The Horse's Head

#468) Emigrants Landing at Ellis Island (1903)

OR “They’re Coming to America (Today!)”

Directed by Alfred C. Abadie

Class of 2019 

Ellis Island has a long history that a blog post like mine can only oversimplify. To learn more about Ellis Island, check out their official website!

The Plot: From the Edison film catalog:

“Shows a large open barge loaded with people of every nationality, who have just arrived from Europe, disembarking at Ellis Island, N.Y. A most interesting and typical scene.”

Why It Matters: The NFR gives an historical rundown of the film and Ellis Island, calling the film the first “to record the now-mythologized moment” of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island.

But Does It Really?: It’s always tough to justify the inclusion of yet another Edison actuality film on the NFR, but while other Edison films capture mundane moments like a sneeze, “Emigrants” is a rare glimpse at the Immigrant Boom of the early 1900s. In just two minutes of film we can witness more insight into an immigrants long struggle to get to America than we could by any other form of communication. A pass for “Ellis Island”, but mainly for what it represents rather than the film itself.

Everybody Gets One: Alfred C. Abadie was a cameraman for Thomas Edison c. 1898-1904. Although “Emigrants” was filmed stateside, the bulk of Abadie’s 1903 work for Edison was filmed abroad (allegedly because Edison wanted to beat the Lumière Brothers at their own game). Abadie appears on-camera as a sheriff in “The Great Train Robbery“, filmed in part at the Edison Studio in New York, and directed by Edwin S. Porter, who also got his start as one of Edison’s cameramen.

Wow, That’s Dated: Like many films of the early 1900s, “Ellis Island” documents that hats were seemingly required for all public appearances: men with their bowlers, women with their Edwardian garden hats.

Other notes 

• First off, shout out to the indigenous Lenape people, whose land Ellis Island currently sits on.
• Ellis Island changed hands a few times before becoming an immigration station. After being run by the Dutch during the 1600s, Little Oyster Island (as it was then known) was purchased by local merchant Samuel Ellis in 1774. After his passing, the island became a military base, being used by the US Army and Navy in the War of 1812 and the Civil War (among others). After the Civil War the magazines and other firearms were slowly dismantled, and the island was eventually controlled by the US Department of Treasury. In response to a call for a national immigration policy, Ellis Island was chosen to host a central immigration station (something that had been previously attempted in 1847). Ellis Island opened to immigrants in 1892 and in its prime took in as many as 4000 immigrants a day.
• According to the Library of Congress and Edison’s records, “Ellis Island” was filmed on July 9th, 1903, and copyrighted two weeks later on July 24th. Most historians place the first public screening sometime that August.
• Immediately following what you see in this film, the immigrants would then line up in the main building for further inspection. Each person would be inspected by multiple officials for any obvious physical impairment (At this point they would have already gone through two medical inspections: One in their home country before departure, and another on the boat immediately after docking.) After that, each person would be subjected to hours of basic questioning. If they passed the questioning, they were given a signed affidavit and free to enter America.
• Anyone who did not pass the physical or medical examinations would be quarantined in the island’s hospital, detained, or even deported. Roughly 1% of all immigrants at Ellis Island were deported.
• It should also be pointed out that Ellis Island officials considered such characteristics as homosexuality to be “moral defects” that qualified for automatic deportation. This common occurrence makes America guilty of the same eugenic practices we would one day condemn the Nazis for.
• Sometimes while researching these films I stumble upon information that completely contradicts what I thought I knew about a subject. In this case: the myth that officials at Ellis Island would Americanize the last name of immigrants as they arrived. Turns out no officials did that; they were fluent in a multitude of languages and documented their names accurately, even correcting any spelling errors that had fallen through the cracks. Most immigrants Americanized their own names after the fact to help assimilate.

