Could it be that "rosebud" somehow derives from Hebrew or Yiddish....?

Jeremiah:

Very much doubt it. But I'll bet someone will find a phonetic connection.

Actually, "Rosebud" has a much more American, and well, somewhat pornographic origin. During a brief friendship with William Randolf Herst, Orson Welles' "Kane" co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz found out that "Rosebud" was the pet name Herst used for a certain part of Marion Davies' anatomy.

It was the movie's use of the term "Rosebud" that truly sent Herst through the roof and led to his mostly, (at the time), boycott of the film.

Speaking of Mayer. While "Mommie Dearest" is mostly a trashy movie, (super unintentional comedic value though... very funny to watch with a spouse or sibling), the scenes with the great character actor Howard De Silva as Louie B. Mayer, (or "L.B."), are pretty good and apparently pretty accurate.

Sorry for the spelling errors.

For the record it's:

1) William Randolph Hearst

2) Howard Da Silva

Mayer lived in Saint John, New Brunswick - about a 5 hour drive from Halifax and fairly close to northern Maine (Calais).
Sadly, but as is often the case in Atlantic Canada, a once-thriving Jewish community has been greatly reduced by age and out-migration.

Great post Robert...loving these posts about old Hollywood (almost as good as Robert loves Karen)

Robert, readers who are interested in the history of the old Hollywood studio system will want to check out The Star Machine, an excellent book by Jeanine Basinger, a Professor of Film Studies and the Founder and Curator of the Cinema Archives at Wesleyan University.

Jake:

Yup, Rosebud was a private designation and poor Marion Davies, a lovely woman, was horribly humiliated. In truth, her place in film history has been irrevocably brutalized by Citizen Kane's portrayal of the talentless Susan Alexander, Kane's crude mistress. Marion Davies was a loyal friend, a wonderful, warm person, and a very fine actress. Her best film is Show People, 1928 directed by King Vidor. It's an affectionate and highly accurate behind the scenes Hollywood movie. Highly recommended. Davies is just adorable, a real trooper.

Cruisin' Mom:

Gee, we were worried you missed our political and military analysis.

What a shock.

Please send babke to Casa Avrech. Salivating.

Mark:

Even in L.B. Mayer's time the Jewish community in Saint John, New Brunswick suffered the inroads of assimilation and immigration to other Canadian Jewish communities and, naturally to America. L.B. never felt warmly to the Saint John's Jewish community. He was devoted to his mother and wanted to move her grave to Los Angeles. The Chevra Kadisha in Saint John denied his request and Mayer never gave the community a penny or a kind word.

You would think the Jews of Saint John would have the brains not to make an enemy of L.B Mayer.

You would think.

Tamara:

In my post about Mary Pickford

http://www.seraphicpress.com/archives/2007/12/mary_pickford_1.php

I referenced Basinger's fine book Silent Stars which has an excellent chapter about Pickford.

I have not yet read Star Machine. It's next on my list. Thanks so much for reminding me.

I did not know that about the Chevra Kaddisha in Saint John - boy, talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!!

When I think of all these Hollywood studio moguls and the Russian or Polish or Lithuanian shtetls and cities they left behind, I can't help but think of the Yiddish theater. Imagine if these Hollywood biggies would've applied the same know-how to the Yiddish theater culture, starting in Europe and carrying it over the ocean to America, perhaps Yiddish theater of yesteryear might've thrived longer...
In any case, I'm always a little "wowed" with what these Old World immigrants made of themselves and of the entertainment industry.

Pearl:

The Hollywood moguls were not interested in Yiddish theater. They saw the potential of mass entertainment in movies. Yiddish theater was simply too provincial and quite obviously doomed, not to mention a really bad business risk.

Mayer (or at least MGM) was not above making Jews look bad to defeat Upton Sinclair's gubinatorial (?) bid in the 1930s (his platform included a Hollywood tax). One MGM clip featured an interview with a bearded immigrant Jew; when asked why he is voting for Sinclair, he responded "It works in Russia, why not here?"

Mayer also did not think much of Hitler's rise to power (though he was no different than many American Jews in this regard).

