Carl Laemmle junior
Carl Laemmle junior (actually Julius Laemmle , born April 28, 1908 in Chicago , † September 24, 1979 in Los Angeles ) was an American film producer .
life and career
Laemmle was born the son of the Jewish film producer Carl Laemmle senior , who originally came from Laupheim in Upper Swabia and who founded the film studio Universal Studios in the United States . His mother died in 1919 when he was only eleven years old. As a teenager, his father hired him to oversee the production of short films. At the age of 21, Laemmle, Jr. finally succeeded his father as head of production at Universal. His goal was to raise the artistic quality of Universal films. He succeeded in doing this as early as 1930 with the anti-war film In the West, based on the original of the same name by the German author Erich Maria Remarque . The film won two Academy Awards for best film and for best director.
In 1931 Carl Laemmle Jr. produced a great box-office success with the horror film Dracula , which heralded a horror film boom in Hollywood . The success of Dracula was able to repeat in the following years productions such as Frankenstein , The Mumie , The Invisible and Frankenstein's Bride , which are now important classics of their genre. In Hollywood there was talk of “universal horror”, which produced icons of horror films such as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff . But despite its good reputation, the film studio ran into financial difficulties because Laemmle junior's demand for quality often drove production costs so high that the film ultimately lost to the box office.
The lavish production of the film adaptation of the musical Show Boat was a success with audiences and critics alike, but this was not enough to turn things around. Due to ongoing financial difficulties, Laemmle, Jr. and his father were forced to leave their powerful positions at Universal in 1936. He then retired from the film business at the age of 28 and never produced a film again. He died of a stroke in 1979 at the age of 71, 40 years to the day after his father's death.
Filmography (selection)
- 1930: on the Western Front (All Quiet on the Western Front)
- 1930: Gallows Birds (Hell's Heroes)
- 1931: Dracula (Dracula)
- 1931: The end of Maradu (East of Borneo)
- 1931: Frankenstein (Frankenstein)
- 1931: Waterloo Bridge (Waterloo Bridge)
- 1932: Murders in the Rue Morgue (Murders in the Rue Morgue)
- 1932: The Mummy (The Mummy)
- 1932: The Old Dark House
- 1933: The Invisible Man (The Invisible Man)
- 1933: Destination Unknown
- 1934: The Black Cat (The Black Cat)
- 1934: Imitation of Life
- 1935: The Bride of Frankenstein (The Bride of Frankenstein)
- 1935: The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
- 1936: Show Boat
Web links
- Carl Laemmle, Jr. in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Laemmle, Carl junior |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American film producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 28, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 24, 1979 |
| Place of death | los Angeles |