Legacy 

• Ellis Island continued to be the epicenter for immigrant activity in the United States for the next 20 years, until the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 sharply decreased the number of immigrants allowed in the country (turns out we’ve always had a problem with that). After that, Ellis Island became more of a detention center before finally closing in 1954. In 1965 the island was declared a national monument and reopened in 1976 as a museum dedicated to its former life.
• After working for Edison, Alfred Abadie became a freelance filmmaker. His most notable post-Edison film is the 1917 educational short “Birth”, allegedly the first film to document an actual birth. God help me if that ever makes the NFR.
• I actually visited Ellis Island in 2011 on my first trip to New York. Ironically, Ellis Island had an exhibit on Alcatraz at the time, so I flew across the country to learn about an island six miles from my house. Here I am in my younger, skinnier, tanner days using a jail cell as a fun photo op.

#467) Eve’s Bayou (1997)

OR “Second Sight Unseen”

Directed & Written by Kasi Lemmons

Class of 2018

The Plot: In a Creole neighborhood in 1960s Louisiana, the seemingly perfect Batiste family falls apart through the eyes of middle child Eve (Jurnee Smollett). One night at a party, Eve witnesses her father, respected doctor Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), having an affair. Older daughter Cisely (Meagan Good) convinces her she didn’t see it, but Eve continues to pick up on her father’s extra-marital affairs throughout the summer. As this revelation becomes more apparent, Eve’s steadfast mother Roz (Lynn Whitfield) takes solace in the psychic counseling of Louis’ sister Mozelle (Debbi Morgan). When Eve learns of a tense interaction between Louis and Cisely, she consults with town fortune teller Elzora (Diahann Carroll) about using voodoo to kill her father. Director Kasi Lemmons highlights the frailty of memory and perception in her feature film debut.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film “one of the indie surprises of the 1990s”, and singles out the “standout cast” – especially the “remarkable” Jurnee Smollett.

But Does It Really?: As the rest of this post will reiterate, I was blown away by “Eve’s Bayou”. The film infuses the standard “coming-of-age” drama with a memory play that helps it stand out amongst other indie films of the era. Kasi Lemmons confidently tells her story with a top-notch ensemble led by Jurnee Smollett. In a time when we as a nation are making a conscious effort to make more Black voices heard, I cannot recommend “Eve’s Bayou” enough, not just as a great movie by an African-American woman, but a great movie, period.

Everybody Gets One: Kasi Lemmons started acting at a young age, but always knew that she wanted to direct. Her acting career is highlighted by her work as Clarice’s roommate/fellow FBI trainee Ardelia Mapp in “The Silence of the Lambs“. “Eve’s Bayou” was Lemmons’ first screenplay, and her first feature-length film as a director. To prove to skeptic studios that she could direct a movie, Lemmons took a section of the screenplay, and filmed it as the short “Dr. Hugo”.

Wow, That’s Dated: The film’s only real giveaway is the opening logo for long-gone distribution company Trimark Pictures.

Seriously, Oscars?: “Eve’s Bayou” was a critical darling, and went on to become the highest-grossing independent film of 1997. Despite being nominated for (and winning) several key precursor awards,”Eve’s Bayou” received zero Oscar nominations. The film’s biggest wins were at the Independent Spirit Awards: Best First Feature and Best Supporting Female for Debbi Morgan.

Other notes 

• According to Kasi Lemmons it took “two years and…about a hundred meetings” to get any studio to fund “Eve’s Bayou”. The film finally got a break at Trimark Pictures, then known for such direct-to-video horror films as “Leprechaun”, looking to branch out into art films. Production took so long to commence that Lemmons’ first choice for Eve, Meagan Good, aged out of the role. Good was given the part of older sister Cisely, and Jurnee Smollett was a last minute replacement.
• There truly isn’t a weak link in the entire ensemble. Rare is the 10-year-old that can hold a movie, but Jurnee Smollett is simply perfect. She successfully balances the innocence and naïveté of being ten with the dramatic weight the part calls for. I also enjoyed the work of Samuel L. Jackson, still riding high off his post-“Pulp Fiction” success, just before he became a blockbuster action star. His Louis is a man who has relied on his charm to overcompensate for his flaws, and that charm is starting to run out for him.

