Hope on the Road – Hollywood

Synopsis

World famous violinist Daniel Hope follows the westward journey made to Los Angeles by Jewish artists, many fleeing the Nazis following the outbreak of World War II. Its consequences are seen as seismic for the development of Hollywood, while also defining the musical language of cinema. Erich Korngold (The Adventures of Robin Hood), Franz Waxman (Sunset Boulevard), Miklos Rozsa (Ben Hur) amongst others, had travelled to the west coast of America with little choice – they were avoiding Jewish persecution – but they would go on to shape cinematic music as an art form. Hollywood of that time was newly invigorated by the birth of talking picture, and music moved from something used to distract audience from the silences of the movies, to becoming a key creative element that worked around dialogue. It began to be used to shape and charge emotion, the blueprint of this was created during this turbulent time. In addition to meeting composers of today influenced by the early emigre artists, it is also a chance for Daniel Hope to perform some of this music during his travels, which takes him to the house of writer Thomas Mann, the exile archives of the University of California and the old MGM soundstage where classics like Ben Hur and Gone with the Wind were recorded.

Additional Info

• No: 8865
• Production year: 2023
• Run time: 00:52:00
• Director: A film by Rob Alexander
• Producers: Kobalt, WDR/arte
• Format: HDTV 16:9