December 2, 2011 | 1:56 pm

Tom Hanks as William Dodd takes on Hitler—could he have saved the Jews?

Posted by Danielle Berrin

Follow me on or

Universal has purchased the rights to the Erik Larson novel “In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin,” published last May, as a potential starring vehicle for Tom Hanks, whose Playtone label will co-produce, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

According to descriptions of the book, the movie will explore American naivete during the rise of Nazi Germany. The book reportedly tells the story of William Dodd, the history professor-turned-United States ambassador to Berlin, who served during Hitler’s rise to power from 1933-1937. Though Dodd was initially taken in by Hitler, he eventually became one of the most outspoken American diplomats on the dangers of the Nazi regime.

The story also includes a rather central plot twist involving his daughter, Martha, a doxy and a socialite, who is enamored of Hitler and tries to lure him into an affair. She was known for her romances with Gestapo officials and other statesman, and as THR dishes, “was excited when Hitler kissed her hand.” But her infatuation with Nazi Germany did not last, and Martha eventually became involved in left-wing politics. According to Larson’s book, as the Dodd family became more and more aware of Hitler’s intentions, they eventually discovered their phones tapped and that their servants were spies in disguise. (Martha eventually became a spy herself, betraying her country of birth for the Soviet Union, though, this too, was also borne of a love affair.)

Some highlights in their fascinating story:

Before William Dodd departed with his family for Germany, his friend, the poet Carl Sandburg reportedly told him “to find out what this man Hitler is made of, what makes his brain go round, what his blood and bones are made of” and “be brave and truthful, keep your poetry and integrity,” according to a Wikipedia reference citing Arnold A. Offner’s book, “American Appeasement: United States Foreign Policy and Germany, 1933-1938” published by Harvard University Press in 1969.

Dodd was appointed to his ambassadorship by President Franklin Roosevelt who, according to several biographies, advised him:

The German authorities are treating Jews shamefully and the Jews in this country are greatly excited. But this is also not a government affair. We can do nothing except for American citizens who happen to be made victims. We must protect them, and whatever we can do to moderate the general persecution by unofficial and personal influence ought to be done.

When Dodd realized what the Nazis were really about, he spoke out publicly against them.

According to Wikipedia (who, for those in doubt, cites many credible sources in Dodd’s entry):

On October 12, 1934, Dodd gave a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Berlin, with Joseph Goebbels and Alfred Rosenberg in attendance, and used an elaborate analogy based on Roman history to criticize the Nazis as “half-educated statesmen” who adopted the “arbitrary modes” of an ancient tyrant.[34] His views grew more critical and pessimistic with the Night of the Long Knives in June-July 1934, when the Nazis killed prominent political opponents many dissenters within the Nazi movement. Dodd was one of the very few in the U.S. and European diplomatic community who reported that the Nazis were too strongly entrenched for any opposition to emerge.[35] In May 1935 he reported to his State Department superiors that Hitler intended “to annex part of the Corridor, part of Czechoslovakia, and all of Austria.” A few months later he predicted a German-Italian alliance.[36] Feeling ineffectual, Dodd offered to resign, but Roosevelt allowed him only a recuperative visit to the U.S.
...
Early in his tenure as ambassador, Dodd decided to avoid attending the annual Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg rather than appear to endorse Hitler’s regime. In 1933, the State Department left the decision to him, and other ambassadors, including those of France and Great Britain, adopted a similar policy.[41] As the Nazi Party became indistinguishable from the government, however, the State Department preferred that Dodd attend and avoid giving offense to the German government. State Department pressure increased each year until Dodd determined to avoid attending in 1937 by arranging a visit to the United States at the time of the rally. His advice against sending a representative of the U.S. embassy to attend the September 1937 Nazi Party congress in Nuremberg was overridden by his State Department superiors, and the State Department allowed its overruling of Dodd’s position to became public.

When his dispute with the State Department over a U.S. presence at the Nuremberg rallies became public, the German government told the State Department Dodd had to go. He practically fled Berlin, never alerting the press to his resignation. The Nazis were thrilled with his more benign replacement. Which begs the question, what might have happened if the U.S. State Department had listened to Dodd instead of trying to subvert him?

Upon his arrival back in the states, a New York Times headline read: “Dodd Back, Bitter on Dictatorships…Denounces the Spread, “from Rome to Tokyo” of Regimes that Suppress Freedom…SEES WORLD WAR BREWING.” That was in January 1938.

