THE BIGGEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT OF ALL

How would you feel if you were given an entire movie studio as a birthday present? How about if that movie studio was also an official city in Hollywood? Well, that's what Carl Laemmle did for his son on his 21st birthday -- he put him in charge of Universal Pictures.

A news item in the June 28, 1929 issue of THE FILM MERCURY announced the passing of the studio torch from father to son. The story carried a caveat that the road Junior walked would be thorny, but the younger Laemmle was up to the task. After all, he had two history-making movies waiting in the wings, DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN, that would not only mark the beginning of a new era in "weird thrillers", but would lift Universal off the ledge of bankruptcy.

JUNIOR LAEMMLE IN THE LOS ANGELES EXAMINER 1931

Carl "Junior" Laemmle was at the top of his game in 1931. Handed the helm of Universal Pictures by his father, he had an Oscar on his mantle for ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, and a string of hit thrillers that included DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN that drew theater patrons by the tens of thousands.

The photo shown here is a publicity portrait, shot by Universal staff photographer Roman Freulich and prepared for a cropped image to be pasted up in a July, 1931 edition of the LOS ANGELES EXAMINER. The reverse of the photo shows a portion of the clipping of the article as it appeared in the paper.

[IMAGE SOURCE: USC Los Angeles Examiner Archives]