Mothers of Today (1939) DVD-R

Starring Esther Field, Max Rosenblatt, Gertrude Krause, Simon Wolf, Leon Seidenberg
Paul Page
Directed by Henry Lynn

Print: Black and White
Runtime: 93 min.
Genre: Drama
Subtitles: Yiddish with English subtitles

Mothers of Today includes the sole motion picture performance of radio star Esther Field,
who was well known on the airwaves of the 1930s as the 'Yiddishe Mama.' The
Where is My Child?, also directed by Lynn in 1939), shund offered one of the few
opportunities to play strong leading roles. In retrospect, Mothers of Today is an important cultural artifact expressing the anxieties of Jewish immigrant families faced
with the younger generation's increasing assimilation into mainstream American
society. Shund often dealt with the plight of the Jewish mother, recognizing the
important role women played in Jewish family life during the difficult period of
immigration. Such is the case with Mothers of Today, in which Field plays a mother
coping with her children's troubles resulting from their straying from Jewish tradition.
In one subplot, a cantor's son led astray by a woman of "questionable morality"
becomes involved with gangsters and ends up stealing the deed to his mother's store.
On March 14, 1939, Film Daily reviewed Mothers of Today as follows: "Heavy tragedy,
which seems to be an essential basis of all Yiddish dramas, is done to a turn in this new
film and it should please the dyed in the wool Yiddish fans. Produced on a small budget
with a hurried shooting schedule, the film has considerable merit. Cast members, with
the exception of the talented Esther Field, were recruited from the stage for their initial
appearance on the screen, and they give Miss Field adequate support. Henry Lynn
directs the film feelingly. The story deals with the tragedies which beset Miss Field as her children get in trouble."