Daniel Hope is a world-renowned violinist. His book Family Heirlooms: An Investigation on the history of his Jewish ancestors received widespread attention. His new book unearths the untold story of German and Austrian émigrés to Hollywood. And he discovers that the opulent orchestral scores that heavily influenced – and still influence – the American film industry were chiefly the work of composers who fled from the Nazis to the USA. In this fascinating book, Hope meets the descendants of many musicians and discovers that the ‘Dream Factory’ of legend was also a place where many who had thought all hope lost went on to create music that embodied their most audacious dreams. On the way, he encounters such names as Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Kurt Weill and Ennio Morricone, and gains new insights into the background of classic films such as Hitchcock’s Spellbound, Casablanca and Schindler’s List. The result is a deeply personal and moving book that offers new perspectives on Hollywood’s film industry and on an important era in modern cultural history.
• Tracing the footsteps of European immigrants to Hollywood