• But perhaps most perfectly cast is Lynn Whitfield, who is of Creole descent and was raised in Louisiana during this film’s time period: she has known this character literally her entire life. Side note: Is there any woman – then and now – as stunningly beautiful as Lynn Whitfield? No, there is not.

• Jurnee Smollett’s real-life brother Jake plays Eve’s younger brother Poe. If the Smollett name sounds familiar, you’re thinking of their older brother Jussie, “Empire” actor and recent newsmaker.
• I feel it’s important to point out the film’s depiction of race. While the entire cast (including extras) were Black or African-American, the race of these characters is only mentioned once in passing. If a white director was making this, the racial aspects/racism of the era would pervade the entire film. Kasi Lemmons wisely showcases a diverse Black community, while simultaneously focusing on the family and these characters over their race or ethnicity.
• Once we get to some of the more psychic/supernatural aspects of the movie, this whole plot could have gone off the rails, but everyone downplays it so naturally, it works. Lemmons et al achieve a very difficult balancing act.
• At one point the kids are stuck in the house for weeks at a time, forbidden to go outside. I’m in Month Three of quarantine right now; this may be the most relatable part of the movie.
• When Mozelle recalls how her last husband was killed, the film leans more into Tennessee Williams territory, shrewdly staging the events through a mirror without resorting to flashbacks or special effects.

• It should be no surprise that Vondie Curtis-Hall is cast as the handsome, charming, all-too perfect man who sweeps Mozelle off her feet: he’s Kasi Lemmons’ real-life husband.
• Speaking of Mozelle, Debbi Morgan is your MVP, and her monologue about whether or not life has a point is a standout.
• Rounding out this fine ensemble is the late great Diahann Carroll. Probably best remembered now for her early musical career and her later work on the soap opera “Dynasty”, Carroll is wonderfully low-key in a role that could easily become campy. She’s so good in this I won’t even mention her work in “The Star Wars Holiday Special”. …wait.

• Surprisingly, there’s a section of the end credits devoted to a special effects team and computer animators. Turns out there was an entire character cut from the movie: Uncle Tommy, a deaf-mute family member who lives in the Batiste household, and apparently witnessed one of the film’s key events. The studio investors requested his subplot be removed, and Uncle Tommy was digitally erased from the remaining background shots. While Lemmons was satisfied with the final cut, she did restore Uncle Tommy for her director’s cut in 2016.

Legacy 

• Critics loved “Eve’s Bayou”, but it was Roger Ebert who put this film on the map by writing a four-star review, and naming it the #1 movie of 1997 on his TV show. As Kasi Lemmons stated years later, “Roger made my career”. She even has the original review framed in her home.

• Kasi Lemmons only has a few directing/screenwriting credits to her name, the most recent being “Harriet”, the long-gestating Harriet Tubman biopic starring Cynthia Erivo, and the first of Lemmons’ movies to earn an Oscar nomination. When not making films, Lemmons teaches at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

#466) Spartacus (1960)

OR “Gladiator Salvation”

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Written by Dalton Trumbo…wait he’s actually credited? Oh, well then…

Written by Dalton Trumbo. Based on the novel by Howard Fast.

Class of 2017

NOTE: The only widely available version of “Spartacus” is the 1991 restoration by Robert Harris, which reinstates sequences cut after the film’s premiere, as well as some of Kubrick’s more epic battles scenes cut after previews.

The Plot: It’s the 1st Century BC, and Rome has become a collapsing empire in danger of becoming a dictatorship (sound familiar?). A slave named Spartacus (Kirk Douglas) is recruited by Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov) to train as a gladiator and eventually be sold to the Roman elite. After a fight staged for visiting Roman Senator Marcus Crassus (Laurence Olivier), Spartacus incites a riot and helps his fellow gladiators escape. With a growing army of former slaves, including servant girl Varinia (Jean Simmons) and Crassus’ slave Antoninus (Tony Curtis), Spartacus vows to end slavery and restore glory to the Roman Empire. Good luck with that.

