Few people have contributed more to faith-based, family-friendly films than Dr. Ted Baer, who spent his entire life in Tinseltown.
Mr. Beyer, whose parents are famous actors Robert Allen and Evelyn Peirce, has had a long career in Hollywood and is the founder of Movie Guide, a powerful website offering family-friendly movie reviews, articles, and many additional resources.
He is also the author of the book Behind the Golden Age of Hollywood and Broadway: The Legacy of Robert Allen, which explores his father’s career and a powerful era in entertainment.
“My father … appeared in 62 films from 1926 to World War II,” Baer said. “After World War II…he preferred Broadway. So he starred on Broadway from 1946, when I was born, to 1986. And I brought him to Christ, actually seven years after I came to Christ.”
Bael said he became a Christian after being on the “left wing” and seeing his life change incredibly. This book discusses Allen and Hollywood more broadly, and provides powerful lessons to help people better understand what’s going on in entertainment today.
The Movie Guide founder told CBN News that the film industry is “very volatile.”
“It was always unstable,” Baer said. “And people don’t understand the whole history of the film industry, how it works and why it works. This gives you some background on what you need to do if you’re going to get into the film industry.”
As for his thoughts on Allen, Baer said his father’s legacy is worth exploring. And he believes the story offers an important lesson at a time when people don’t necessarily remember the stars of yesteryear.
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“My father was a big star,” he said. “He won box office awards, so in 1936 he was a really great guy. It’s really great to be able to honor him and look back and be encouraged and see him come to Christ.”
Beyer also discussed the rise and fall of Hollywood’s relationship with faith, noting how Christian themes were once prevalent in early entertainment projects before the industry moved away. But today, he sees a powerful glimmer of hope.
“There were a lot of Christian movies in the 1950s,” Bael says. “And that’s because the soldiers came back… because they brought the faith and values to their children, and they grew up believing in them.”
It’s been a bit of a roller coaster since then, with faith starting to explode onto the Hollywood scene again in recent years as The Chosen, House of David and other projects ignite.
One interesting factor is that edgy content doesn’t necessarily pay for itself. In fact, Moveiguide claims that under Baehr’s leadership, family-friendly content is actually the best-performing at the box office.
“It’s the movies that have beliefs and values that get the staff paid,” he says.
At the moment, Baer said it’s “very encouraging” to see what’s unfolding in faith and family projects. Much of the interest from a Hollywood perspective comes from changing demographics, he says.
“The Wall Street Journal and other places are saying that more young men are coming to Christ than young women,” he said, noting that some changes to faith in content may be consistent with this reality. “I believe these young people are coming to Christ. I know that. And that’s what makes a big difference at the box office.”
Beyer hopes that “Behind the Scenes of the Golden Age of Hollywood and Broadway: The Legacy of Robert Allen” will help readers remember Hollywood’s Golden Age, when “any movie could be seen by anyone.” He said the lesson from that moment was profound.
“You don’t have to worry about taking your kids to the movies,” he said. “Even though the theme was a little difficult, it was designed so that you could take your family to the movies.”
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