[4] The Laemmle family shared a large New York City apartment located at 465 West End Avenue before moving to Los Angeles, California.

During his tenure as head of production, beginning in 1928 in the early years of talkie movies, the studio had great success with films such as All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Dracula (1931), Waterloo Bridge (1931), Frankenstein (1931), East of Borneo (1931), A House Divided (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Imitation of Life (1934), and Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Laemmle (often referred to as "Junior") developed a reputation during this period for spending too much money on films that did not earn back their cost.

By the end of 1935, Universal Studio had spent so much money, and had so many flops, that J. Cheever Cowdin offered to buy the Laemmles out.

The notable success, both financially and critically, of the 1936 film Show Boat, was not enough to stem the downslide, and father and son were both forced out of the company.