Germanna Community College English faculty member Cory MacLauchlin has completed a manuscript titled “The Moving Picture Man (Life and Times of Carl Laemmle).”
He is the author of “Butterfly in the Typewriter: The Tragic Life of John Kennedy Toole and the Remarkable Story of ‘A Confederacy of Dunces.'”
“Butterfly” is in pre-production for film adaptation. (IMDB)
This video provides a small taste of “The Moving Picture Man,” the compelling and timely story of Laemmie, a German-American film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. Laemmle produced or worked on over 400 films, including “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Dracula,” “The Mummy,” and “Frankenstein,” contributing to the popularity of horror as a film genre.
Laemmle and his Universal Pictures produced over 10,000 movies within a few decades, including great classics such as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
After producing the anti-war epic “All Quiet on the Western Front” in 1930, he was banned from traveling to Germany. The film’s honest depiction of World War I set new cinematic standards. It won two Oscars and is still considered one of the best movies ever. But it angered Hitler.
MacLauchlin has written for The Daily Beast, Vice Magazine, and The Millions. His work has appeared in HuffPost. He has been featured on BBC Radio, NPR Radio, and Investigation Discovery. Go to CoryMacLauchlin.com to learn more.
His previous, book, “Butterfly,” earned a rave review from Publisher’s Weekly, which called it, “[A] thoughtful and thorough biography,” adding that…”MacLauchlin does an admirable job distinguishing facts from speculation.” and a positive review from Kirkus, which said, “[MacLauchlin] cleanly lays out the brief life of his subject and his work’s unlikely afterlife…A valuable biography.”