Jack H. Skirball (June 23, 1896 – December 8, 1985 ) was an American film producer, real estate developer, philanthropist and rabbi.
41-678: Skirball may refer to: People [ edit ] Jack H. Skirball (1896–1985), American film producer Audrey Skirball-Kenis (1914–2002), American philanthropist Other uses [ edit ] Skirball Center for the Performing Arts , theater in New York Skirball Cultural Center , Jewish educational institution in California Skirball Fire , wildfire Topics referred to by
82-478: A 1940 film starring Cary Grant . A year later, in 1941, he produced This Woman is Mine . By 1942, he was associate producer of Saboteur , a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock . A year later, in 1943, he produced Shadow of a Doubt , another film directed by Hitchcock. He also produced Magnificent Doll in 1946, The Secret Fury in 1950, and Payment on Demand in 1951. He also produced A Matter of Time starring Liza Minnelli in 1976. Skirball
123-547: A Doubt was also the one he enjoyed making the most. The film opens on Charles Oakley smoking in bed surrounded by money. His landlady announces he had two visitors. Charles spots them outside and lures them to an abandoned building where he gives them the slip. He telegraphs his sister in Santa Rosa, California to let her know he will visit. His niece Charlotte "Charlie" Newton is bored with her family's routine and decides to telegraph Uncle Charlie (her eponym ) and ask for
164-506: A Doubt was featured as a radio-play on Screen Directors Playhouse . It starred Cary Grant as Uncle Charlie and Betsy Drake as the young Charlie. It was also adapted to the Ford Theater (February 18, 1949). The Screen Guild Theater adapted the film twice with Joseph Cotten , the first with Vanessa Brown as young Charlie, and the second with Deanna Durbin in the role. The Academy Award Theater production of Shadow of
205-438: A Doubt , which you made in 1943, as your finest film." Hitchcock replied immediately, "Me too." Markle then asked, "That is your opinion of it still?" Hitchcock replied, "Oh, no question." At the time, Hitchcock's most recent work was Marnie . When later interviewed by François Truffaut , Hitchcock denied the suggestion that Shadow of a Doubt was his "favourite". But in the audio interview with Truffaut, Hitchcock confirmed it
246-930: A condominium in Century City, Los Angeles . Their horses competed at the Santa Anita Park . Skirball died in December 1985. His funeral was held at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple . The Alliance Jack H. Skirball Middle School in Los Angeles and the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City are named in his honor. Moreover, in 2011, the Skirball Foundation donated US$ 10 million to
287-486: A score of 94 out of 100, based on reviews from 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". When asked by critics as to an overarching theme for the film Hitchcock responded: "Love and good order is no defense against evil". In his book Bambi vs. Godzilla , David Mamet calls it Hitchcock's finest film. In his 2011 review of the film, film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four and included it in his Great Movies list. In 2022, Time Out magazine ranked
328-447: A visit. She is thrilled to learn he is already on his way and feels they are linked by a kind of telepathy . The Newtons are delighted at Uncle Charlie's company. He has extravagant gifts for everyone: a watch for his brother-in-law, a fur for his sister, and an emerald ring for his niece. Young Charlie notices the ring is engraved with someone else's initials. Uncle Charlie explains the jeweler must have rooked him. Two men soon appear at
369-456: Is appalled, but her uncle reminds her there is no proof he is a killer. He has even taken back the emerald ring with the initials. Young Charlie says she will kill him if he stays. Later that night, Uncle Charlie leaves the car idling in the garage and traps Young Charlie inside. A neighbor hears her struggling and alerts the Newtons. Uncle Charlie makes a show of saving her. Young Charlie finds
410-458: Is delighted to be off the hook, but young Charlie still suspects him. Not long afterward, she falls down the back porch stairs, which she discovers were deliberately cut through. Meanwhile, the detectives confide in young Charlie that the picture they took of her uncle has been sent east for identification by a witness. Uncle Charlie reveals he wants to settle down in Santa Rosa. Young Charlie
451-493: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Jack H. Skirball Jack H. Skirball was born in 1896 in Homestead, Pennsylvania . His father was an immigrant from Czechoslovakia . His mother was an immigrant from England. His father died when he was seven years old. Shortly after, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio , with his mother and nine siblings. Skirball attended
