In the years leading up to World War II, the turmoil brewing in Europe drove thousands out of their home countries. Many immigrants turned to the United States for refuge, and a handful of them even went on to make Hollywood history.
A new film series, called "From Hitler to Hollywood," honors several of those actors and directors — and the iconic stories they brought to the big screen. The German American Heritage Center and Museum, located in Davenport, is partnering with independent cinema The Last Picture House to screen the series' five films, all directed by or starring European exiles.
Clare Tobin, assistant director and curator at the museum, said a lot of thought went into each selection. She said it was important that they showcase a variety of actors and directors over a wide range of time — from before, during and after the war.
Beginning Sept. 3, The Last Picture House will host screenings each Wednesday through Oct. 1. Over the course of those five weeks, audiences can learn about the impact Nazi Germany had on the film industry in the U.S. through the eyes of people directly affected. The films include:
- Sept. 3 – Sunset Boulevard
- Sept. 10 – The Big Heat
- Sept. 17 – Shanghai Express
- Sept. 24 – From Here to Eternity
- Oct. 1 - Casablanca
Each of the screenings will be introduced by a guest speaker, who will lead a Q&A with the audience after the films.
A brief look at the five films
The series begins with one of Hollywood’s most iconic films about Hollywood itself: director Billy Wilder’s 1950 backlot drama Sunset Boulevard.
Wilder, who was known for his mix of fast-paced comedy and dark-edged cynicism, rips away the glamour of old Hollywood in Sunset Boulevard, focusing on Norma Desmond, a fading silent film actress played by real-life 1920s starlet Gloria Swanson.
Wilder isn’t the only filmmaker featured in the film series who has connections to the silent era. Director Fritz Lang made a name for himself in Germany directing silent-era classics like Metropolis, which, to many, perfectly embodies the stylistic flourishes of German Expressionism.
Because Lang’s movies were often extremely bleak, he eventually became known as the “Master of Darkness" within film circles. Tobin said the museum wanted to include one of Lang's movies because he’s such a popular director who made “so many wonderful films.”
After dodging requests from the Nazi Party’s head of propaganda, Lang came to the U.S. in the 1930s, where he soon mastered the budding genre of film noir. His 1953 film The Big Heat is the second in the museum’s series. Starring Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame, this hardboiled pressure cooker may be the darkest to come out of Lang’s Hollywood career.
Another director who made the successful leap from silent films to talkies was Josef von Sternberg — best known for his collaborations with the actress Marlene Dietrich. Perhaps the pair’s most notable film is Shanghai Express, the third film to be featured in "From Hitler to Hollywood."
Also starring the Asian American actress Anna May Wong, Shanghai Express is a sultry, Pre-Code drama featuring Dietrich at her most iconic. In fact, decades later Queen’s Freddie Mercury paid homage to a famous scene from the film on the band’s second album.
Capping off the series are two films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The first is the 1953 winner From Here to Eternity. The film’s director, Fred Zinnemann, weaves together a gripping story that follows a group of soldiers in the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The star-studded ensemble includes Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra and Iowa’s own Donna Reed.
The other Best Picture winner, which closes out the series, is director Michael Curtiz’s beloved classic Casablanca. The wartime romance starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman is perhaps most famous for its endlessly quotable screenplay (“Here’s looking at you kid,” “We’ll always have Paris,” “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” “Round up the usual suspects,” etc.)
Set against the backdrop of World War II and filmed in 1942, it’s the only film in the museum’s series that was actually made during the war. Tobin said including Casablanca in the programming was always part of the plan.
“We knew we wanted to show Casablanca because that's just an iconic film in itself,” she said. “And then Peter Lorre is another actor that the committee and I felt was, again, iconic, and wanted to include him.”
Additional programming for context and community-building
The series officially starts Aug. 24 at the museum with a documentary screening and discussion. Local filmmakers Tammy and Kelly Rundle will present the PBS documentary Cinema’s Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood, which explores the experiences of European exiles in America's film industry.
Tobin said the museum wanted to kick off the series by building some context and educating people on the history of the featured films.
“I think people really enjoy seeing classics on a big screen, which is not really a common opportunity that they're able to get,” Tobin said.
The series is also part of an ongoing program hosted by the German American Heritage Center called Kaffee und Kuchen, which Tobin describes as a casual meetup to connect with friends and family.
“It's like a tradition of getting together on Sunday afternoons and just enjoying each other's company, catching up, enjoying a little pastry or cake, and then coffee or tea,” she said.
All the events are open to members and nonmembers of the museum. Tickets for the screenings and additional programming information are available on the museum’s website.
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Clinton Olsasky contributed to this article.
