The Younger Generation
About The Younger Generation
Morris Goldfish grows up on Delancey Street with his father Julius, a pushcart seller, his mother Tilda, and his sister Birdie, who loves the neighbor Eddie Lesser. Morris becomes an art dealer, moves the family to Fifth Avenue, and changes his name to Maurice Fish. He treats the family as a drag on his standing. By the end he has found that the money is not the whole of it.
Cast & crew
More about The Younger Generation
Frank Capra directed his first sound film, and Columbia's first part-talkie. Sonya Levien adapted Fannie Hurst's play It Is to Laugh, which opened in New York on December 26, 1927. Howard J. Green wrote dialogue. Jack Cohn produced. Four passages are lip-synchronized. The track is Western Electric sound-on-film, with a score and effects under the silent stretches. Filming began October 22, 1928. Wikipedia dates the release March 4, 1929. AFI allows March 4 or March 9. Copyright LP227, March 18, 1929.
Themes
Look
Ted Tetzlaff photographed it. Arthur Roberts edited.
Technique
Silent stretches with intertitles sit beside four talking scenes on a Western Electric track.
Music
Mischa Bakaleinikoff wrote the synchronized score.
Preservation
Prints survive, including a Turner Classic Movies copy timed at 84 minutes. A Commons transfer is online.
Notes
- Ricardo Cortez plays Morris. Jean Hersholt plays Julius. Lina Basquette plays Birdie. Rosa Rosanova plays Tilda. Rex Lease plays Eddie Lesser.
- Wikipedia times a Turner Classic Movies print at 84 minutes. AFI lists 75 or 95 minutes.
- The catalog overview says Park Avenue. Wikipedia's plot says Fifth Avenue.
Scenes
- Morris moves Julius, Tilda, and Birdie uptown and is embarrassed by them.
- He takes the name Maurice Fish.
Influenced by
- It Is to Laugh, the 1927 play by Fannie Hurst
