Shadows in Paradise: Hitler's Exiles in Hollywood's primary photo
  • Shadows in Paradise: Hitler's Exiles in Hollywood (2008)
  • 58 min | Documentary
Shadows in Paradise: Hitler's Exiles in Hollywood (2008)
58 min | Documentary
By 1939, 30,000 intellectuals and radicals were exiled from Europe, 80% were Jewish. These dramatic events sent many of the greatest minds of the 20th century into exile in the United States The manna of creative intensity that hovered ...See moreBy 1939, 30,000 intellectuals and radicals were exiled from Europe, 80% were Jewish. These dramatic events sent many of the greatest minds of the 20th century into exile in the United States The manna of creative intensity that hovered over Berlin in the 20's, - in music, art, theater and film -that glow of aesthetic productivity was extinguished. In some ways, Los Angeles in the 30's and early 40's may be seen as its afterglow...when scores of exiles, fleeing the upsurge of European fascism, briefly transformed Southern California into one of the capitals of world culture, and profoundly altered the horizons of American music, literature, and the arts. What drew them to California? The balmy Mediterranean climate that always had been an attraction for those in cold Northern European climates. Los Angeles offered Hollywood with its tantalizing opportunities for employment. Most importantly, the attraction of so many others who had already settled there offered its own magnetic pull. Many musicians found work in the movie studios. Their influence was not so much in the mass culture of the movie studios, but in the universities, in concerts and the musical sophistication of the city. Thomas Mann wrote, "Exile creates a special form of life, and the various reasons for banishment make little difference - the sharing of a common fate are more fundamental than such nuances of opinion... and people find their way to one another. . All of German literature had settled here," Thomas Mann was in many ways the center for the German intellectuals - albeit not always a popular one - his aloofness and arrogance saw to that: "What is homelessness? My home is in the works that I take with me. They are (German) language and style of thought, the traditional treasures of my country and people. Where I am, there is Germany." Mann wrote Doctor Faustus and Joseph and His Brothers in L.A., became an outspoken public figure, speaking out against the dangers of Fascism, and the reality of what was happening to the Jews of Europe. Despite his initial euphoria about the cultural prospects of Southern California, Max Reinhardt found himself expected to punch a studio timeclock like any factory worker. In 1942 he left dejectedly for New York City. Many of the arriving professionals were forced to downgrade their professions-- musicians becoming chauffeurs, concert pianists becoming piano tuners. A story often repeated by the exiles: "Two dachshunds meet on the palisade in Santa Monica and schmooze about their fortunes. "Here, it's true, I'm a dachshund, but in the old country I was a Saint Bernard!" Brecht arrived, broke, in need of work, and set himself up as the unshaven working man- embarrassed bourgeois intellectuals, who were ripe for his satire, especially the aloof and haughty Thomas Mann, keeper of the great German intellectual flame. Brecht, who lived in Santa Monica, chose to remain a stateless person, an exile in waiting, a passer-by, a man on the run. Written by Peter Rosen See less
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Director
Peter Rosen
Writer
Sara Lukinson
Producer
Peter Rosen
Cinematographer
Joel Shapiro
Editor
Hilan Warshaw
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Release date
Jan 1, 2008 (United States)

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2 cast members
Name Known for
James Conlon's primary photo
James Conlon
Conductor / Host Conductor / Host   See fewer
La Bohème (1988)
Bruno Walter's primary photo
Bruno Walter
Self - Subject (archive footage) Self - Subject (archive footage)   See fewer
Carnegie Hall (1947)
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