor. Zukor, who in addition to active production independently managed more than a hundred movie theaters, distributed his films through Paramount as well. Now was the time to consolidate: to shoot, distribute, and screen under one roof. So Zukor did just that, purchasing a seat in Paramount's management and turning the distributor firm into a major studio.

Marcus Loew and brothers Nicholas and Joseph Schenck

Marcus Loew was instrumental to the birth of the legendary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film company. He was born in New York City, in a poor Jewish family. His father had emigrated to the United States from Vienna. Loew began working when he was six years old, as a newspaper boy. He was in his thirties when he decided to become an entrepreneur. It was Zukor who encouraged him and guided his efforts. The business thrived and by 1911, he owned about 400 movie theaters across the country; he also hired the Schenck brothers. The brothers, alongside their family, immigrated to the U.S. in 1892 from Rybinsk. At the time the elder Joseph (Osip) was 16 and the younger Nicholas - 12. These two also sold newspapers, ran deliveries, and studied chemist's trade in the evenings. Before joining forces with Loew, they had opened several drugstores. Joseph Schenck took off for California in 1916 and went on to have a career at United Artists and later at Twentieth Century Pictures. Nicholas, the younger of the two, stayed with Loew, and after he died in 1927, took over and ran MGM until 1955, when Loew's son Arthur took over as president.

The MGM company was founded in 1924: Loew had first founded the Metro Company, which was to handle distribution in addition to the film network. However, Loew's ambitions expanded beyond distribution and screening, propelling him into film production. Yet he still needed skilled professionals. So he brought two producers, Louis B. Mayer and Samuel Goldwyn, into Metro's operations. The work was done and another Hollywood giant was born. Mayer loathed Schenck and called him "Skunk" behind his back, while Goldwyn would never be involved with MGM since Metro, leaving behind nothing but the "G" in the company's name. Regardless of their differences, these brilliant businessmen not only came from similar backgrounds, each also contributed to creating Hollywood's great past.

Goldwyn-Mayer

Louis B. Mayer, or Lazar Mayer, was originally from either near Minsk or from the village of Dymer (now Kyiv region), his parents had emigrated fleeing the pogroms when Lazar was two. His exact date of birth is unknown, but it is believed to be around July 12, 1884. Nevertheless, Mayer, upon obtaining citizenship, chose July 4, U.S. Independence Day, and later adjusted the year to 1885. Of all the Jewish immigrants, he was perhaps most eager not just to assimilate, but rather to blend in to his new homeland. Not only did he alter the date of his birth, he also celebrated Christmas, arranged special games of egg searching at Easter in his house, and he had a portrait of Cardinal Spellman on his desk in his office. Meyer began much like everyone else by setting up a movie theater in Haverhill, scraping together money for rent from family and friends.

Goldwyn's situation was somewhat different: he had made a fortune in the glove industry before venturing into films. Samuel Goldwyn, or Shmuel Gelbfish, came from Warsaw. Upon his father's death, he went to live with relatives in Hamburg, where he was trained as a glove maker. Subsequently, via England, he migrated to the States in 1899. With his skills, he quickly ascended to a managerial position at an elite glove company, then to vice president. In 1913, Goldwyn, together with his brother-in-law Jesse L. Lasky established a film production company. Sometime later, in 1916, Lasky forged a partnership with Zukor forming the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which would simply become known as Paramount. Samuel Goldfish, having adopted that surname during his time in England, stayed with the company, but after several confrontations with Zukor he decided to leave. In that same year, 1916, in partnership with two Broadway producers, Edgar and Archibald Selwyns, he started the Goldwyn Pictures Company. Hence the Goldwyn name: first, Samuel Goldfish combines parts of the surnames - Gold+wyn - and then, in 1918, he also changed his last name to Goldwyn. Once part of both Paramount and MGM, Goldwyn was by no means driven by the idea of manic control over the three stages of filmmaking, he remained independent, famed for his ability to scout talent and kept making movies at his company, Samuel Goldwyn Pictures, up until 1959.