Why It Matters: The NFR praises Kubrick’s “masterful direction”, as well as the film’s “sheer grandeur and remarkable cast”. The writeup also singles out the film’s efforts to end the Hollywood Blacklist of the ’50s by crediting blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.

But Does It Really?: “Spartacus” is definitely a classic, but not quite one of the untouchables of American films. “Spartacus” differentiates itself from the era’s religious epics (“Ben-Hur“, “The Ten Commandments“, etc.) by being more political and emphasizing character over spectacle. In addition to its talented cast, the storytelling skills of Stanley Kubrick and Dalton Trumbo help this film’s 200 minutes clip along better than most shorter films. Despite its current status as Kubrick’s outlier film, “Spartacus” is still worth a view, and deserves a spot on the NFR.

Everybody Gets One: Producer Edward Lewis spent most of the ’60s backing movies for Kirk Douglas and John Frankenheimer (and both for “Seven Days in May”). Lewis’ career continued into the ’80s, with Best Picture Oscar nominee “Missing” and Emmy winning miniseries “The Thorn Birds”. Also making their sole NFR appearance is prolific actor Jean Simmons, appearing in “Spartacus” the same year she starred in “Elmer Gantry” with Burt Lancaster.

Wow, That’s Dated: HD transfers of old movies are great, but they definitely let you know where the real location ends and the matte painting begins.

Seriously, Oscars?:  The biggest hit of 1960 (and Universal Pictures’ biggest hit to date), “Spartacus” received six Oscar nominations, and won four: Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Supporting Actor for Peter Ustinov. Despite winning the Golden Globe for Best Drama, “Spartacus” failed to receive a Best Picture nomination, one of the rare Globe winners to do so.

Other notes 

• Kirk Douglas is the first to admit that he optioned “Spartacus” out of spite for not getting the lead role in “Ben-Hur”. He bought the rights to the Fast novel, producing the film under his company Bryna Productions (named after his mother), and convinced Universal to back the film after signing on Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov.
• Douglas essentially tricked Olivier, Laughton, and Ustinov to join the film by showing each of them a different version of the script that emphasized their respective characters. The final script favored Olivier’s Crassus, which upset Laughton, who remained prickly and difficult throughout the shoot. Ustinov, an acclaimed playwright himself, volunteered to rewrite Laughton’s dialogue to his satisfaction.
• Anthony Mann was originally announced to direct, and filmed the opening sequences seen in the final film. Douglas, however, felt that Mann was intimidated by the scope of the film, and replaced him after two weeks of shooting with Stanley Kubrick, whom Douglas had worked with on “Paths of Glory“. “Spartacus” is notable for being the only film Kubrick ever made without complete creative control, which he vowed never to do again after his tense working relationship with Kirk Douglas on this film.
• Although Dalton Trumbo had been blacklisted since 1947, he continued penning screenplays under various pseudonyms and fronts (most notably “Roman Holiday“). Trumbo was brought in to replace author Howard Fast, and planned on using the alias “Sam Jackson”, but Kirk Douglas insisted that Trumbo receive the credit himself. This occurred the same year that Trumbo received on-screen credit for Otto Preminger’s “Exodus”, although it’s unclear which film made this groundbreaking decision first.
• Peter Ustinov is definitely this movie’s MVP. Sure, he’s the comic relief, but Batiatus gets the most complex characterization: he’s essentially middle management; authoritarian to his gladiators, cowardly towards his superiors.

• The first fight sequence between Kirk Douglas and Woody Strode is very impressive. The fight choreography brings out the characters, and it has a wonderful tension throughout, plus a surprise ending.

• Despite the backstage drama, Charles Laughton is a delight as Senator Gracchus. It’s nice to see that Laughton wasn’t completely disillusioned by his “Night of the Hunter” experience.
• No offense to John Gavin, but this is now the third NFR film that I’ve forgotten he’s in. And he’s playing Julius Caesar for god sakes! Et tu, “Spartacus”?
• The most infamous of the restored footage is a scene in which Crassus subtly seduces Antoninus while being given a bath. I could see how The Code wouldn’t be open to a discussion of “eating oysters” vs. “eating snails”. The scene’s original audio went missing, so Tony Curtis redubbed his own dialogue, while Anthony Hopkins filled in for the late Laurence Olivier. Hopkins’ spot-on impression of Larry bumps his NFR standing to 1^½.

