Jewish artists and producers were given recognition this week at the annual dinner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which assembled to distribute the awards for service and to hear Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. It is significant of the ineffective anti-Semitic campaign conducted by one Major Pease, that the trophy for the outstanding production of the year was awarded to Carl Laemmle, Sr., for “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
The award for the best direction of the year went to Lewis Milestone, director of the same picture. It will be remembered that Major Pease, self-styled head of the alleged Motion Picture Technical Directors Association conducted a vicious campaign against the Russian director Eisenstein and the picture “All Quiet.”
Norma Shearer, (Mrs. Irving Thalberg) was also awarded first prize as leading actress for her role in “The Divorcee,” and George Arliss for his work in “Disraeli.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
