MovieChat Forums > The Eddy Duchin Story (1956) Discussion > Hiding Eddy Duchin's Jewish Background, ...

Hiding Eddy Duchin's Jewish Background, Why?

posted 14 years ago by mdudnikov
16 replies | jump to latest

Eddy Duchin was the son of Ukranian Jewish immigrants. No mention is made of this except for a surreptitious reference at the moment in the story where Eddy's parents meet Marjorie Oelrichs (Kim Novak) during a scene in a night club. Eddy mentions that his parents are Romanian immigrants and after learning that Eddy and Marjorie will wed, Eddy's mother says to them mazel tov(good luck in Hebrew and Yiddish). This was something that almost all Jewish movie goers would have picked up on, but it would have passed unnoticed by virtually all gentiles, who would have considered it to be some Romanian phrase they were not aware of. Why was this done, hard to say.

In his book Ghost of a Chance: A Memoir, Peter Duchin states that unlike in the movie, not everyone greeted the wedding of Eddy and Marjorie with applause. Shortly after the marriage most of Marjorie's wealthy friends began to shun her and her Jewish husband. As in the movie Peter was raised by some upper class friends of his late mother. Though unlike the situation for the every other character in the movie, that wealthy couple was given a fictitious name, the Wadsworths. In reality Duchin was raised for a number of years by W. Averell Harriman and his second wife Marie, who accorded him the status of honorary WASP, and allowed to study music at Hotchkiss and Yale.

Peter did follow in his father's footsteps becoming a pianist and successful bandleader, releasing many well selling albums and making numerous television appearances. Eventually he became someone who provided the music at the parties and events staged by high society and Hollywood celebs.

He also states in the book that he recalls feeling "pretty beat up and confused." after seeing this movie. And he also talks of how Harriman's third wife (Pamela) tried very hard and met with success in destroying his close relationship with his "second father", Averell Harriman, who during his life served as Governor of New York and in the Truman cabinet.

Peter is still around and married to Brooke Hayward, the daughter of Hollywood producer Leland Hayward and his movie star Margaret Sullavan. That third wife of Harriman's, Pamela, was also the third wife of Leland Hayward. Perhaps that fueled her animosity toward Peter.

[–] hobnob53 14 years ago

They hid his Jewish background because this was a soap opera/feel-good/four-hankie movie, not a serious biography. Nothing that inferred any racial or religious animosity was to be seen in this film. The movie is a glossed-over, falsified fairy tale of Duchin's life. No real names used (almost), nobody ages a day over 25 years, just beautiful people living a fairy story that had the inevitable sad ending.

I disagree that most gentiles wouldn't know what "mazel tov" means, or at least wouldn't know that it was Hebrew. (I doubt anyone thought it was Romanian.) But I always got the inference that the filmmakers were trying to disguise the fact that Eddy was Jewish. Selecting an Irish-American to play him helped put more space between the real Duchin and his roots. Plainly, surrounding him with upper-class white Americans in WASP society served to further distance the movie Duchin from any sense of ethnicity. What this was was simply a poor-boy-meets-rich-girl fantasy, with messy things like religion or ethnicity swept into irrelevancy or non-existence.

This movie had good music and fair performances amid its maudlin storyline and pretty falsifications. That's what the filmmakers wanted, that's what they made, that's what audiences loved...certainly not the truth.

[–] mdudnikov 14 years ago

Thanks for replying and you make some good points. However, you're wrong about "no real names used (almost)". Actually everybody's real name is used, except for Harriman and his wife. Duchin, his parents and son have their real names, naturally. But also Marjorie Oelrichs, his second wife Chiquita Wynn Duchin, his friend and manager Lou Sherwood, and the famous orchestra leader Leo Reisman, who gave Eddy his early break, all appear using their actual names. Since the Harriman character is portrayed in a very complimentary manner, I'm assuming his name was not used as he was a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination at the time the film was released.

And following up on the disguising his Jewish backgound theme, we have that big Christmas scene and his having the birth of his son joined with the sadness of his wife dieing during that season. Actually Peter was born in late July and Marjorie died in early August.

TCM showed this movie yesterday and followed it with a short clip, or soundie as they were called, of Duchin performing with his orchestra. Interesting to see. The actual Duchin was somewhat thinner than Power and seemed to be a bit taller.

[–] hobnob53 14 years ago

Yes, I suppose there are more real names used (by actors, not the real people themselves) than I'd realized. But as you and others have pointed out most of the other details have been falsified. Averall Harriman was the Governor of New York when filming was underway in 1956 (as well as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination) and I suspect his real name wasn't used to avoid any political entanglements...though maybe someone like his wife objected to the Duchin association to begin with.

I saw that Duchin soundie yesterday, and it's the first time I ever saw Duchin on film, and heard him. Of course, it was made in the mid-30s, when Duchin was around 25, so he'd look very different from the 42-year-old Power anyway. Later photos of Duchin, when he was nearing 40, have him looking a bit more like the Ty Power of 1956. But Power at 25 didn't much look like Duchin anyway. (Neither did Sheppard Strudwick look the least bit like Averall Harriman!)

[–] jpgr1 14 years ago

Who hasn't heard of "Mazel Tov"? I'm not Jewish but that's an extremely common saying and I'm sure many have heard it and know what it means.

[–] Enrique-8 13 years ago

Coubotand:

Yes, maybe now practically everyone knows that Mazel Tov is a Jewish expression, but how many knew that in 1956? And how many knew this in Middle America during that era? I wonder?

Enrique Sanchez

[–] dm84 13 years ago

I wouldn't say that they hid his Jewishness, they just didn't make a big deal of it in the film. I watched the film last night and the scene with his parents in made it plain that he was Jewish at least it did in my opinion.