• The battle sequences were filmed in Spain, Kubrick’s only win in his desire to shoot overseas (Universal wanted to prove they could make an epic without leaving Hollywood). The battle itself is an impressive undertaking, though the restored footage makes it all a bit more gruesome (Spartacus cuts a guy’s arm off! Is this where “Anchorman” got that from?).

• “Spartacus” is filled with allusions to the blacklist, the “I’m Spartacus” scene being a prime example. Watching a ragtag group of former slaves refuse to “name names” adds to the power of this iconic sequence. Side Note: I’m pretty sure that’s Paul Frees dubbing the soldier who announces Crassus’ offer.

• This is the second movie where Laurence Olivier chastises Jean Simmons for not loving him. The first was when Olivier played Hamlet to Simmons’ Ophelia. What a fun reunion this must have been.
• We have to wait until the end, but Kirk Douglas finally gets one of his famous clenched-teeth outbursts. This is preceded by a similar outburst from Olivier, apparently channeling Al Pacino.
• Fact: My Tony Curtis impression stems from his line “I love you, Spartacus”.
• Ultimately, Spartacus has the same message as “Hamilton”: Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?
• I’m confused: I thought this movie was about Agador Spartacus.

Legacy 

• As previously stated, Stanley Kubrick went on to only direct films in which he had total control over the production. His follow-up to “Spartacus” is the significantly less epic, but significantly more Kubrick “Lolita”. Although Kubrick distanced himself from “Spartacus” for the rest of his life, he did give the 1991 restoration his blessing and even gave a few directorial notes.

• “Spartacus” doesn’t get the parody treatment too often, but when it does, it always involves someone shouting “I’m Spartacus!”

• This film (along with “Exodus”) helped end the Hollywood Blacklist, and restored Dalton Trumbo’s career. And Hollywood never ostracized a creative type due to their political beliefs ever again…
• Shortly after my last post about a Kirk Douglas film, Douglas passed away at the age of 103. Looking back on his career in 2014, he considered “Spartacus” one of his best films.

#465) Suzanne Suzanne (1982)

Directed by Camille Billops & James V. Hatch

Class of 2016

Another rare NFR entry with no clips I can readily embed. Here’s an interview with Camille Billops & James V. Hatch.

The Plot: Artist Camille Billops turns the camera on her own family in her filmmaking debut “Suzanne Suzanne”. The Suzanne of the title is Billops’ niece Suzanne Browning, battling a heroin addiction following the death of her father, Brownie. Also interviewed are Suzanne’s mother Billie (Camille’s sister), and grandmother Alma (Camille and Billie’s mother). It is soon revealed that both Suzanne and Billie were victims of Brownie’s alcoholism and physical abuse. Billops and her husband James Hatch chronicle their family as they grapple with their problems head-on for the first time.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film a “cinematic drug intervention” that “captures the essence of a black middle-class family in crisis”. The film’s climactic moment is called “an intensely moving moment of truth”.

But Does It Really?: This one is definitely on the “culturally significant” side of the list. “Suzanne Suzanne” represents Camille Billops and James V. Hatch, two people who devoted their lives to preserving African-American culture and art. While their scholarly efforts were about preserving the past, their films were about preserving the present, showing Camille and her family confronting some very personal issues. Having now done my homework, I’m curious as to why “Suzanne Suzanne” made the cut over the team’s later, even more personal film “Finding Crista”. Regardless, “Suzanne Suzanne” perfectly encapsulates Billops and Hatch’s filmography, as well as their achievements in capturing the nuance of African-American life.

