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This Yiddish film was produced by
Joseph Seiden, with music by Sholom Secunda. It was released in the
U.S. on September 27, 1940. It was filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey,
USA.
The Cast:
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Max
Badin |
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Michel |
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Esther
Field |
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Chana |
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Izidor
Frankel |
... |
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Lazar
Freed |
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Mendel |
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Eddie
Friedlander |
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Danny |
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Rose
Greenfield |
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Mollie |
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Irving
Jacobson |
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David |
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Paula
Lubelska |
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Jennie |
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Herman
Rosen
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Mae
Schoenfeld |
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Shlumit |
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Muni
Serebroff |
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Morris |
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David
Yanover |
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Harele |
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The following film review was written by M.
Young for the Yiddish Forward newspaper, and it first appeared in
print on October 4, 1940. Here the English translation of the
review:
"Eli Eli" -- A
Yiddish Talkie About Relationships Between Parents and Their
Children
Esther Field, Lazar Freed and Muni Serebroff
in Main Roles
by M. Young
In the Yiddish talkie that is called, "Eli
Eli," the famous song when a "Jewish mother" becomes a threat when
she begins to sing, "Tell Me Why You Left Me" (Ale eli lama
ezbatani), but then there was a sad song about mothers. From the new
talkie, which is called "Eli Eli," we learn that parents do
everything for their children, but children for their parents --
that, alas and alack, it is necessary to receive assistance from
children!
This sad fact many people have known for a long
time, but the hero of the talkie, "Eli Eli," Mendel the farmer, and
his wife Chana, do not know it. So the sheriff comes and informs him
that he will take over the farm if he does not pay the mortgage, but
that does not frighten Mendel, even though he has no money. The foolish
farmer feels that his son the doctor in New York, for whom he sacrificed
so much, and his daughter in Philadelphia, for whom he sacrificed
less -- they, he assures himself, ... will pay the mortgage.
Understand that the children do not pay, and he loses the farm.
It is interesting to know what would have
happened to the two elderly people had there not been a law that children
must support their parents. Because according to the children's
words, they take in their parents only because the law forces them to.
And here comes the famous suffering of the
parents. The son, the doctor, and the daughter-in-law offends the
mother, and the daughter, the shrew, abuses the father. They have one
friend -- the old farmer Michel, their neighbor. Michel, who does
not have any children, is good to him. He has money, he has a farm
and no one throws his age at him.
Michel comes to his friend Mendel in
Philadelphia and leaves him fifty dollars. Soon Mendel takes five
dollars and sends it away to the old woman, that she should buy the
doctor a present for his birthday (fort a tate). This gives
the son the opportunity to evict his mother from his office with a
present, because he is embarrassed by her in front of his
patients. Then Mendel buys a "sweepstake ticket," and the daughter
wants to know where he got the money from, and he doesn't want to
say. However it would have been better if he had said yes.
The daughter has a boy; did his mother succeed?
The boy and the thief take the rent money and drive off with his
girl to Atlantic City for the weekend. Meanwhile, the ruthless
landlord comes for the rent, and the theft is discovered. Who is
suspected? The father (now it is clear why the good farmer Michel
has taken a trip to Philadelphia and left Mendele fifty dollars.)
Certainly the daughter would be able to sent her father to prison,
however, she nevertheless has a Jewish heart. She sends him away to
an old-age home. Meanwhile the mother becomes very ill, and the only
thing that can save her is that she should start living again as she
once did. Mendel runs off to his old friend Michel to buy the farm
back. It turns out that notwithstanding the fact that Michel did not
have any children to take care of him over the years, he
nevertheless died. But his death, like the death of all fine men,
was not in vain: he left all his possessions to his friend Mendel.
This scene ends with a "Father's Day" party
with the old folks at the farm. All the children came, bringing
presents and kissing their elder father. Everyone was happy, and the
mother sings a beautiful song that is called, "Respect Your Mother
and Father," and -- the dear son, the doctor, must give two-thousand
dollars by the end of the year, otherwise he will lose the house.
What do you think -- will the father give it? Surely he will give
it. And this, according to our understanding, is the moral of
history: a father can never be taught.
Lazar Feed plays the role of the father, the
farmer, who suffers so much. We must say that we already have seen
Freed's suffering a lot beautifully in especially good plays. He
somehow tries to create a character, but he has none of that, it
gives him little of that.
The mother is played by Esther Field, the
actress who is known as "The Yiddish Mother." All we can say about
her playing is that there are probably such mothers in life, but on
stage we are much better off.
Muni Serebroff plays the bad son, and Rose
Greenfield, the bad daughter, Paula Lubelska is the bad
daughter-in-law, and David Yanover -- the son-in-law, and Eddie
Friedlander plays the bad boy.
In short, there are a lot of bad people in "Eli
Eli." Not bad is Max Badin as Michel, the childless farmer. He says
that he is pious and does not eat before prayer, but he does not see
it.
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