A book I like is "Entertaining America: Jews, Movies and Broadcasting" (essays by academics for amcha)

garson got $1000 a week? eh.

cantor yossele rosenblatt got 10k in 1927 to record a couple of songs for "the jazz singer." (he turned down $100k to appear in the movie.)

see the end of http://agmk.blogspot.com/2007/11/les-miserables-in-hebrew-or-from.html#links

Lion:

The clip you speak of does not feature an Orthodox Jew. This is absolutely wrong. They were Bolsheviks and anarchists. Remember, Upton Sinclair was a committed Communist.

i didn't meant to imply that the clip was of an orthodox jew per se. just of a generic immigrant (who of course were associted popularly with socialsim, unionism, communism, etc.)

Lion:

There were lots of these clips, many showed clean cut Americans. The entire back door newsreel division that MGM was running against Sinclair is kind of fascinating. Thanks for the clarification.

Dear Mr. Avrech:.......

I just found your blog and it is great. I am fascinated by early Hollywood, the moguls, the studios. I recently saw an interview with Rock Hudson, who said how great "the studio system" was: they would take care of the stars, provide PR, basically take care of everything. This contradicts the prevalent view of studio exploitation and strictures of stars........

While looking up Gary Cooper on IMDB, it states he was discouraged from campaigning for a Republican candidate for president because the studio didn't want actors to publicly express political opinions; in my view, a wise thing. Why alienate fans?........

I recently heard a quote from LB Mayer(?) on the radio, warning about how easy it would be for America's enemies to use our own movies against us in a time of war (I paraphrase) and how careful we must be in this regard. I think the moguls were pretty brilliant, if not perfect, and we owe a great debt of gratitude to them as Americans. They were far more "American" than this bunch of lunatics running Hollywood today. Could it be that when Hollywood became anti-American, the rest of the world followed?.......

By any chance, do you know the quote above?.......

Thanks immensely,

Conan:

Thanks so much for your kind words. I don't know the quote, but it's very true, Hollywood movies are powerful propaganda, and America cannot win any great war without Hollywood's support. That's just a simple fact.

Dear Mr. Avrech:

I will get the Mayer book you referenced above. Since 9/11 I have been dwelling on the role Hollywood and propaganda plays on our western culture and how the US is perceived around the world. How can the rest of the world like us if we don't like ourselves? If we tear ourselves down continually (i.e. anti-American movies & craven globe-trotting stars)? The world seemed to like us a lot better when we liked ourselves.

That is why even though I despise censorship, I believe Roosevelt was correct in trying to "control the message." The fate of our country was then and is at stake now. Each and every one of us has to choose a side, and Hollywood has chosen. May God forgive them.

After watching the Oscars tonight, I so miss "old Hollywood." Sometimes I feel like I am watching a pale, hollow (but glitzy/special effecty) immitation. Like the grown-ups are gone and the kids have taken over.

Thanks for your thoughts and I will be catching up reading your wonderful blog.

Sincerely,

Conan:

Woodrow Wilson did far worse than Roosevelt during World War I, and he's held up as a saint to today's liberals.

The Oscars tonight.

Sigh.

They trot out a few soldiers after spending millions of dollars libeling them in one movie after another, and then give an Oscar to a despicable film that once again defames them and this country.

I feel like crying.

Thanks so much for your kind words.

Dear Mr. Avrech:

I just got the book "Lion of Hollywood" today and I plan to curl up and read tonight. Growing up in the 60's with TV, I became enthralled with old (B&W) movies from the 30's, 40's and 50's, and read a few film anthologies which only scratched the surface. That is why I so enjoy your movie star bios, the "hidden" Hollywood.

I want to know more about how the dry, dusty farming City of Angels became the world capital of entertainment and fantasy, the visionaries who created Hollywood, the stars, the studios. I guess there must be thousands of volumes written on every aspect of this subject and I thank you for helping direct me to good reading.

Crazy script idea: A George Clooney-like uber-liberal Hollywood star is kidnapped by a jihadist terror group while traveling. Video of star is leaked to net, bound and blindfolded, and crying like a little girl, a Middle Eastern voice demands $100 million for his release. His estate is pretty broke because of his extravagance and no one in Hollywood wants to help--because they all think he is an a--hole. Haven't decided on ending yet.

Am I the only one who thinks this way? I think I've watched a few too many movies!

Sincerely,

-Conan

Conan:

Two reasons why LA became the home of motion pictures:

1. Sunshine 360 days of the year.
2. The Patent Wars. This gets complicated. But LA is far from NY and the independents wanted distance from the big boys who were trying to protect their patent and monopoly on the motion picture camera. Many fled to Mexico. That's why you will often see pics of directors wearing pistols on their belts in the early days, to scare off the muscle.

Script idea. Hey, pitch it to George, see how he responds.