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#1732772552849492-472: Is thrown out, she manages to reverse positions with her uncle, and he falls into the path of an oncoming train. At his funeral, Uncle Charlie is sentimentally honored by the townspeople. Young Charlie laments with one of the detectives that they know he was actually the Merry Widow Murderer. They resolve to keep Uncle Charlie's crimes a secret. Alfred Hitchcock appears about 16 minutes into
533-468: The Merry Widow Waltz of Franz Lehár , often in somewhat distorted forms, as a leitmotif for Uncle Charlie and his serial murders. During the opening credits, the waltz theme is heard along with a prolonged shot of couples dancing. The image recurs frequently throughout the film, and Lehár's melody is an earworm for several characters. When Young Charlie is on the verge of identifying it at
574-796: The University of Cincinnati and Western Reserve College in Cleveland, Ohio, but he dropped out. He studied at the Hebrew Union College , and he was ordained as a rabbi, following his mother's wishes. He then attended graduate school at the University of Chicago , where he studied psychology and sociology. Skirball went to Palestine with Abba Hillel Silver in 1919. Back in the United States, he served Reform synagogues in Cleveland, Ohio and Evansville, Indiana in
615-517: The 1920s. After moving to Los Angeles, California in 1938, he became a film producer. He served as general manager of the Educational Films Corporation of America , where he produced The Birth of a Baby , an educational film about childbearing in 1938. Skirball served as vice president of Grand National Pictures , followed by president of Arcadia Pictures . He was associate producer of The Howards of Virginia ,
656-709: The Los Angeles School of Hebrew Union College, which was renamed in his honor. Shadow of a Doubt Shadow of a Doubt is a 1943 American psychological thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock , and starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten . Written by Thornton Wilder , Sally Benson , and Alma Reville , the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story for Gordon McDonell. The story follows Charlotte "Charlie" Newton and her family who live in very quiet Santa Rosa, California . An unexpected visit by Charles Oakley, her charming and sophisticated Uncle Charlie, brings much excitement to
697-639: The Los Angeles School of Hebrew Union College. By 1972, he founded the Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum, a museum of Jewish life near the campus of the University of Southern California . His goal was to show Christians and Jews that they shared much in common, and to ""dissipate" anti-Semitism." He later donated US$ 3.5 million to move it to a 15-acre plot of land in Brentwood , off the Sepulveda Pass , where it
738-668: The Newton home pretending to survey middle class homes. They go to great lengths to take Uncle Charlie's picture. Young Charlie guesses they are undercover detectives. They explain her uncle is one of two suspects in a nationwide manhunt. Charlie refuses to believe it at first, but learns that the initials engraved inside her emerald ring match one of the victims of the "Merry Widow Murderer". She eyes her uncle with growing suspicion and dread. During one dinner, Uncle Charlie lets his guard down and rants about rich widows, describing them as "fat, wheezing animals". Horrified, young Charlie runs out of
779-521: The Pacific Coast's "dim-out" order [of WWII] went into effect, they'd change their minds. All of our night scenes were filmed actually at night—and we just got under the wire, finishing the last one scarcely a matter of hours before the dim-out became effective." Upon release, the film received unanimously positive reviews. Bosley Crowther , critic for The New York Times , loved the film, stating that "Hitchcock could raise more goose pimples to
820-454: The dinner table, Uncle Charlie distracts her. Cinematographer Joseph A. Valentine described his work on the film: "Our Santa Rosa location was chosen because it seemed to be typical of the average American small city, and offered, as well, the physical facilities the script demanded. There was a public square, around which much of the city's life resolves. There was an indefinable blending of small town and city, and of old and new, which made