Everybody Gets One: By the late ’60s, Camille Billops was primarily known as a sculptor, with exhibitions of her ceramics in both New York and Germany.  In 1968, Billops met her future husband, UCLA theater Professor James Hatch, and the two started collaborating on collecting thousands of interviews and other documentation about African-American art and culture. Through encouragement from Hatch, Billops’ art pivoted from ceramics to plays, and eventually filmmaking. “Suzanne Suzanne” was their first film together.

Title Track: We have a title song! “Suzanne Suzanne” the song was composed by Billops’ daughter Christa Victoria (see “Legacy”), and sung by Victoria and Billops. Once again, I am surprised when a serious documentary or short has its own title song.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar love for “Suzanne Suzanne”, or Billops & Hatch. 1982’s Documentary Short Subject Oscar winner was “If You Love This Planet“, a controversial anti-nuclear weapons film.

Other notes 

• The film’s cinematographer is Dion Hatch, James’ son from a previous marriage.
• Right out the gate, this film grapples with its complex subject matter. Both Suzanne and Billie are relieved that Brownie is no longer controlling their lives, but at the same time Suzanne admits that he was a role model for her, highlighting the complex relationship that some people have with their parents.
• I cannot imagine how tough it must have been for this family to open up about any of these topics. Then again, I doubt any of them considered the possibility that this documentation would become part of a national film archive.
• We get a brief glimpse at Camille’s reflection in the bathroom mirror while she is interviewing her nephew Michael (Suzanne’s brother). She is sporting her trademark braids and necklaces. And while we’re on the subject, that is one hell of a mustache Michael is sprouting. It’s a cross between a handlebar and extended muttonchops.
• The rehab center Suzanne goes to (Tuum Est, Inc.) is in Venice Beach, CA. The building is still a rehab center, but is now called Phoenix House.
• The film’s highlight is Suzanne and Billie working out their respective trauma one-on-one during Suzanne’s rehabilitation. They ask each other questions while looking away from each other, and seeing both of their faces as each one of them has a breakthrough is a compelling viewing experience.

Legacy 

• Camille Billops and James Hatch made five more short films over the next 20 years, many of them centering around Billops and her family. Most notable of these is 1991’s “Finding Christa”, documenting Billops’ reunion with her daughter, whom she gave up for adoption in the early ’60s.

• I had difficulty tracking down any present day information about Suzanne Browning. Anyone know what happened to her?
• Billops died in June 2019 at the age of 85, with Hatch following in March 2020 at age 91. Their extensive collection of African-American interviews, plays, and manuscripts are available in the Camille Billops and James V. Hatch Archives at Emory University.

#464) Humoresque (1920)

OR “Fiddler Under the Roof”

Directed by Frank Borzage

Written by Frances Marion. Based on the short story by Fannie Hurst.

Class of 2015

The Plot: In the Lower East Side of turn-of-the-century New York, the Kantor family struggle to make ends meet. Nine-year-old Leon (Bobby Connelly) wants a violin for his birthday, and while father Abrahm (Dore Davidson) discourages the expensive gift, Mother (Vera Gordon) supports it, stating that God has finally answered her prayer of a having a musical prodigy in the family. Leon grows up (Gaston Glass) to become a successful violin player, performing concerts for the likes of the Royal Family. Despite his success, and the love of childhood friend Gina Berg (Alma Rubens), Leon opts to give it all up and serve his country during the Great War. This family drama will stop at nothing to tug at your heartstrings, pun definitely intended.

Why It Matters: The NFR gives a rundown of the film’s plot and historical significance, and praises director Borzage and actor Vera Gordon’s “riveting” performance.

But Does It Really?: I’m definitely on the fence about this one. On the one hand, “Humoresque” holds up quite well 100 years later, despite its tinges of melodrama. On the other hand, this film rarely gets mentioned among great American films, and has no notable legacy. “Humoresque” works best as a document of the kind of movies 1920 audiences enjoyed; stories of immigrants in America, and their dream for their children to live better lives. I know I give most movies a slight pass for NFR induction, but “Humoresque” is getting by on my slimmest margin yet.

Everybody Gets One: Vera Pogorelsky was a child actor in her native Russia, but anti-Semitism in the Russian theater community led to her emigrating to America. For over 40 years Vera Gordon divided her time between film and the theater, almost always playing the lead’s Jewish mother.

