''My Father's House'' ( he, בית אבי) is a 1947 British Mandatory Palestine-American drama film directed by Herbert Kline, with a script by Jewish-American novelist and journalist

Meyer Levin Meyer Levin (October 7, 1905 – July 9, 1981) was an American novelist. Perhaps best known for his work on the Leopold and Loeb case, Levin worked as a journalist (for the ''Chicago Daily News'' and, from 1933–1939, as an editor for ''Esquire ...

. Kline and Levin produced the film. The cinematography is by

Floyd Crosby Floyd Delafield Crosby, A.S.C. (December 12, 1899 – September 30, 1985) was an Academy Award-winning American cinematographer, descendant of the Van Rensselaer family, and father of musicians Ethan and David Crosby. Early life Crosby was ...

. Amy Kornish and Costel Safirman, Israeli Film – A Reference Guide, Praeger, 2003, p. 103-104. Meir Schnitzer, Israeli Cinema: Facts/ Plots/ Directors / Opinions, Kinneret Publishing House, 1994. p. 38. The film was an official selection of the 1950

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. One of the lead actors was the Israeli sculptor

Yitzhak Danziger Yitzhak Danziger ( he, יצחק דנציגר; 26 June 1916 – 11 July 1977) was an Israeli sculptor. He was one of the pioneer sculptors of the Canaanite Movement, and later joined the " Ofakim Hadashim" (New Horizons) group. Early life ...

, who was cast due to his exotic appearance. At the time, Ronnie Cohen, the lead actor, was nine years old. He had been born in Britain to a Zionist family and had immigrated to Israel when he was three. The director spent a few months looking for an English-speaking child until he found Cohen through the film's make-up artist, who was the hairdresser of Cohen's mother. The music is mainly composed of Hebrew folk songs and occasionally Maller-Kalikstein music; the music editor was Henry Brandt. The locations were all in Mandatory Palestine, and are now Israel:

Afikim Afikim () is an Israeli kibbutz affiliated with the Kibbutz Movement located in the Jordan Valley three kilometers from the Sea of Galilee. It is within the jurisdiction of the Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In it had a population of . Etym ...

Ginosar Ginosar ( he, גִּנּוֹסַר) is a kibbutz in the Plain of Ginosar on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Located north of Tiberias on Highway 90, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In it ha ...

Gvulot Gvulot ( he, גְּבוּלוֹת, ''lit.'' "Borders") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the north-western Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . Gvulot is located about 12 ...

Kfar Hittim Kfar Hittim ( he, כְּפַר חִטִּים) is a moshav shitufi in northern Israel. Located on a hill 3 km west of Tiberias, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lower Galilee Regional Council. It was Israel's first moshav shitufi,

, Kinneret,

Kiryat Anavim Kiryat Anavim ( he, קִרְיַת עֲנָבִים, ''lit.'' City of Grapes) is a kibbutz in the Judean Hills of Israel. It was the first kibbutz established in the Judean Hills. It is located west of Jerusalem, and falls under the jurisdiction o ...

Ma'ale HaHamisha Ma'ale HaHamisha ( he, מַעֲלֵה הַחֲמִישָּׁה, ''lit.'' Ascent of the Five) is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Judean hills just off the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway, It falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Re ...

Ma'abarot Ma'abarot ( he, מַעְבָּרוֹת) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. T ...

Nirim Nirim ( he, נִירִים, ''lit.'' Meadows) is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev in Israel. Located near the border with the Gaza Strip, about 7 kilometers east of Khan Yunis, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it ...

and

Ramat Rachel Ramat Rachel or Ramat Raḥel ( he, רָמַת רָחֵל, ''lit.'' Rachel's Heights) is a kibbutz located in central Israel. An enclave within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries and overlooking Bethlehem and Rachel's Tomb (for which the kibbutz is ...

. This is an English-speaking film because it was made for the American-Jewish audience. The budget was provided mainly from wealthy Jewish residents of Palestine and Americans, and the remainder from Zionist institutions. Daver, November 5, 194

Plot

David Halevy is a ten-year-old

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally accep ...

. He is separated from his father in Nazi-occupied Krakow. His father has told him that they will meet in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

. After the war, David

goes Goes () is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents. History Goes was founded in the 10th century on the edge of a creek: de Kort ...

to Palestine, hoping that he will meet his father there. On the ship he befriends Miryam, who lost her family in an

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

. David is taken to

Meir Shfeya Meir Shfeya ( he, מֵאִיר שְׁפֵיָה) is a youth village and agricultural boarding school in northern Israel. Located near Zikhron Ya'akov, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In it had a population of . ...

youth village A youth village ( he, כפר נוער, ''Kfar No'ar'') is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pion ...

, but he cannot adapt and makes a journey to find his father. After a long journey he is told that his parents were both murdered in the Holocaust.

Cast

* Avraham -

* David - Ronnie Cohen * Maccabee - Michael Cohen * Miriam - Irene Broza * Shmulik - Zalman Levioush * Shulamit - Israela Epstein * Waiter - Raphael Klatchkin * Yehuda Halevi - Yoseph Millo * Nahama - Miriam Laserson

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=tt0039644, title=My Father's House 1947 films Cinema of Mandatory Palestine Films shot in Palestine (region) 1947 drama films British black-and-white films British drama films 1940s English-language films Films directed by Herbert Kline 1940s British films