Henry Lynn
Encyclopedia
Henry Lynn was a film director
, screenwriter
, and producer
, who concentrated on Yiddish life and culture in the United States
, early twentieth century, (1932–1939), the era of Yiddish film in America. Lynn was an innovator in sound technology, frequently commissioned original music, and he used popular radio and opera stars Boris Thomashefsky
, Esther Field, and Seymour Rechzeit, as well as New York stage actors like Celia Adler
.
, then Russian Empire
, now in Poland
. Frustrated by difficulties of obtaining a public university education in Bialystok, he emigrated to America, arriving in Boston
in 1912. The quality of life for Jews in Bialystok had suffered greatly during and after the Pogrom
s of 1905 and 1906. Initially, he taught Hebrew in Boston and suburbs, Dorchester
, Lynn
, and Revere
. Soon he moved to New York City
where he taught Hebrew and Russian, then became a Yiddish film producer/director/writer, 1932-1939. During WWII Lynn created a business to manufacture plastic products for the war effort, and he was a news commentator on Yiddish Radio station, WEVD. Henry Lynn is survived by his daughter, Lila Lynn, who appeared as a child actress in his 1938 film, The Power of Life. Lynn's wife, Kitty Cooperman, also appeared in The Power of Life.
Lynn was an innovator, implementing Joseph Seiden's new sound technology in The Unfortunate Bride, his 1932 remake of silent film, Broken Hearts (1926). Lynn included Hebrew dubbing in Shir Hashirim by Tel Aviv exhibitor Ya'acov Davidon and produced some short films for theatrical shows. One example is, Papirossen by radio star Herman Yablokoff. This theatrical play was based on a current hit song, Papirosn. Lynn's short 15-minute film featured Sidney Lumet
, as an 11-year old cigarette vendor. The play and short film were booked into the Bronx McKinley Square Theatre in 1935. This was one of Henry Lynn's most unusual productions.
Henry Lynn and Joseph Green, a contemporary Yiddish actor and film producer/director, collaborated and distributed Bar Mitzvah (1935) in Europe, notably Poland, where it was playing in 1937 in Warsaw
with another film, Green Light with Errol Flynn
. Boris Thomashefsky
, a popular opera singer and actor at the time, was a co-producer and starred in the film. He sang in Lynn's film, as he had in the earlier 1924 play, Bar Mitzvah, a hit song, Erlekh Zayn (Be Virtuous).
During World War II
, apparently no Yiddish films were produced. It's known that none were made by New York producer/directors Lynn, Joseph Green, Joseph Seiden, or their contemporaries. However, there were Yiddish theatrical plays. For example, during WWII Green operated the Irving Place Theater as a movie house as well as a theater, and in 1944 he leased the Yiddish Art Theater on 2nd Avenue for two plays about the Warsaw Ghetto
, and We Will Live. Henry Lynn and Joseph Seiden suspended their film careers and became defense contractors to assist the war effort. Lynn founded a small plastic products manufacturing company to produce equipment for the Allies war efforts.
, actor and director, Sidney Lumet
, Celia Adler
, Morris Strassberg, Dora Weissman, actor/singer, Seymour Rechzeit, Michal Michalesko, and the popular radio star Esther Field. The production companies were Lynn Productions, Menorah, Empire Films, S & L Films, Sov-Am Films, Judea Films and Apex Films. Jack Stillman was the musical director of most of Lynn’s films, several of which had excellent original compositions by Joseph Rumshinsky
, Art Shryer, Ludwig Satz
, and William Mercur. Original composition was featured in Shir Hashirim, (Songs of Songs). Lynn made effective use of music to heighten the emotional drama of his films.
at Brandeis University
and the Museum of Modern Art
in New York City have copies of some of these films. DVD and VHS copies of Mothers of Today, Where is my Child and Bar Mitzvah are available from TCM, Brandeis, Ergo, and Israel-Store. The Intolerance of 1933 is available from Glenn Studio, EmGee Films, Reseda, California.
Shir Hashirim was reviewed in 1935 by The New York Times
:
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, who concentrated on Yiddish life and culture in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, early twentieth century, (1932–1939), the era of Yiddish film in America. Lynn was an innovator in sound technology, frequently commissioned original music, and he used popular radio and opera stars Boris Thomashefsky
Boris Thomashefsky
Boris Thomashefsky was a Ukrainian-born Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theatre; born in Tarashcha , a shtetl near Kiev, Ukraine, he emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12 in 1881...
