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The Documentary
Sara & Ralph on NPR
Weekend Edition Sunday, July 8, 2007 Robert Smith speaks with Sara Lamm, director of the new documentary film Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox. Emmanuel Bronner, a chemist, escaped from a mental institution and developed his own brand of peppermint soap that has a variety of uses. He also covered the label with religious and philosophical sayings. Dr. Bronner’s son Ralph also joins the conversation to discuss his father’s mission and life work.
“Weekend Edition Sunday, July 8, 2007 Robert Smith speaks with Sara Lamm, director of the new documentary film Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox. Emmanuel Bronner, a chemist, escaped from a mental institution and developed his own brand of peppermint soap that has a variety of uses. He also covered the label with religious and philosophical sayings. Dr. Bronner’s son Ralph also joins the conversation to discuss his father’s mission and life work. Listen to it on NPR
Treehugger.com Review
there is more to this story besides just making soap…
NY Times – Beneath the Bubbles
What emerges is a complex portrait of a man who cares more for humanity than for his own children…
Magic Buzz on Buzzfeed.com
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox
Movie Buzz A new documentary about the man behind Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox explores the life of Dr. Emanuel Bronner, who – after losing his parents in the Holocaust and escaping from a mental institution – went on to create the peppermint infused multi-purpose soap that has become ubiquitous at health food stores. The film explores Bronner’s family life and the philosophy behind the soap’s rambling label, which is packed with tiny text of philosophical musings about the “Moral ABCs” and “Space Ship Planet Earth.”
DVD Talk
The film begins with one of the literally thousands of tapes Dr. Bronner made through his life (he spent the last 20 years of his life legally blind, and so resorted to taping a lot of his conversations), where he is discussing his “Moral ABC” (the gist of his soap’s label) with his son, Ralph. Several title cards give a brief and alarming overview of Bronner’s story–a German emigree who escaped the horrors of Nazism, only to be institutionalized in Elgin, Illinois, ultimately escaping and getting to California (in a hilarious story later recounted by Ralph) and setting up a peppermint soap factory, which has since become a multimillion dollar business and one with that rarest of all things in capitalism: a corporate conscience.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED**
Review by Jeffrey Kauffman
A.V. Club
Reviewed by Nathan Rabin
January 2nd, 2008
It’s hard to pick up a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, the hippie-approved wonder-product with the obscenely sensual all-around tingle, and not wonder about the story behind the label’s bizarre ranting about the “Moral ABC’s,” “All-One-God-Faith,” and “Spaceship Earth.” How did the ravings of an apparent lunatic end up dominating the packaging of such a terrific, cultishly adored product? Who is this eccentric Dr. Bronner and where did his homemade philosophy concerning Halley’s Comet, Mark Spitz, and Albert Einstein come from?
Read the full review at the A.V Club
Sara on MaxFun Podcast
“If you’ve never heard The Sound of Young America, then The Sound of Young America is the greatest radio show you’ve never heard.”
– Ira Boudway, Salon.com
Check out director Sara Lamm on this weeks show from PRI ->Â
Sara’s Interview on Treehugger.com
“We first reported on this Magic Soapbox in June. The film was a great blend of loving a family for who they are and who they aren’t. Now the film is available on DVD so we thought we’d check in with Sara to see how things are going and if we can expect any new updates on the dvd. ”
Read the full interview here ->
The Boston Herald
Documentary checks up on ’60s icon ‘Dr. Bronner’
By Stephen Schaefer
Boston Herald Entertainment Reporter
Sara Lamm’s “Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox†is a breezy documentary on a true American eccentric.
Emil Bronner (1908-1997) was a German-Jewish emigre and self-anointed “doctor†who used his all-purpose liquid soap to spread his philosophy – a verbose plea plastered on every bottle to live the “Moral ABCs†of his “All-One-God-Faith.â€
Read the full review on the Boston Herald Site >>
Entertainment Weekly
 
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FilmWeek on AirTalk
FilmWeek
on AirTalk, 89.3 KPCC FM
Southern California Public Radio
>> Listen to the show with Real PlayerÂ
IndieWire interviews Sara Lamm
Ralph on Weekend America
Launch the second hour of the program in Real Player. To hear Ralph Bronner’s interview.
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