The plot line of immigrant children rejecting their culture to try to get ahead in the "new world" was quite common in the early 30s ("Unashamed" (1932), "Forgotten" (1933)) but almost disappeared with the introduction of the production code. Movie moguls (most of whom were Jewish) wanted to prove that they were "loyal Americans" and to squash what they felt was Jewish clannishness. Even Ricardo Cortez wasn't really Ricardo Cortez but Jacob Kranz, son of a New York Jewish butcher. He had been discovered for movies in the mid 1920s and given a more romantic sounding name in a bid to be a successor to Rudolph Valentino. This particular film plot sounds suspiciously like Universal's "His People" of 1925, complete with a scene in which the upwardly mobile lawyer son denies his parents at a party!!
Morris is the light of his mother's life but he is also a little tyrant and when Eddie (Leon Janney) sees him bullying his sister, Birdie, he crawls across from his tenement and they have a fight, which causes a fire. This results in their flat being guttered but resourceful Morris declares that with the items he saved they can now have a fire sale. Mama is proud but Papa (Jean Hersholt) philosopically declares that money can't but happiness.
As the years go by, thanks to Morris's shrewdness, the family fortunes rise from second hand dealers to a 5th Avenue antique store - although Papa can't forget the happiness of those "street corner days" with himself and his old cronies. Wealth has not made him happy, even the butler doesn't laugh at his jokes. Birdie feels the same and has carried on her friendship with Eddie (Rex Lease).
A "talkie sequence" follows, when Morris (Ricardo Cortez) says he has changed his name from Goldfish to Fish. "Goldfish is dead - long live Mr. Fish"!! Birdie declares. There is also a confrontation between Morris and Eddie when he comes to call. This sequence shows that all the leads had nothing to fear from the "talkies" - all of them spoke clearly but it did slow the film down somewhat. Eddie is desperate to get some money to marry Birdie and falls in, unknowingly, with a gang of crooks who want him to plug songs in front of a jewellers - while they rob it!!! With all this happening, Morris feels he has been disgraced socially - yes, it's all about him!! and he throws Birdie out - unbeknownst to Papa, who spends the next two years in a depressed state. Morris sees to it that he receives none of Birdie's desperate letters.
Even though Eddie is in jail, things are looking up. Birdie, who now has a baby boy, has sold one of Eddie's songs for $1,000!! After denying his parents (in a very poignant part, when they come home from celebrating becoming grandparents, he purposely mistakes them for servants) you know it is not going to end happily for Morris. At the end, even Morris's biggest champion, Mama, knows she will be happier living with Birdie and Eddie who, even though they have come up in the world, have never forgotten who they are - maybe Morris, who sits empty and alone, huddling in one of mama's blankets, may soon remember as well.
Lina Basquette was just terrific in this movie, as was Jean Hersholt. I found her a lot more believable in this one than "The Godless Girl". She was one star who really improved with talking pictures. 1929 should have been her year as she was in two very fine films but "The Godless Girl", even though a Cecil B. DeMille production was a silent and "The Younger Generation" was a silent with talking sequences. Very unusual in 1929 when silent movies were almost a thing of the past.
Morris is the light of his mother's life but he is also a little tyrant and when Eddie (Leon Janney) sees him bullying his sister, Birdie, he crawls across from his tenement and they have a fight, which causes a fire. This results in their flat being guttered but resourceful Morris declares that with the items he saved they can now have a fire sale. Mama is proud but Papa (Jean Hersholt) philosopically declares that money can't but happiness.
As the years go by, thanks to Morris's shrewdness, the family fortunes rise from second hand dealers to a 5th Avenue antique store - although Papa can't forget the happiness of those "street corner days" with himself and his old cronies. Wealth has not made him happy, even the butler doesn't laugh at his jokes. Birdie feels the same and has carried on her friendship with Eddie (Rex Lease).
A "talkie sequence" follows, when Morris (Ricardo Cortez) says he has changed his name from Goldfish to Fish. "Goldfish is dead - long live Mr. Fish"!! Birdie declares. There is also a confrontation between Morris and Eddie when he comes to call. This sequence shows that all the leads had nothing to fear from the "talkies" - all of them spoke clearly but it did slow the film down somewhat. Eddie is desperate to get some money to marry Birdie and falls in, unknowingly, with a gang of crooks who want him to plug songs in front of a jewellers - while they rob it!!! With all this happening, Morris feels he has been disgraced socially - yes, it's all about him!! and he throws Birdie out - unbeknownst to Papa, who spends the next two years in a depressed state. Morris sees to it that he receives none of Birdie's desperate letters.
Even though Eddie is in jail, things are looking up. Birdie, who now has a baby boy, has sold one of Eddie's songs for $1,000!! After denying his parents (in a very poignant part, when they come home from celebrating becoming grandparents, he purposely mistakes them for servants) you know it is not going to end happily for Morris. At the end, even Morris's biggest champion, Mama, knows she will be happier living with Birdie and Eddie who, even though they have come up in the world, have never forgotten who they are - maybe Morris, who sits empty and alone, huddling in one of mama's blankets, may soon remember as well.
Lina Basquette was just terrific in this movie, as was Jean Hersholt. I found her a lot more believable in this one than "The Godless Girl". She was one star who really improved with talking pictures. 1929 should have been her year as she was in two very fine films but "The Godless Girl", even though a Cecil B. DeMille production was a silent and "The Younger Generation" was a silent with talking sequences. Very unusual in 1929 when silent movies were almost a thing of the past.