, Esther Field, and Seymour Rechzeit, as well as New York stage actors like Celia Adler
Celia Adler
Celia Feinman Adler was an American Jewish actress, known as the "First Lady of the Yiddish Theatre"....
.
Biography
Henry Lynn was born in the region of BialystokBialystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Located on the Podlaskie Plain on the banks of the Biała River, Białystok ranks second in terms of population density, eleventh in population, and thirteenth in area, of the cities of Poland...
, then Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, now in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Frustrated by difficulties of obtaining a public university education in Bialystok, he emigrated to America, arriving in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in 1912. The quality of life for Jews in Bialystok had suffered greatly during and after the Pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s of 1905 and 1906. Initially, he taught Hebrew in Boston and suburbs, Dorchester
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
, Lynn
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
, and Revere
Revere, Massachusetts
Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and located approximately from downtown Boston. It is named after the American patriot Paul Revere. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 51,755.- History :...
. Soon he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he taught Hebrew and Russian, then became a Yiddish film producer/director/writer, 1932-1939. During WWII Lynn created a business to manufacture plastic products for the war effort, and he was a news commentator on Yiddish Radio station, WEVD. Henry Lynn is survived by his daughter, Lila Lynn, who appeared as a child actress in his 1938 film, The Power of Life. Lynn's wife, Kitty Cooperman, also appeared in The Power of Life.
Career
From 1932 to 1939, Lynn was writer and/or producer/director of at least 10 Yiddish films, emphasizing family life and traditional values. He directed 9 Yiddish films. The first two: The Intolerance of 1933 (1933), and The Youth of Russia (1934), are documentaries and contain rare footage of historical events, e.g., labor union marches in New York City in the early 1930s.Lynn was an innovator, implementing Joseph Seiden's new sound technology in The Unfortunate Bride, his 1932 remake of silent film, Broken Hearts (1926). Lynn included Hebrew dubbing in Shir Hashirim by Tel Aviv exhibitor Ya'acov Davidon and produced some short films for theatrical shows. One example is, Papirossen by radio star Herman Yablokoff. This theatrical play was based on a current hit song, Papirosn. Lynn's short 15-minute film featured Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, as an 11-year old cigarette vendor. The play and short film were booked into the Bronx McKinley Square Theatre in 1935. This was one of Henry Lynn's most unusual productions.
Henry Lynn and Joseph Green, a contemporary Yiddish actor and film producer/director, collaborated and distributed Bar Mitzvah (1935) in Europe, notably Poland, where it was playing in 1937 in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
with another film, Green Light with Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
. Boris Thomashefsky
Boris Thomashefsky
Boris Thomashefsky was a Ukrainian-born Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theatre; born in Tarashcha , a shtetl near Kiev, Ukraine, he emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12 in 1881...
, a popular opera singer and actor at the time, was a co-producer and starred in the film. He sang in Lynn's film, as he had in the earlier 1924 play, Bar Mitzvah, a hit song, Erlekh Zayn (Be Virtuous).
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, apparently no Yiddish films were produced. It's known that none were made by New York producer/directors Lynn, Joseph Green, Joseph Seiden, or their contemporaries. However, there were Yiddish theatrical plays. For example, during WWII Green operated the Irving Place Theater as a movie house as well as a theater, and in 1944 he leased the Yiddish Art Theater on 2nd Avenue for two plays about the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
, and We Will Live. Henry Lynn and Joseph Seiden suspended their film careers and became defense contractors to assist the war effort. Lynn founded a small plastic products manufacturing company to produce equipment for the Allies war efforts.