861-436: The emerald ring in her uncle's room and puts it on. When Uncle Charlie sees it on her finger, he abruptly announces he is leaving for San Francisco – coincidentally on the same train as Mrs. Porter, a rich widow. At the station, Uncle Charlie invites his niece onboard to see his compartment. When the train starts to move, he stops her from leaving and explains he has to kill her because she knows too much. Just before Young Charlie
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#1732772552849902-632: The family and the small town. That excitement turns to fear as young Charlie slowly realizes her uncle is in fact a wanted serial murderer known as the "Merry Widow" killer. The fear escalates when Oakley realizes she knows his secret. In 1991, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress , being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Hitchcock's favorite of all his films, Shadow of
943-421: The film at No. 41 on their list of "The 100 best thriller films of all time". The film was adapted for Cecil B. DeMille 's Lux Radio Theater aired on January 3, 1944, with its original leading actress Teresa Wright and William Powell as Uncle Charlie (Patrick McGilligan said Hitchcock had originally wanted Powell to play Uncle Charlie, but MGM refused to lend the actor for the film). In 1950, Shadow of
984-628: The film is still regarded as a major work of Hitchcock's. Contemporary critic Dave Kehr called it Hitchcock's "first indisputable masterpiece." In 2005 film critic David Denby of The New Yorker called it Hitchcock's most "intimate and heart-wrenching" film. Based on 48 reviews on the website Rotten Tomatoes , the film has received a 100% approval rating , with a weighted average of 9.20/10. The site's consensus reads: "Alfred Hitchcock's earliest classic — and his own personal favorite — deals its flesh-crawling thrills as deftly as its finely shaded characters". On Metacritic it has
1025-604: The film was perhaps the most American film that Hitchcock had made up to that time. The opening scenes take place in the East Ward (aka the "Ironbound"/"Down Neck" section of Newark, New Jersey ). The city skyline and landmarks such as the Pulaski Skyway are featured in the opening shot. The location shots were used to comply with the wartime War Production Board restrictions of a maximum cost of $ 5,000 for set construction. An Italianate -style house, built in 1872,
1066-443: The film, on the train to Santa Rosa, playing bridge with Doctor and Mrs. Harry. Charlie is traveling on the train under the assumed name of Otis, and is lying down due to a migraine . Mrs. Harry is eager to help him, but her husband is not interested and keeps playing bridge. Doctor Harry replies to Hitchcock that he does not look well while Hitchcock is holding a full suit of spades, the best hand for bridge. The project began when
1107-466: The head of David Selznick's story department, Margaret McDonell, told Hitchcock that her husband Gordon had an interesting idea for a novel that she thought would make a good movie. His idea, called "Uncle Charlie", was based on the true story of Earle Nelson , a serial killer of the late 1920s known as "the Gorilla Man". Shadow of a Doubt was both filmed and set in Santa Rosa, California , which
1148-444: The onlooker more or less clearly expects, but which elicits the periodic hope that the worst fears of Teresa Wright will not be realized. ...Production values under Jack H. Skirball are first-rate, as is Joseph Valentine’s photography. There is not a shadow of a doubt about this picture’s success. In a 1964 interview on Telescope with host Fletcher Markle , Markle noted, "Mr. Hitchcock, most critics have always considered Shadow of
1189-418: The room. Uncle Charlie follows her and takes her into a seedy bar. He admits he is one of the two murder suspects and begs for help. She reluctantly agrees not to say anything. She is desperate to avoid a disgrace that would destroy her mother, who adores her younger brother. News breaks that the other Merry Widow suspect was chased by police and killed. Everyone assumes he was the actual murderer. Uncle Charlie
1230-467: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Skirball . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Skirball&oldid=1230976291 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description
1271-516: The square inch of a customer's flesh than any other director in Hollywood". Time Magazine called the film "superb", while Variety stated that "Hitchcock deftly etches his small-town characters and homey surroundings". The entertainment trade paper The Film Daily was yet another reviewer in 1943 that praised every aspect of the production. The publication predicted big box office for theaters presenting Hitchcock's latest work: Of all