Bring on the movie.

December 2, 2011 | 1:48 pm

A family affair: Natalie Portman and parents take Aleph to Venice Beach

Posted by Danielle Berrin

A Jewish baby with a Hebrew letter for a name deserves some screen time.

To see photos of Portman, parents and fiance Benjamin Millepied stroll though Venice Beach visit Huffington Post.

1 Comments — Leave your comment

December 2, 2011 | 1:18 pm

Joseph Cedar’s ‘Footnote’ will compete with Oscar season’s best at Independent Spirit Awards

Posted by Danielle Berrin

Joseph Cedar, the American-born, Israeli director of the Oscar-nominated “Beaufort” was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his “Footnote” screenplay. The film, about competitive father/son Talmudic scholars, premiered last May at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the best screenplay prize. In February, it will compete against some of Oscar season’s best bets, including Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Artist” and Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants” at the Spirit Awards.

I have not yet seen the film but L.A. Times film critic Kenneth Turan gave it early praise, calling it “exceptional” in an interview with Cedar from Cannes last May:

Cedar, 42, is Sabbath-observant, so this is the first opportunity anyone will have to talk with him about his work, and I am braving the chaos and staying up late because “Footnote” is the film I’ve enjoyed most at the festival so far. It’s a serious farce with significant issues on its mind, a film that invites both laughter and reflection as it seamlessly changes tones from comic to dramatic.

It is somehow appropriate that Cedar’s Sabbath observance played a part in the interview situation, because “Footnote” is about a pair of competitive scholars of the Talmud, the central document of the Jewish religious tradition, rival academics who just happen to be a misanthropic father (Shlomo Bar Aba) and his gregarious son (Lior Ashkenazi).

“When you see a Chinese film, you often feel it is rooted in some kind of ancient Chinese tradition,” Cedar says. “The Talmud is our primary text, our tradition. It’s something I want to deal with if I am making movies in Israel.”

Cedar, a thoughtful man with an innate sense of modesty, is more than making movies in Israel. Starting with “Time of Favor” in 2001, he is making them as well or better than anyone else in the country. His most recent effort, “Beaufort,” not only earned him the Silver Bear for best director from the Berlin Film Festival, but it was also the first Israeli film in 24 years to be nominated for a best foreign-language film Oscar. “Israel is saturated with drama,” he says of his country’s remarkable film renaissance, “so it’s natural that it’s reflected in our cinema.”

The trailer:

 

0 Comments — Leave your comment

December 2, 2011 | 12:10 pm

Is Sam Nazarian growing up?

Posted by Danielle Berrin

The nightclub impresario, hotelier and restauranteur claims he wants to be taken more seriously. And that he’s no longer partaking in the up-all-night, dating starlets lifestyle that he helped create in Los Angeles, and that distinguished him as a regular feature in the gossip columns.

Those days are gone, Nazarian tells Bloomberg News, adding that his primary focus is expanding his SLS brand into a national empire. Nazarian is staking his reputation on the potential success of several whopping real estate ventures—in Miami, Las Vegas and New York—which he hopes will graduate him from the hard to shed image of Daddy’s little rich kid into a confirmed business adult.

From Bloomberg Businessweek:

Nazarian has worked hard to shed his reputation as a dilettante, the party-boy son of a billionaire who in a 2005 New Yorker profile came across as a combination of Mark Cuban and the movie character Arthur. The image Nazarian now projects is one of unflagging seriousness.

Nazarian no longer invites reporters to drive around Beverly Hills in his million-dollar Bugatti. He has stopped dating starlets and appearing on MTV reality shows. He is busy trying to transform SBE Entertainment (SB is short for Sammy Boy), his $300 million nightclub-driven company, into a hospitality empire that he hopes will one day rival those of the great hoteliers of the past and present. He is already movie-star famous in Southern California, where his business deals are front-page news, but now Nazarian is going national, making bets in a half-dozen cities—most conspicuously in recession-ravaged Las Vegas, where he is developing a 1,622-room hotel as well as the club at the Bellagio. “This is going to be the most interesting 24 months of my life,” he says. When asked whether this will make or break his business, Nazarian smiles and says, “Ask me in two years. But everything I’ve done, everything I’ve learned, some of it the hard way, it was to get here and do this.”
...
Expanding simultaneously in Miami, Las Vegas, and New York during a down economy could be a disastrous miscalculation. MGM Resorts International (MGM) Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren, Nazarian’s partner on the Hyde Lounge at Bellagio, calls Nazarian’s expansion plans “an uphill battle, there’s no doubt about that. Las Vegas right now is not for the faint of heart.” Nazarian says that appeals to him. “I’m the underdog here. Forget it when people say it’s not going to happen. That’s what keeps you going every day.” What’s at stake goes far beyond profits. If he gets this right, then Sammy Boy, the immigrant rich kid who rivals said had only gotten as far as he had because of his daddy’s money, will complete the transition to Sam Nazarian, American mogul.

