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DI KRAFT FUN LEBN Nathan Rabinowitz is a bookkeeper for a dress manufacturer, and in his spare time he dabbles at inventions. One day he is offered three-thousand dollars for one of his inventions, and promises to get back to the client the next day with an answer. However, when he learns that Sam, his daughter's fiancé, is going to jail for embezzling five hundred dollars from his bank, Nathan goes to Sam's father to ask him to put up the money, but the man refuses. Nathan argues that the power of life comes through finding happiness in one's children's lives, and that parents must not forget their obligations to their children. Mr. Shindler tells Nate that Sam has stolen from him before and mocks Nathan's faith in children. Complications ensue. — from frankfob2@yahoo.com via www.imdb.com
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Here is a film review from the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Daily Eagle of April 29, 1938: When the Yiddish theater sets itself to do a melodrama, it doesn't pull its punches. It will tear out your heart and tread on it. And the followers of the Jewish stage come, and come again, to weep and to go home satisfied. We know of the 2nd Avenue tearjerkers by reputation only. but yesterday, at the New Yorker Playhouse, an intimate little theater on 8th Avenue, near 36th St., we had a taste of Yiddish melodrama transposed from the 2nd Avenue floorboards to the more expansive settings of the 8th Avenue screen. It has convinced us beyond doubt that we do not like the maudlin touch of which we have heard. "The Power of Life," a Lynn production featuring Michal Michalesko, was the medium of our introduction. A story of the sacrifices of a man for his motherless family. It confirmed every impression that we had formed about the Yiddish stage. But the disciples of Molly Picon and Rumshinsky who were present at "Power's" world premiere, left the New Yorker bubbling tribute for the effectiveness of the film. We won't deny the point; Director Henry Lynn didn't miss a trick to keep his spectators in audible sobs. If you are partial to this field of drama, the New Yorker will give you more than your money's worth. For those who prefer their entertainment in more moderate measure, "Power of Life" is likely to be heavy and unimpressive. We were not convinced that two children, given benefits of education and simple luxury by a father who deprived himself of nearly every pleasure to deliver the goods -- who stooped to stealing &1,000 from his employer to keep his family happy -- could be so cruel as Mr. Lynn depicts them. Not even the performance of Michalesko, who is always superior to the rest of the cast and occasionally teaches commendable heights, could make us think better of his tearful tale. |
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