Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Mississippi State-based author and biographer of 1950s TV sitcom star Gertrude Berg is helping bring the controversial broadcasting icon back to life at the 29th annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
Glenn D. "Pete" Smith, an assistant communications professor at the university, will be part of two Tuesday [July 28] screenings. He will be featured at the premiere of "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg," an independent documentary for which he was principal consultant.
Smith also will answer questions following the four-episode showing of "The Goldbergs," the situation comedy which won Berg (1898-1966) her first best actress Emmy.
The festival begins Thursday [the 23rd] and concludes Aug. 10. (For more, visit http://fest.sfjff.org/about.)
Independent filmmaker Aviva Kempner, a Peabody Award winner and Oscar contender, had Smith sit for some six hours of interviews. She also utilized his historical knowledge in making the documentary's narrative flow properly and capturing the spirit of Berg's career.
Smith's journey with Berg began at Auburn University while doing research on situation comedies of the 1950s and the role of women. After completing his master's degree thesis, he began formulating the proposal for a doctoral dissertation at the University of Southern Mississippi.
"Something on My Own: Gertrude Berg and American Broadcasting, 1929-1956," (Syracuse University Press, 2007) evolved from his dissertation, which was the first comprehensive biography of a woman whose most important legacy also was her biggest tragedy.
Smith said he anticipates that most public interest in Berg will focus on her rise to stardom in 1949 and her sudden fall from the spotlight after standing against McCarthy-era anti-communist hysteria--and the entertainment industry's blacklisting response.
Blacklisting is defined as a privately exchanged employers' list containing the names of persons deemed untrustworthy or holding opinions considered undesirable.
Berg got on the list after she refused to fire her longtime co-star, Philip Loeb, who had been labeled as having "communist ties" by the U.S. Senate, CBS network and General Foods, the show's sponsor.
"Reviewers say this is the most interesting part of my book and the new documentary," Smith said. "Berg was about to become a very successful brand in the entertainment world, and she risked everything by putting her principles over profit."
In addition to questions about Berg the star, Smith said he likely will get questions about his professional interest in her.
"I'm sure they'll want to know why a young Southerner who grew up Baptist has an interest in a Jewish entertainer," he observed. "I'm as far removed from her as you can get, but it was a really good story; a wealthy Park Avenue matron, producer and media mogul who risked it all for her political convictions."
Politically speaking, Smith said Berg's story remains relevant into the 21st century.
"We're still feeling the residual effects of the Cold War era," he explained. "[Kempner's] look inside this era can teach us something about contemporary politics in that the entertainment industry is profit driven.
"If you don't play the game, you'll be out of the business," he added.
Smith, who also wrote about Berg for the festival catalog and Web site, is hopeful that audiences will leave next week's events with both a better understanding of who Berg was and how the entertainment industry was from the Great Depression era through the 1950s.
"We'll definitely paint a picture of her life, but of her life within the context of the industry," he said.
While he knew a great deal about Berg and her times, Smith said he has "learned a lot" by working with Kempner.
"I've cut my teeth on this project in terms of learning the business of independent film making," he said of his six-year involvement with the documentary.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information, contact Dr. Smith at 662-325-0983 or gsmith@comm.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.