Levy recounts Jews' historic leading role in Hollywood

By Toshio Suzuki

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Oregonian film critic Shawn Levy took up the issue of Jewish prominence in America's motion picture industry when he addressed the annual Dor L'Dor luncheon of the local chapter of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization.
The event took place Oct. 29 at the Hotel deLuxe.
Levy recounted Hollywood history for the approximately 70 luncheon guests.
He began with the story of the four sons of a Polish-American butcher who created a partnership called Warner Bros.
From there he moved onto explain why Lauren Bacall never got a nose job.
He wrapped up his Jewish perspective on American film history with remarks on Mel Gibson's recent anti-Jewish rant.
About the beginnings of the industry Levy asked, "How in the world did those guys, a 100 years ago, who didn't have two nickels to rub together when they came here, get to start one of the biggest businesses in the world?"
All of the original major studios, except Disney, were founded by Jews, most of whom were recent immigrants who spoke English as a second language, said Levy.
According to Levy, the creation of Hollywood was nudged along by such diverse influences as Thomas Edison's monopoly and enforcement of his patents, a Jewish mother's insight that any business that pays up-front is good, and the fact that California sunshine provided great lighting for motion pictures.
Levy believes that one of the main reasons Jews succeeded in the film business was their Eastern European Ashkenazi roots. Inherent in their tradition, he explained, was not only support for the arts but a long-standing respect for the arts as a desirable profession. He pointed to the great Jewish songwriters such as the Gershwins and Irving Berlin and said American Ashkenazi attraction to the arts predated even them.
"These businesses were always wide open," he said. "It was a place where an immigrant could come in and be a star, kind of like playing a sport. If you could write songs, that was as good as being able to hit a curve ball. You could get in. If you were funny, it didn't matter who your parents were."
But it was one thing to be a Jew in the movie business and quite another to take up Jewish topics in film.
Even after taking a business gamble on the movie industry and seeing it pay dividends with the gigantic early growth of Hollywood and subsequent American domination of cinema, Levy said it wasn't until after World War II that the "old world Jews" running their businesses felt comfortable enough to broach Jewish topics and storylines in their movies.
Levy gave considerable credit to Woody Allen and Mel Brooks for presenting mainstream audiences with the reality of being Jewish.
As Jews became increasingly prominent in front of the camera, as well as behind it—he pointed to Lauren Bacall, Kirk Douglas and Paul Newman as early first-tier mainstream Jewish stars—the industry felt less constrained to conceal their Jewishness.
He said the standards of beauty changed. That was why, for example, Bacall never got that nose job, nor did others after her. He mentioned Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.
A native New Yorker, Levy still considers himself "a sucker for a Woody Allen movie," but noted five Jewish movies as prominent among those he always enjoys: "The Plot Against Harry" (1989); "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989); "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob" (1973); "Enemies: A Love Story" (1989); and "Bugsy" (1991).
After dessert and after Levy finished answering questions, some Hadassah members took tours of the hotel, which is dedicated to Hollywood's mystique. A digital portrait canvas in the lobby rotates glamorous photos of the greatest stars of the silver screen.
Dor L'Dor means generation to generation. The luncheon program featured a list of "The 50 Greatest Jewish Films" including films from near the end of the silent-film era, coinciding, more or less, with the birth and evolution just 15 years earlier of the Women's Zionist Organization of America.