Directed by Lodz native Aleksander Ford and financed by the Jewish
Labor movement in Poland, Children Must Laugh is one of the few
surviving documentaries about Jewish life in Poland before WWII.
This institutional film was produced to raise
funds for the Vladimir Medem Sanitarium which, noted for its modern
and spacious facilities, stood as the embodiment of health and
enlightenment, in striking contrast to the grim images of urban
Polish-Jewish poverty.
The sanitarium's theme song, "Mir Kumen On
(Here We Come)," punctuates the film with a sense of hope and
accomplishment.
The Bund's optimistic internationalism,
exemplified by the children's endearing performances, permeates the
film, creating powerful yet unintended ironies for post-Holocaust
audiences.
---- The National Center for Jewish Film
MIR KUMEN ON
(CHILDREN MUST
LAUGH)
Directed by Aleksander Ford for
the Jewish Labor Bund
Writers: Jacob Pat & Wanda Wasilewska
Music: Henoch Kon
Filmed in the Medem Sanatorium, Miedzeszyn,
Wawer, Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland
1935
63 minutes, black & white
Here is a film clip from the movie:
The advertisement states:
"Today, Friday, 9:50 a.m. ... B. Charney
Vladeck and David Dubinsky presents for the first time in America,
the new, great Yiddish talkie, 'Children Must Laugh,' an important
dramatic document of current Jewish life in the European cities of
Poland, and as it stands for a new younger generation of Jewish
worker-children ...
Also an extra attraction for the first time a
huge dramatic portrayal of everything that the W.P.A. Projects have
created for the men, women and children of America...
WORK PAYS AMERICA in the Continental Theatre,
on Broadway and 52nd Street. 25 cents until 1 p.m."
