Carl Laemmle Jr was born on 28 April 1908.
He was the son of the founder of Universal Studios. And his father made him head of production for the studio at the age of 20. I think that was a great decision. He brought new ideas into the industry. People blame him for almost bankrupting the studio. But that is unfair.
Universal got into financial difficulties for a few reasons. The biggest was the Great Depression. Combined with this, Universal did not own theater chains like MGM and Paramount. They were at a distinct disadvantage because of this. Of course, the Supreme Court would later find this constituted an illegal monopoly. Had that ruling come earlier, the Laemmles probably would have survived.
Regardless, I think of Carl Laemmle Jr as the Father of Universal Horror. This is not to take anything away from all the great people who made the films. But without him, Universal would not have made the films. And no other studios were interested in making horror films. They saw them as risky, at best. And even after the successes of Dracula and Frankenstein, the other studios didn’t try very hard to compete.
Everything fell apart in 1936. To get Laemmle Jr’s Show Boat funded, Laemmle Sr took out a loan from Standard Capital Corporation with the studio as collateral. The film was successful with critics and the public. But it wasn’t enough to offset the film’s bloated budget (roughly $30 million today). So the bank threw out the father and son. I can’t say this was a mistake. Universal went on to make a number of excellent horror films after that. Of particular note is Son of Frankenstein in 1939.
But again, without Carl Laemmle Jr, we wouldn’t have any of these films. And he produced the Holy Trinity of Universal Horror: Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy. We really should build a statue for the man!
Let’s watch Dracula.
Other 28 April Anniversaries
Filmmakers:
- Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954): Actor in Mark of the Vampire and The Devil-Doll.
- Pierre Boileau (1906-1989): Novelist (with Thomas Narcejac) of novels made into films like Les Diaboliques and Vertigo.
- Carolyn Jones (1930-1983): The original Morticia in The Addams Family.
- Ann-Margret (1941-): Actor in Magic and The Cheap Detective.
- Terry Pratchett (1948-2015): Writer of the Discworld novels and more.
- Marcia Strassman (1948-2014): Actor known for Welcome Back, Kotter, Honey, I Blew Up the Kids, and other titles with commas.
- Bruno Kirby (1949-2006): Actor in The Freshman and Donnie Brasco.
- Christopher Young (1958-): Composer for Hellraiser and The Grudge.
Films:
- Seven Footprints To Satan (1929): Crime comedy released as silent and sound.
- House of Horror (1929): Comedy mystery.
- Five Fingers of Death (1972): Assassins try to rig a martial arts competition.
- Bloody Birthday (1981): Three children turn homicidal.
- Village of the Damned (1995): John Carpenter’s remake of this classic.
- Frequency (2000): Son talks to his father from the past on a radio but ends up changing time.
- The Terminators (2009): Humans fight cyborgs for control of their planet.
Carl Laemmle Jr via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.