I just want to add that it’s a terrible misfortune for any future journalist to not have the experience of riding around in the Bugatti. But even when, back in July 2009, Nazarian was doing that sort of thing, he still couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that even with all his success, he was missing something else. A true business mind, Nazarian is aware of the opportunity cost that comes with the mega-success he’s after.

There is a void, personally. This is the stuff that hopefully one day you’ll get to… That next leap is, you know, taking another property here or there, doing another deal, you know, that’s kinda the decision. These guys I deal with go ‘Well, what’s the next thing? You’re on the periphery to be able to go really, really big—to move the pendulum.’ And moving the pendulum would mean a very, very big partnership, a very, very big acquisition, and is that something I’m willing to sacrifice? Because once you do, there’s no turning back. So like, already I’m here and I can live in this world and I’m perfectly fine where I am. Like I said, I work for myself. I don’t answer to anybody. I’m not [a] public [company]; I’m a private company. I’m very profitable. I don’t have to worry about pretty much anything. Even when the world dropped in November [2007], I was still doing great—forget about the net worth that I have myself, I’m talking about my business. My ego is where it needs to be and everything is in line. I mean, how much more do you want? So those are the things that I struggle with daily, and say to myself, ‘Dude, you know, go… start a family.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

December 1, 2011 | 12:39 pm

Jon Stewart defends Obama’s godless Thanksgiving message

Posted by Lauren Bottner, Hollywood Jew contributor

Jon Stewart, host of the “Daily Show” wants Fox News to stay out of his turkey dinner. Stewart took offense to Fox News’ criticism that President Barack Obama failed to mention God in his Youtube Thanksgiving message. Stewart thinks it’s just fine that Obama left God out of it.

According to The Wrap, Stewart said:

“This is about turning Thanksgiving into yet another one of those Christian persecution culture war type things. And let me just say: Don’t you do it. Don’t you do it to Thanksgiving. I’ll give you the war on Christmas. We are trying to f—- that up. I’ll give that up. But this is all Reform Jews have left. ... Name another holiday where you can get drunk around your kids by 2 p.m.”

For past coverage on Jon Stewart:
Jon Stewart named most influential man
Jon Stewart’s version of Judaism
Who’s the bigger Jew?

0 Comments — Leave your comment

December 1, 2011 | 12:28 pm

Jesse Eisenberg’s five minutes in ‘Hell’

Posted by Lauren Bottner, Hollywood Jew contributor

Jesse Eisenberg, star of “The Social Network,” is making a point with his lawsuit against Lionsgate and Grindstone Entertainment regarding “Camp Hell.”  Eisenberg claims he had a minimal cameo role in the film and is emphatic that he does not want to be billed as a star of the horror movie.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Eisenberg is suing for $3 million which is more than the total budget of the film. Eisenberg claims he took on a small part in the film as a favor to friends. As THR puts it: “Eisenberg’s lawsuit starts out with a prologue worthy of the horror genre: ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’”

0 Comments — Leave your comment

December 1, 2011 | 12:23 pm

Seth Rogen’s inner Harvey Weinstein

Posted by Lauren Bottner, Hollywood Jew contributor

Seth Rogen didn’t even know the announcements were being made the morning he was nominated for a Spirit Award for his new comedy “50/50”. 

“I feel like I’m trespassing in the indie world and they seem to have accepted it,” he said to the Hollywood Reporter. “I hope people don’t get mad at me for bringing my studio past into their world.”

Feeling like he has to apologize to those who share his nominations, Rogen hopes “people don’t get mad at me for bringing my studio past into their world.”

HR reported that when the actor was told to get in touch with his inner Harvey Weinstein to promote the film, Rogen said: “That’s the scariest thing anyone’s ever said to me. I’ve had enough experiences with the outer Harvey.”

Weinstein also received five Spirit Award nominations for “The Artist” despite prevailing views that it was ineligible because the director is French.

0 Comments — Leave your comment