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At the same time, William Hodkinson was looking for a way to increase his role in the
film business. He was a distributor who was the middle man between producers and exhibitors. It
was always difficult for distributers to provide enough movies for the theatres. He struck a deal
with Zukor to distribute the entirety of Zukor’s Famous Players movie production (Sklar 143).
The problem with this arrangement was Zukor’s desire to be in control of his own company.
Having been rebuffed by Hodkinson in his attempt to become a shareholder in Hodkinson’s
company, Paramount, Zukor bought out three of the five partners and took control of Paramount
(Sklar 144). There had become a distinction in the prices theatres paid for “first” and “second”
run films and the distributers profited handsomely off this. Since there was still considerable
money to be made as an exhibitor, Zukor created a vertically integrated company that produced,
distributed, and exhibited films (Sklar 145). The other moguls would soon follow suit and the
Jewish impact would be felt as Hollywood entered its golden age.
The Missing Characters
As we have seen, the studio system that Hollywood is built on was created and populated
by Jewish people, in particular the moguls. Despite this fact, there is a dearth of strongly
identifiable Jewish characters in films themselves. While the focus of this discussion will be
Casablanca and A Gentlemen’s Agreement, it is important to at least discuss The Jazz Singer (Al
Jolson, not Neil Diamond), as the first of the talkies and a rare example of a Jewish main
character. Based on a short story written by Sampson Raphaelson, the main character in the film
is a Jewish man, Jaki Rabinowitz, who comes from a line of cantors, religious figures who lead
their congregation in singing prayers. It is expected that he too will become a cantor, but his
desire is to become an entertainer, singing while made up in blackface. Here we have a strong
Jewish character who is doing everything to avoid being recognized as Jewish including
