Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

[fauxklore]

None of the movies I saw on airplanes during my trip were worth writing about (basically, lots of predictable romantic comedy fare). I made up for that today by seeing Aviva Kempner's new documentary, "Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg."

Gertrude Berg was pretty much before my time, but her name is familiar to anyone with an interest in Jewish popular entertainment. (Which is why I was interested. Well, also because I'd loved Kempner's earlier documentary about Hank Greenberg.) What is remarkable is how popular her show became with non-Jewish audiences. I hadn't known much about her life, however, and there was a lot of interesting trivia in the movie. (For example, her husband was a chemical engineer who invented instant coffee. He did not, however, invent Sanka.) There was a good mix of clips from the television show (and the earlier radio show) along with interviews with family, friends, fans, and experts.

I was particularly impressed by the handling of the anti-Communist witch hunt and how Berg tried to fight for, but was forced to fire, Phillip Loeb. Loeb (who was a union activist but probably not a Communist) committed suicide.

Aside from the ethnic aspect, Berg was also a good businesswoman, who knew what she wanted and fought hard to get it. She paved the way for women like Lucille Ball - and, less directly, Oprah Winfrey.

All in all, a very interesting movie and well worth seeing.

Comments

[shmuel.livejournal.com]

Ebert says the film is wrong about her husband inventing instant coffee. (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090729/REVIEWS/907299991) Wikipedia credits it to Satori Kato, in 1901 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_coffee), with George Constant Louis Washington developing a commercial process and founding a company to manufacture it around 1910 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Constant_Louis_Washington). I've seen a couple other possible contenders on the Web, depending on your definition of "instant", but Louis Berg doesn't seem to have been named by anybody before this film.

That aside, sounds like an interesting movie. :-)

[fauxklore]

I suspect that the statement was a matter of family legend and Kempner didn't investigate further. (I don't remember who actually said it in the movie, but vaguely think it was one of Berg's grandchildren.) It is clear that instant coffee made Lewis Berg rich, regardless of whether or not he invented it. (And "Lewis," not "Louis" is the spelling used in the film. I have no idea whether or not that's accurate.)