Uncle Moses (1932)

Directors:

Sidney M. Goldin
Aubrey Scotto

Writers:

Sholom Asch (play)
Maurice Schwartz (writer)

Plot:

Wealthy, powerful sweatshop owner falls in love with employee's teenage daughter, who feels obligated to marry him after he shares his wealth with her parents, though she actually loves a young Marxist unionizer.

Plot Keywords:

Yiddish | Jewish | Based On Play | Actor Shares First Name With Character | Character Name In Title

Cast

Maurice Schwartz	...	Moses
Judith Abarbanel	...	Mascha Melnick
Mark Schweid	...	Aaron Melnick
Sam Gertler	...	Sam, Moses' Nephew
Zvee Scooler	...	Charlie
Rebecca Weintraub	...	Gnendel
Rubin Goldberg	...	Moses' Father
Leon Seidenberg	...	Mannes
Michael Gibson	...	Moishe Gross
Wolf Goldfaden	...	Nachman
Abe Sinkoff	...	Zalmen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ben-Zion Katz	...	Schmiel Yossel
Jacob Mestel	...	Berel
Michael Rosenberg
Sally Schorr	...	Rosie
Shirley Zelany	...	Zierele [or Tsirl] Melnick

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Yiddish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Yiddish Talking Pictures Inc.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998) (TV)

An Addition to the First Review

The previous review has given an insightful and succinct summary of the plot.It's nice to see the great Schwartz develop his character.A hard,although not monstrous man,starts to show his softer,better and gentler nature.And,he becomes hurt,and behave reasonably.He's not just a stereotype and/or caricature of a capitalist who exploits his workers.This shows that the scriptwriter was interested in showing something true to life,and not just a piece of propaganda.

Also interesting to see the role played by Svee Scooler.I'm so used to seeing him portray venerable characters in his later films,that I forgot that he,too,was once young.