Wow, That’s Dated: I want to take a moment and acknowledge Mannie Kantor, Leon’s brother and possibly one of the first developmentally disabled characters in a movie. The film makes him a purely pitiable figure, calling him “a living dead thing…with a tiny baby’s mind”. It’s all quite antiquated and manipulative by today’s standards, but still worth noting.

Title Track: A humoresque is a genre of music known for its lightness (you’ve probably heard Antonin Dvořák’s rendition). In this film, “Humoresque” is the piece that Leon plays on several occasions, his mother comparing it to life: “Crying to hide its laughing, and laughing to hide its crying.”

Seriously, Oscars?: Obviously, this 1920 film was not eligible for an award still eight years away, but it’s worth noting that “Humoresque” won the first Photoplay Medal of Honor for Best Film of the Year. The Medal of Honor is generally considered the first major American movie award, and was handed out for almost 50 years.

Other notes 

• The producer of “Humoresque” is an uncredited William Randolph Hearst! That’s right, the real-life Citizen Kane (and his production company Cosmopolitan) was behind this, and it was allegedly Hearst himself who suggested giving the film a happy ending. This all begs the question: did Leon have a name for his violin? And did he cryptically utter it on his deathbed?
• Intertitles are always a fun source for ’20s phrases, as well as those whose meaning have changed over the years. Young Leon is first introduced “showing off his birthday suit”, which has a very different meaning these days.
• Adjusted for inflation, the $4 violin Leon wants would be over $100 today.
• The main thing I appreciate about this film is how many Jewish traditions and customs are observed throughout the film, including lighting a menorah for non-Hanukkah reasons, touching the mezuzah upon entering a room, and Leon’s performance of “Kol Nidre“. It’s a detailed look at Judaism that unfortunately got lost once the Production Code set in. Added bonus: the intertitles give us such Yiddish words as “ganef” (thief), “potch” (slap or smack), and “nebich” (a poor thing).
• Sure Vera Gordon is great in this, but she is every overbearing Jewish mother stereotype rolled into one. Kay Medford and Renée Taylor owe their careers to this woman.
• With its family of immigrants, its violinist main character, and its reverence of Jewish traditions, this plot is somewhere between “The Jazz Singer” and “Golden Boy”
• Wow, this audience is really clamoring for Leon to play “Humoresque”. It was the “Free Bird” of its day.
• The poem Leon recites before leaving his family is a paraphrase of “I Have a Rendezvous with Death” by poet Alan Seeger, who was killed while serving in the French Foreign Legion during WWI. You’re more familiar with his nephew, singer and anti-war activist Pete Seeger.
• The scene where Leon says goodbye to his family goes on forever. My (ultimately correct) suspicion that this was a short story padded out to a feature started here.
• This is all well and good, but is it really a great idea to make a silent movie about a musician? Especially when the climax of the movie involves him playing the violin?

Legacy 

• As the NFR write-up states, the success of “Humoresque” led to other studios making films about impoverished families in New York’s Lower East Side. They don’t list any specifically, but I’ll take their word for it.
• Director Frank Borzage would continue making films for 40 years, most notably 1927’s “7th Heaven“, for which he won the first Oscar for Best Director.
• “Humoresque” was remade in 1946, with some drastic departures. Joan Crawford is a married woman who falls for John Garfield’s violinist and almost wrecks his career. It ramps up the melodrama, and throws in some ’40s noir for fun.

• There was a study some years back that suggested there was a correlation between a film’s IMDb connections and its likelihood of making it into the NFR. “Humoresque” may be the exception that proves the rule with only two IMDb connections: the aforementioned remake, and the now-lost 1921 Marx Brothers short “Humor Risk”.
• Fannie Hurst would go on to write the novel “Imitation of Life”, which has not one, but two film versions in the National Film Registry. She is currently tied with Edgar Allan Poe and John Steinbeck for the author with the most film adaptations of their work in the NFR.