''The House of Rothschild'' is a 1934 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
historical drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
Alfred L. Werker and starring
George Arliss
George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...
,
Loretta Young
Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...
and
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...
. It was adapted by
Nunnally Johnson
Nunnally Hunter Johnson (December 5, 1897 – March 25, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and playwright. As a filmmaker, he wrote the screenplays to more than fifty films in a career that spanned from 1927 to 1967. He ...
from the play by George Hembert Westley, and chronicles the rise of the
Rothschild family of European bankers.
Plot
In 1780 in
Frankfort,
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
, youngster
Nathan Rothschild warns his parents
Mayer and Guttle that the taxman is coming. They hurriedly hide their wealth. The taxman demands 20,000
gulden, an exorbitant sum, but accepts a bribe of 5,000 in exchange for assessing them 2,000 in taxes. Mayer's satisfaction is short-lived, however; a courier bringing him 10,000 guldens is intercepted and the money confiscated by the taxmen. Mayer tells his sons that he tries to be as honest as possible, but the authorities will not let him; he admonishes his children to acquire money, for "money is power" and defense for their people.
Later, as Mayer is lying on his deathbed, he instructs his five sons to start banks in different countries across Europe:
Amschel in Frankfurt,
Salomon in Vienna, Nathan in London,
Carl in Rome, and
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
in Paris. That way, they can avoid having to send gold back and forth as the need arises, for in war they are in danger of being robbed by the enemy and in peace by their own countrymen. Instead, they can draw on each other's banks.
Thirty-two years later, the sons have established banking houses. Then France overruns Europe in the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. Austrian Prince
Metternich
Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...
asks Salomon to raise 15 million
florins to help defeat
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. The other brothers are approached with similar requests. Even in France itself,
Talleyrand asks for 50 million
franc
The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...
s. Nathan refuses to loan the British Government five million pounds (on top of previous loans) to hold off the enemy, but offers the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...
twice that amount to smash him.
After the war is won, Wellington is disappointed to find that Nathan Rothschild has not even been invited to a party in the duke's honour. He insists on going to see Nathan. His aide, Captain Fitzroy, knows the address, as he and Nathan's daughter Julie are in love. While there, Wellington tells Nathan that the victorious powers are going to make a very large loan to France to help it recover from the war. The winning underwriter will become the most powerful and prestigious bank in Europe.
Nathan's bid is the best, but is rejected primarily in favor of
Barings Bank
Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...
. When Nathan demands to know the reason, Prussian Count Ledrantz (despite having himself sought a war loan from the Rothschilds) explains it was discarded on a "technicality", because Nathan is a Jew. Nathan learns that the quarter of the loan not awarded to Barings will fall to Ledrantz, Metternich and Talleyrand, who stand to make enormous profits. Nathan outmanoeuvres them financially, bringing them to the brink of ruin and dishonour; they capitulate and surrender to him the entire loan. However, this has somewhat embittered him. Where once he accepted Julie's choice, he now tells the non-Jewish Fitzroy to stay away from her.
Anti-Jewish riots break out all over Germany, instigated by Ledrantz. Nathan returns to Frankfurt and, under pressure from his own people, agrees to submit to Ledrantz. However, before he can, he receives word that
Napoleon has escaped from exile. Nathan's brothers, fearful of their positions, want to support the restored French Emperor. However, Nathan refuses to do so. With Ledrantz and others once again desperately in need of financial support, he extracts a treaty from them granting Jews rights, freedoms and dignity long denied them. He also tells Fitzroy that he can once again see Julie. With Napoleon seemingly invincible, Nathan determines to risk all in support of the allies. Just before he is bankrupted, he receives word that Wellington has won the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
, and he is not only saved, he becomes the richest man in the world and a baron.
Cinematography
While nearly all of the film is in black and white, its final sequence was one of the first shot in the
three-strip Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films running through a special ...
process, along with the
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
musical ''
The Cat and the Fiddle'', released in February 1934.