Filmography
- Mothers of Today (1939) (aka Hayntige Mames)
- A People Eternal (1939)
- The Power of Life (1938) (aka Die Kraft von Leben)
- Where Is My Child? (1937) (aka Vu iz mayn Kind? (Yiddish title) or Wo ist mein Kind? (German title))
- The Holy Oath (1937) (aka Di Heylige Shvue)
- Shir Hashirim (1935) (aka Farbotene Liebe or Forbidden Love or Song of Songs or Verbotene Liebe (reissue title)
- Bar-Mitzvah (1935)
- The Youth of Russia (1934) (aka The Yiddish Father or Der Yiddisher Vater or Der Yidisher Foter)
- The Intolerance of 1933 (1933) Semi-documentary, owned by Emgee Films, Reseda, California
- The Unfortunate Bride (1932) (aka Die Ungluckliche Kale)
Casting
Many of Lynn's films used popular Yiddish theatre actors of the era: opera singer/actor, Boris ThomashefskyBoris Thomashefsky
Boris Thomashefsky was a Ukrainian-born Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theatre; born in Tarashcha , a shtetl near Kiev, Ukraine, he emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12 in 1881...
, actor and director, Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, Celia Adler
Celia Adler
Celia Feinman Adler was an American Jewish actress, known as the "First Lady of the Yiddish Theatre"....
, Morris Strassberg, Dora Weissman, actor/singer, Seymour Rechzeit, Michal Michalesko, and the popular radio star Esther Field. The production companies were Lynn Productions, Menorah, Empire Films, S & L Films, Sov-Am Films, Judea Films and Apex Films. Jack Stillman was the musical director of most of Lynn’s films, several of which had excellent original compositions by Joseph Rumshinsky
Joseph Rumshinsky
Joseph Rumshinsky , Jewish composer born near Vilna in Lithuania . Rumshinsky - with Sholom Secunda, Alexander Olshanetsky, and Abraham Ellstein - is considered one of the "big four" of American Yiddish theater....
, Art Shryer, Ludwig Satz
Ludwig Satz
Ludwig Satz was an actor in Yiddish theater and film, best known for his comic roles. A 1925 New York Times article singles him out as the greatest Yiddish comic actor of the time....
, and William Mercur. Original composition was featured in Shir Hashirim, (Songs of Songs). Lynn made effective use of music to heighten the emotional drama of his films.
Availability
The National Center for Jewish FilmNational 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...
at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
and the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York City have copies of some of these films. DVD and VHS copies of Mothers of Today, Where is my Child and Bar Mitzvah are available from TCM, Brandeis, Ergo, and Israel-Store. The Intolerance of 1933 is available from Glenn Studio, EmGee Films, Reseda, California.
Critical appraisal
Mothers of Today was reviewed in 1939 by Film Daily:Heavy tragedy, which seems to be an essential basis of all Yiddish dramas, is done to a turn in this new film and it should please the dyed-in-the-wool Yiddish fans. [...], the film has considerable merit. Cast members, with the exception of the talented Esther Field, were recruited from the stage for their initial appearance on the screen, and they give Miss Field adequate support. Henry Lynn directs the film feelingly.
Shir Hashirim was reviewed in 1935 by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
:
At the Acme Theatre.
H. T. S.
Published: October 11, 1935
Just for a change the Little Acme Theatre on Union Square is running a home-made Yiddish talking and singing film instead of an importation from the Soviet Union.
Carrying the rather imposing name "Shir Hashirim" (Song of Songs) and done by popular East Side actors, headed by Samuel Goldenberg (who has appeared in English shows on Broadway), the picture belongs to the highly sentimental mixture of tragedy and comedy which still has an appeal for some seekers of entertainment. With due allowance for circumstances, it must be admitted that Mr. Goldenberg is effective as the middle-aged composer striving to resist the charms of a designing young female (Merele Gruber) who furnishes the inspiration for his new opera "Shir Hashirim." Dora Weissman is competent as his faithful, forgiving wife. The younger actors lend efficient support. The honors for intended humor go to Messrs. Dubinsky and Wendorff as the twin grandfathers.
. . . the spoken dialogue is accompanied by English titles.
SHIR HASHIRIM, a dialogue film in Yiddish, with Samuel Goldenberg, Dora Weissman, Max Kletter, Merele Gruber, Seymour Rechtzeit, Yudel Dubinsky and Ruben Wendorff; music by Joseph RumshinskyJoseph RumshinskyJoseph Rumshinsky , Jewish composer born near Vilna in Lithuania . Rumshinsky - with Sholom Secunda, Alexander Olshanetsky, and Abraham Ellstein - is considered one of the "big four" of American Yiddish theater....
; directed and produced by Henry Lynn.