Frasier star says depression-era Hollywood ‘turned a blind eye’ to Nazis
Kelsey Grammer speaks ahead of new series which focuses on censorship efforts of fascists in the 1930s
Kelsey Grammer has spoken about how a Depression-era Hollywood “turned a blind eye” to the horrors of the Nazi regime because of financial pressures.
The Frasier actor stars alongside Lily Collins and Matt Bomer in Amazon Prime series The Last Tycoon, which is based on F Scott Fitzgerald’s final, unfinished novel.
The story focuses on how the need to make money taints artistic expression and how this led 1930s Hollywood to bow to censorship efforts by Nazi Germany.
Grammer said the focus on the Nazi’s influence is partly metaphorical because we are “always thrown about by our need to make money”.
“You can’t always decide who your audience is,” the 62-year-old multiple Emmy winner told the Press Association at the Los Angeles premiere on Thursday.
“I think that’s what most of the guys who were making films in the 30s turned a blind eye to what they thought was going on socially in Germany because they needed to make money.
“We were in the middle of a depression and it didn’t matter so much what was going on until finally, I think it was 1940, when the last studio said enough of this nonsense, stop playing ball.”
Collins, the 28-year-old daughter of musician Phil Collins, said the 1930s were the most glamorous in Hollywood’s history but they were juxtaposed by the “wretched time” with the Great Depression.
“We’re going to be seeing a lot of the combination of that plus Nazi Germany infiltrating Hollywood at that time, the control they had over the films being made and how it was glitzy and glamorous on one side and extremely dark and obviously depressing on the other,” she said.
Bomer, 39, also spoke about the pressures the fascists managed to exert on the film industry.
“They were the biggest foreign market in Hollywood so they had someone who was here making sure that the films fit their code and if they disparaged the Germans at all they were cut out of that market place,” he said.
But, like Grammer, he pointed out that the issue speaks volumes about “art versus commerce and how much hasn’t changed in Hollywood because it’s still just a business”.
“Like all of F Scott Fitzgerald’s work, it’s about what does it cost you to achieve the American dream,” he added.
Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, died in 1940 before he finished the The Last Tycoon but it was completed using his notes by his friend Edmund Wilson.
:: The nine-part series was released online on Thursday.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
