My Son (1939) DVD-R

Starring Fania Rubina, Gustav Berger, Jerry Rosenberg, Herman Rosen, Harry Feld
Paul Page
Directed by Joseph Seiden

Print: Black and White
Runtime: 90 min.
Genre: Drama
Subtitles: Yiddish with English subtitles

This dramatic tale of immigrant hardship highlights some of the traumatic problems of
the immigrant experience, including alcoholism, separation and poverty. The child star,
Jerry Rosenberg (Ross) gives a memorable performance as the son Benny and the film
introduces two European stars Fannina Rubina and Gustav Berger. The plot centers on
the story of a stage couple that develops marital problems due to the demands of the
theatre. The husband, whose career is failing, insists that the wife stay home to tend
their young son. The subplot focuses on the plight of a woman who chooses her career
over family obligations. Set in New York in the 1930's, the film contains some
interesting street shots of the Lower East Side and a marvelous scene in the Bialystoker
Old Folks Home. One of the best Second Avenue Yiddish theatre domestic melodramas
produced in New York City just prior to World War II, the film provides a wonderful
example of the sentimental dramas created to entertain and educate the immigrant
community. According to the documentation of the film, the Ohio Censorship Board
demanded that one scene be eliminated in which the character Lebka says, "I should go
to work for whom? For Morgan? For Rockerfeller, for Henry Ford? If the capitalists will
go to work, then I will work. They don't have to work, they have plenty of money." The
National Center for Jewish Film owns the original nitrate negative and all the rights and
copyrights to the property. This film, together with pieces of 30 feature film titles was
acquired in 1976 from the family of Joseph Seiden.