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1312-408: The startling feature films directed by Alfred Hitchcock—superman of suspense and wizard of mystery—this one is geared most highly to thrill American audiences and to pour coin into the coffers of U.S. theaters....There are no red herrings yanked across the trail in this attraction, as was the case in his recent hit, Suspense [ sic ]. The story moves inflexibly toward an ending which
1353-480: The town a much more typical background of an average American town than anything that could have been deliberately designed. The Santa Rosans were very cooperative, and most of our problems in these scenes were the ordinary ones of rigging scrims and placing reflectors or booster lights where they were needed. The most spectacular part of our work was naturally the making of the night exterior sequences. We had with us two generator sets, ten 150-ampere arc spotlights, and
1394-456: The usual assortment of incandescent lights...making a total of 3,000 ampere maximum electrical capacity. With this we lit up an expanse of four city blocks for our night-effect long shots!....Oddly enough, one of our less spectacular night scenes proved really the harder problem. This was a sequence played around the city's public library. This building is a lovely Gothic structure, almost completely clothed in ivy. I think all of us were surprised at
1435-509: The way those dark green ivy leaves drank up the light. Actually, on our long shots of that single building we used every unit of lighting equipment we had with us—and we could very conveniently have used more if we had had them!....Frequently people who have seen these night scenes of ours have jumped to the conclusion that with such an area to illuminate we must have filmed them by day with Infra-Red film rather than actually by night. If only they'd seen how we worked to finish our night scenes before
1476-463: Was a Carnegie Library which was demolished in 1964 due to seismic concerns. Some of the buildings in the center of Santa Rosa that are seen in the film were damaged or destroyed by earthquakes in 1969 ; much of the area was cleared of debris and largely rebuilt. The film was scored by Dimitri Tiomkin, his first collaboration with Hitchcock (the others being Strangers on a Train , I Confess and Dial M for Murder ). In his score, Tiomkin quotes
1517-471: Was his favourite film, and later reiterated that Shadow of a Doubt was his favorite film in his interview with Mike Douglas in 1969 and in his interview with Dick Cavett in 1972. Hitchcock's daughter Pat Hitchcock also said that her father's favorite film was Shadow of a Doubt . Hitchcock also enjoyed making Shadow of a Doubt the most, due to his "pleasant memories of working on it with Thornton Wilder" according to his conversation with Truffaut. Today,
1558-421: Was portrayed as a paragon of a supposedly peaceful, small, pre- War American city. Since Thornton Wilder wrote the original script, the story is set in a small American town, a popular setting of Wilder's, but with an added Hitchcock touch to it. The director specifically wanted Wilder to work on McDonell's nine-page treatment because he admired Our Town . In Patrick McGilligan's biography of Hitchcock, he said
1599-817: Was renamed the Skirball Cultural Center . In 1985, Skirball founded the Skirball Institute on American Values, a program of the American Jewish Committee . He appointed rabbi Alfred Wolf who was its director until 1996, when the latter was replaced by Eugene Mornell . The Skirball Institute organized inter-faith conferences, essay contests for high school students, academic research on American values, and offered scholarships to college students. In 1938, Skirball married Audrey Marx (1914–2002). They had two daughters, Sally Cochran and Agnes Skirball. They resided in
1640-764: Was the co-producer of Jacobowsky and the Colonel , a Broadway musical, alongside Jed Harris in 1944. Skirball was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . He believed that all films should be educational and that they should convey information in a way that is understandable to any audience member. Skirball was also a real estate developer. In 1962, he developed the Vacation Village resort in Mission Bay , San Diego, California . In 1983, he sold it for US$ 51 million. Skirball founded
1681-482: Was used for exterior shots of the Newton family home. As of 2024, it is still standing, located at 904 McDonald Avenue in Santa Rosa. The stone railway station in the film was built in 1904 for the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and is one of the few commercial buildings in central Santa Rosa to survive the earthquake of April 18, 1906 . The station is currently a visitor center. The library