Joseph Seiden

Her Second Mother

A young woman tries to repay her adoptive parents' kindness by shielding their biological child, who has gotten involved with an embezzler, from the police.

Eli Eli

Mendel and Hannah Shapiro, an elderly Jewish couple who run a small farm in New Jersey, must get money to meet their mortgage payment to the bank by the next day to keep their farm. Mendel calls their children, Mollie, in Philadelphia, and Morris, in New York, to come right away. His neighbor Michel believes that most children do not properly care for their parents and insinuates that Mendel's children would not come to visit if they knew that their parents needed money. Mendel, however, assures Michel that children are the best investment one can make.

My son

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.

Love and Sacrifice

The tale of a middle-class matron who shoots the man who compromises her, Love and Sacrifice is a prime example of "shund," the melodramatic, theatrical, escapist entertainment of the Yiddish theater.