Cast
*
George Arliss
George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...
as
Mayer Rothschild /
Nathan Rothschild
*
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...
as Count Ledrantz
*
Loretta Young
Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...
as Julie Rothschild
*
Robert Young as
Captain Fitzroy
*
C. Aubrey Smith
Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...
as the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...
*
Arthur Byron
Arthur William Byron (April 3, 1872 – July 16, 1943) was an American actor. who played a mixture of British and American roles in films.
Early years
Byron was the son of actors Kate Crehan and Oliver Doud Byron. He was a nephew of the stage ...
as
Baring
*
Helen Westley
Helen Westley (born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney; March 28, 1875 – December 12, 1942) was an American character actress of stage and screen
Early years
Westley was born Henrietta Remsen Meserole Manney in Brooklyn, New York on March 28, ...
as Gudula Rothschild
*
Reginald Owen
John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and television programs.
Career
The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert ...
as
Herries Herries is a surname. For the meaning and origins of this name please refer to Harris (surname).
Herries may refer to:
* Lord Herries of Terregles, a title in the Peerage of Scotland
** Herbert Herries, 1st Lord Herries of Terregles (c.1460–af ...
*
Florence Arliss
Florence Kate Arliss (née Montgomery; 29 July 1870 – 12 March 1950)Gerald Lawrence, revised by K. D. Reynolds, "Arliss, George eal name Augustus George Andrews(1868–1946)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Pre ...
as Hannah Rothschild
*
Alan Mowbray
Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.
Early life
Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in Wo ...
as
Prince Metternich
Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...
*
Holmes Herbert
Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman.
Early life
Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sou ...
as Rowerth
*
Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous '' The Rest ...
as
Solomon Rothschild
*
Ivan Simpson
Ivan F. Simpson (8 February 1875 – 12 October 1951) was a Scottish film and stage actor.
Life and career
Simpson was born on 8 February 1875 in Glasgow, Scotland, and went as a young man to New York City, where he worked for four dec ...
as
Amschel Rothschild
Amschel Mayor James Rothschild (18 April 1955 – 8 July 1996) was a British businessman who was the executive chairman of Rothschild Asset Management of the Rothschild banking family of England.
Early years and kinships
Rothschild was born in ...
*
Noel Madison
Noel Madison (born Noel Nathaniel Moscovitch; April 30, 1897 – January 6, 1975) was an American character actor in the 1930s and 1940s and appeared in 75 films, often as a gangster.
Born in New York City, Madison was the son of actor M ...
as
Carl Rothschild
*
Murray Kinnell
Murray Kinnell (24 July 1889 – 11 August 1954) was a British-born American actor, recognized for playing smooth, gentlemanly, although rather shady characters. He appeared in 71 films in the USA between the pre-code era of 1930 and 1937.
He wa ...
as
James Rothschild
*
Oscar Apfel
Oscar C. Apfel (January 17, 1878 – March 21, 1938) was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927.
Biography
Apf ...
as Prussian Officer
*
Lumsden Hare
Francis Lumsden Hare (17 October 1874 – 28 August 1964) was an Irish-born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer.
Early years
Hare studied at St. Dunstan's College in London.
Career
Hare appeare ...
as the
Prince Regent
A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...
*
Brandon Hurst as Stock Trader
*
Gilbert Emery
Gilbert Emery Bensley Pottle (June 11, 1875 – October 28, 1945), known professionally as Gilbert Emery, was an American actor who appeared in over 80 movies from 1921 to his death in 1945. He was also a playwright, author of seven Broadway pla ...
as the
British Prime Minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...
*
C. Montague Shaw as Stock Trader
*
Harry Cording
Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 – 1 September 1954) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films '' The Black Cat'' (1934) and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938).
Life and career ...
as Man (uncredited)
*
Nigel De Brulier
Nigel De Brulier (born Francis George Packer; 8 August 1877 – 30 January 1948) was an English stage and film actor who began his career in the United Kingdom before relocating to the United States.
