''Hungry Hearts'' (1922) is an American film based on stories by

Anzia Yezierska Anzia Yezierska (October 29, 1880 – November 20, 1970) was a Jewish-American novelist born in Mały Płock, Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire. She emigrated as a child with her parents to the United States and lived in the ...

about

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrants to the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The film was directed by E. Mason Hopper, produced by

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...

, and starred

Helen Ferguson Helen Ferguson (July 23, 1901 – March 14, 1977) was an American actress later turned publicist. Biography Born in Decatur, Illinois, in 1901, Ferguson graduated from Nicholas High School of Chicago and the Academy of Fine Arts. Ferguson wa ...

and E. Alyn Warren.

Plot

As described in a film publication, the Levin family escapes from Europe and finds refuge in New York City, where everyone in the family must work. Sara (Ferguson) finds janitor work and meets David (Washburn), nephew of their landlord Rosenblatt (George Siegmann). David falls in love with Sara and teaches her to read and write. He looks forward to when he can open a law office, be free of his uncle, and marry the girl. The uncle intervenes and parts the lovers, and then raises the rent of the Levin family without mercy. The stress causes Sara's mother to become temporarily insane and damage the walls of the apartment, and Rosenblatt takes them to court. Young lawyer David defends the family against his uncle, and the lovers are reunited while the family moves to the suburbs.

Print survival

*The film survives at BFI National Film Archives and the Academy Film Archive.

Restoration

In October 2009, at the Spanish Synagogue in Prague, Berg Orchestra premiered Jan Dušek's incidental music for ''Hungry Hearts''.Hopper, E. M.
''Hungry Hearts''
(1922), featuring a live recording of the premiere of Jan Dušek's incidental music, Berg Orchestra website. In July 2010, the

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is the oldest Jewish film festival in the world, and currently the largest with a 2016 attendance figure of 40,000 at screenings in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, San Rafael, and Palo Alto. The three-week summe ...

presented a restored print of the film, courtesy of the

National Center for Jewish Film The National Center for Jewish Film is a non-profit motion picture archive, distributor, and resource center. It houses the largest collection of Jewish-themed film and video outside of Israel. Its mission is to collect, restore, preserve, catalogu ...

, the

Samuel Goldwyn Company The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an American independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1978. Background The company originally distributed and acquired art-house films fro ...

, and the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

References

External links

* *
lantern slide

Clip of restored film
National Center for Jewish Film, on YouTube 1922 films 1922 drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films about Jews and Judaism Films directed by E. Mason Hopper Goldwyn Pictures films Silent American drama films Films based on works by Anzia Yezierska 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub