Hollywood and Anti-Semitism: A Cultural History up to World War II

359 Pages·2001·30.26 MB·English

by  Steven Alan Carr

HOLLYWOOD AND
ANTI-SEMITISM:
A CULTURAL
HISTORY UP TO
WORLD WAR II
Steven Alan Carr
Cambridge University Press
Hollywood and Anti-Semitism
Hollywood and Anti-Semitism: A Cultural History up to World War II exam-
ineshowthepublicperceivedAmericanJewsintheentertainmentindustry
from the turn of the century to the outbreak of World War II. Eastern
EuropeanJewishimmigrantsareoftencreditedwithbuildingafilmindustry
during the first decade of the twentieth century and dominating it by the
1920s. In this study, Steven Carr reconceptualizes Jewish participation in
HollywoodbyexaminingprevalentattitudestowardJewsamongAmerican
audiences. Analogous to the Jewish Question of the nineteenth century,
which was concerned with the full participation of Jews within the sphere
of public life, the Hollywood Question of the twenties, thirties,andforties
addressed the Jewish population within mass media. This ground-breaking
study reveals the powerful set of assumptions about ethnicity and media
influenceasitrelatedtotheroleoftheJewinthemotionpictureindustry.
Steven Alan Carr is associate professor of communication at IndianaUni-
versity–PurdueUniversityFortWayne.HehascontributedtoSharedDiffer-
ences:MulticulturalMediaandPracticalPedagogyandJewishWomeninAmer-
ica,amongotherpublications.
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CambridgeStudiesintheHistoryofMassCommunication
General Editors
Kenneth Short, University of Houston
Garth Jowett, University of Houston
David Culbert, Louisiana State University
Cambridge Studies in the Historyof MassCommunicationincludesbooksthat
examine the communications processes and communications systems
withinsocial,cultural,andpoliticalcontexts.Inclusiveofempirical,effects-
basedresearch,worksinthisseriesproceedfromthebasisthatthehistories
of various media are an important means to understanding their role and
function in society. The history of a medium – its pattern of introduction,
diffusion, acceptance, and effects–variesineachsociety,interactingwith,
andinturnshaping,itsculture.Moreover,eachsocietyreactsdifferentlyto
the introduction of a medium, and regulatory policies are shaped by both
political and cultural forces. Thedetailedstudyofvariouscommunications
forms and their complex message systems is now understood to be the key
tounravelingtheevolutionofmodernsocietyanditsculture.
OtherbooksintheSeries:
U.S.TelevisionNewsandColdWarPropaganda,1947–1960
byNancyBernhard
SouthAfrica’sAlternativePressbyLesSwitzer
PropagandaandDemocracybyJ.MichaelSproule
Hollywood’sOverseasCampaign:TheNorthAtlanticMovieTrade,
1920–1950byIanJarvie
RonaldReaganinHollywood:MoviesandPoliticsbyStephenVaughn
HollywoodCensored:MoralityCodes,Catholics,andtheMovies
byGregoryBlack
ChildrenandtheMovies:MediaInfluenceandthePayneFundControversy
byGarthJowett,IanJarvie,andKathrynFuller
TheMakingofAmericanAudiencesbyRichardButsch
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HOLLYWOOD AND
A N T I - S E M I T I S M
A CULTURAL HISTORY UP TO
WORLD WAR II
Steven Alan Carr
IndianaUniversity–
PurdueUniversityFortWayne
PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL PUBLISHING)
FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
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http://www.cambridge.org

© Cambridge University Press 2001
This edition © Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing) 2003

First published in printed format 2001

A catalogue record for the original printed book is available
from the British Library and from the Library of Congress
Original ISBN 0 521 57118 9 hardback
Original ISBN 0 521 79854 X paperback

ISBN 0 511 01253 5 virtual (netLibrary Edition)
ForNancy,Maxine,andWilliam
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Contents
ListofIllustrations pagexi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction:WhatIstheHollywoodQuestion? 1
Part1:TheHollywoodQuestionandAmerican
Anti-Semitism,1880–1929
1 Anti-SemitismandtheAmericanJewishQuestion 23
2 Religion,Race,andMoralityintheHollywoodQuestion 60
Part2:TheHollywoodQuestionforaNewAmerica,
1929–1941
3 ANewDealfortheHollywoodQuestion 97
4 TheHollywoodQuestioninPopularCulture 132
5 ThePoliticsoftheHollywoodQuestion 154
6 AnsweringtheHollywoodQuestion 182
Part3:TheHollywoodQuestion,1941andBeyond
7 PopularCultureAnswerstheHollywoodQuestion 217
8 TheHollywoodQuestioninCrisis,1941 238
9 TheNewHollywoodQuestion 278
Notes 293
Bibliography 325
Index 337
ix