Biography
De Brulier was born in Frenchay, a ...
as Official (uncredited)
*
Murdock MacQuarrie as Man at Stock Exchange (uncredited)
* Louis Shapiro as
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
(uncredited)
Background
The movie was produced by Zanuck (who was not Jewish), as an attack on Nazism and anti-semitism following
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's rise to power in Germany in 1933. The story was suggested to him by George Arliss (also non-Jewish) who had made successful film appearances as Jewish characters like
Shylock and
Benjamin Disraeli. Arliss was given the dual role of Amschel Rothschild and one of Rothschild's sons, Nathan Mayer, who settled in England. Zanuck faced behind-the-scenes opposition from Jewish concerns such as the
Anti-Defamation League but the screenplay passed the muster of the
Hays Office
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
, one of whose officials, James Wingate, found no cause for objection and even suggested it be shown to a representative of the German government, a step Zanuck refused to take. In December 1933 the project was endorsed in one major Jewish journal, ''The
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peo ...
Messenger''.
English language online article by Eric A. Goldman, 'Hollywood's Most Misunderstood and Forgotten Jewish Movie', published 23 September 2014 in ''The Forward'' magazine. Accessed 23 July 2021.
Reception
The movie had positive reviews from various American journals; although the film made no reference to then-current events in Germany, some critics noticed similarities to the Nazi regime's treatment of German Jews—such as the columnist of ''
Time (magazine), Time'', who considered it "shrewdly timed to touch obliquely on current Jew-baiting in Germany". It was also publicly endorsed by the
National Council of Jewish Women
The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Founded in 1893, NCJW is self-described as the oldest Jewish women’s grassroots organization in the United States, now comprised by over 180,000 members. As of ...
, which helped make it acceptable.
[
The film was the biggest hit of the year for Twentieth Century Pictures, which had only been formed in June 1933. It was one of United Artists' most popular films of the year. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
In a close contest ''The House of Rothschild'' was voted the second best picture of 1934 in '' Film Dailys annual poll of critics, narrowly edged out by ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street''.
A scene from ''The House of Rothschild'' was used in the German antisemitic propaganda film '' The Eternal Jew'' (1940)][ without the permission of the copyright holders.
]
Historical accuracy
The film takes several creative liberties with Rothschild family history. Amschel Rothschild
Amschel Mayor James Rothschild (18 April 1955 – 8 July 1996) was a British businessman who was the executive chairman of Rothschild Asset Management of the Rothschild banking family of England.
Early years and kinships
Rothschild was born in ...
did not die until 1812, during the later stages of the Napoleonic Wars he is portrayed as not having lived to see. Only two of his five sons were actually present at his death bed; the rest were already established in other European countries.
Nathan Rothschild (born 1777) would have been only three years old in 1780, when the film begins. The relationship between Captain Fitzroy and Julie Rothschild is fictional; Nathan Rothschild had no daughter named Julie. The Captain Fitzroy who did become his son-in-law (albeit after Nathan died in 1836) was born in 1807, therefore a child at the time of Waterloo, and married in 1839 Hannah Rothschild, Nathan's second daughter (born 1815).
The Prussian Count Ledrantz, Nathan Mayer's antagonist, was a purely fictional character written into the story by Nunally Johnson.[
]
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:House of Rothschild, The
1930s biographical drama films
1930s historical drama films
1930s color films
American black-and-white films
American historical drama films
American biographical drama films
Films scored by Alfred Newman
Drama films based on actual events
American films based on plays
Films directed by Alfred L. Werker
Films set in London
Films set in Prussia
Films set in 1780
Films set in 1815
Films partially in color
*
Films with screenplays by Nunnally Johnson
Twentieth Century Pictures films
United Artists films
Cultural depictions of George IV
Cultural depictions of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Cultural depictions of Klemens von Metternich
Films set in the Austrian Empire
1930s English-language films
1930s American films