[–] pc-daisy 12 years ago

Yes, I agree! If they were trying to hide his ethnic background and religion, why have the actors say the dialogue at all?

Whether it is 'politically correct' to say so these days, (and I would say not,) but I understood there was a lot of antisemitism around in those days and not just in the US. Eddy Duchin certainly didn't alter his name to cover up his background.

The movie has been summed up very nicely by some of the posters on this board and I quite agree that most people would understand the expression used. A lot of biopics have changes made for dramatic affect or whatever.

I love the movie and think that Peter Duchin has a marvelous tribute to the two fine people who just happened to be his parents.

[–] juanmonge69 11 years ago

Many people are religious in their parents home, but lose their religion when they come to the big city. I have no way of knowing how religious Mr. Duchin was in his day to day affairs. Anyway, there was no shortage of Jewish people in the entertainment business in New york.

This movie is mainly about the music. The story itself is just filler.

[–] jononfire 11 years ago

Yours is a very perceptive and valid observation, Enrique-8. In 1956, far fewer Americans than today not of the Jewish faith were familiar with the practices of Judaism. Interesting and ironic, in today's perspective, that Hollywood could be alleged to have "hidden" Duchin's origins, when at the time of its making (as has been true both before and after) so many of the Hollywood community -- especially those contributing offscreen to this film and so many others -- have been Jewish.

"Believe not what you only wish to believe, but that which truth demands."

[–] Enrique-8 11 years ago

Thank you, Jonofire. True what you say that the irony is there, but even in the 50s after the nation had been able to assimilate the horrors of the Holocaust, what is called "Middle America" probably may have still considered Judaism a somewhat foreign thing to ponder if not embrace. And moreover, those who were Jewish in the business, were not insensitive to the uphill battle, that even today, never seems to end.

Enrique Sanchez

[–] pc-daisy 11 years ago

Quite an interesting thread you began here!

I see Peter Duchin and Brooke Hayward broke up. Just another chapter in a very interesting life.

I have read Haywire, Brook's autobiography and have seen a bit about Pamela Digby Churchill (yes, that one) Hayward Harriman and by all accounts she was a fascinating, if not a pleasant person. Certainly Peter and Brook joked about having her as something negative in common in their lives. Maybe she was antisemitic or just plain selfish and jealous. She redeemed herself somewhat in her service to her adopted country, America and was award high honours upon her death.

As for her influencing Averell Harriman himself to distance himself from Peter, well my comment to that is, he must have been a very weak man to allow a third person to do that.

And I stand by what I said before, biopics must be hard on the loved ones, but I loved the film and think it is so sad that Peter Duchin was distressed by it. He can relate to Johnny Cash's daughter for the treatment their mother received at the hands of their half brother in Walk the Line. At lease Peter's parents were shown to be loving, good people. It is interesting that the pathos of the scenes of his mother's death should be compounded by Hollywood staging it at Christmas, as if they are heart wrenching enough, but I would have thought he should know how much these things are distorted by filmmakers.

[–] ladyofargonne 11 years ago

Just saw this movie this morning. Real heart breaker. To answer the OP, many Jewish people have hidden their background. A lot of entertainment people but many others. There is Antisemitism every where even today. I am Jewish and I changed my last name too many years ago. The things people have said to my face not knowing I was Jewish. People I thought were my friends. I will have to go read Haywire. Thanks for the recommendation.

*´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ Director of Chaos, Whimsy & Euphoria

[–] pc-daisy 11 years ago

The story Haywire is a real heart breaker too. I am sorry you have experienced such awful bigotry. I am an Australian of Irish descent and we cop a bit too, especially in England. No, I correct myself, we cop a lot, or used to when I lived there.

There is ugliness and bigotry everywhere. I notice that some Americans are demonstrably biased against their own countrymen. I love the Internet and these boards can be fun and informative, but sometimes a thread will start to degenerate into hateful tirades against others. Where the political divide comes from I have no idea, but I have never known ideology to cause such conflict and it is particularly sad in what is supposed to be the home of Free speech. People write things one would hope they didn't/wouldn't say to someone's face.

But I understand that anonymity can make cowards of us too.

When you read Haywire, you will see that some people, even those who are thought to be 'privileged' have their own problems. It is a real miracle that Brooke Hayward Duchin is as sane as she is. I don't know if she has a website, but I certainly wish her all the best and Peter too, with their latest sadness.

[–] ladyofargonne 11 years ago

I used to be on this website all the time. But it got too ugly. Hatred on every board even if it was nothing to do with the subject. it's like that nearly everywhere else too. American against American big time. People hating others because they are over weight and every other petty thing. It's being fed to us to keep from identifying a common enemy. The US government.

You might try Huffington Post. Liberal basically but actually quite an array of people usually intelligent in spite of their differences.

Take care!

*´¨)
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ Director of Chaos, Whimsy & Euphoria

[–] GaelinW 11 years ago

As others have mentioned, I doubt the intention was to hide his background. They just didn't make a big deal of it.

After seeing the movie tonight, I did a Google search. An article mentioning the death of Marjorie in 1937 specifically said after she married Eddy she was dropped from the "Social Register" after marrying him. So his background clearly was no secret.

If you can't walk and talk/text at the same time, do the rest of us a favor and get out of the way.

[–] Popcorngal (4360) 4 years ago

I read that in Wiki regarding Marjorie being dropped. She stated "Who cares, it's only a phonebook". I also read his last wife was Filipina. The movie Chiquita did not look Asian to me, but this was the 50's.