MOVIE REVIEWS

Review by CinemaSerf

Rudolph Schildkraut ("Pleznik") and his wife Louise Dresser ("Mama") arrive, nervously, as refugees to the United States. Their youngest child is a bit bleary eyed and they are concerned that they won't be allowed in... Luckily, the child smiles and next thing they have a home, he has a job and a neighbour with whom he can play his music with. On his son's eighteenth birthday, "Pleznik" is to meet "Judge Gresham" (Robert Edeson) to have his citizenship conferred upon him. To make him even more proud, that son "Eric" (Milton Holmes) enlists, though this naturally distresses his poor mother. The judge, meantime, is not without his detractors and a group of disgruntled criminals plan to assassinate him. They plant a bomb in his chambers - in a cake box left by "Pleznik" as a thank you. Next thing the jovial and hard working patriot is arrested, found guilty of attempted murder and incarcerated. "Mama" gets even worse news shortly afterwards from an army courier and despairs. Unexpectedly, the man who planted the bomb is also suffering. His guilt is tormenting him as he struggles to reconcile his conscience with the idea of an innocent man languishing in jail, unaware of his recent familial calamity. Can any good yet come from this tortuous scenario for the "Pleznik" family? Although the production is extremely basic and he lighting really need need some help, the efforts from the enthusiastic Schildkraut especially, but also from the sparingly seen but characterful Dresser and the increasingly maniacal Fritz Field contribute well to a sometimes quite touching story of the simplicity and decency of American dream becoming the American nightmare.