The Heart of New York

The biggest names in this one were the supporting actors -- Aline MacMahon was oscar nominated for Dragon Seed, always the down-trodden, poor woman, struggling to survive. Oscar Apfel was the sidekick in about every film in the 1930s and 1940s. The Marantz family lives in the jewish neighborhood down in the village, and times are tough! all the kids need new shoes and new clothes, and the dentist. so many expenses. but Pops (George Sydney) is an inventor with big big plans. all his bills are coming due, and his wife is constantly nagging him to pay the bills. lots of word play, as they all massacre the english language and spout spoonerisms. fast talking. the leads are listed as Shtrudel and Schnaps (Joe Smith, Charles Dale). They have a pretty good schtick going at the dinner table. apparently they were quite the Vaudeville team for YEARS ! according to wikipedia dot com, Neil Simon's Sunshine Boys is based on this duo. we see about half their comedy act in this film! Gotta give this one high marks, not for the script or the acting, but just for the chunk of history contained here. Directed by Mervyn Leroy. worked on some huge films.

A Jewish plumber finds that the invention which brings the wealth of which he has long dreamt also tears his family apart. A loud and noisy screen adaptation of a successful stage play which somehow entertains despite being filled with antiquated jokes and situations. The broad caricatures make it somewhat irrelevant, though, and the forgotten comedy team of Joe Smith and Charles Dale grow a little tiring

While this film may seem, at first glance, to be unremarkable, it does have several things going for it, the greatest of which are the Vaudeville comedy team of "Smith and Dale". Also it is true to the plot of much of Yiddish theater, (At least, what I have read of it.)in that the two children are "up-to-date" and not exactly respectful of their parents . . . Mom agonizes over their many trials, but in the end (Happy endings a must!) Dad triumphs, only to lose everything. But wait!!All is not lost! The fiancee that no one in the family likes (except poor Dad)comes to everyone's rescue. And, as before mentioned, throughout are Joe Smith and Charlie Dale in their prime--comic relief with a vengance!!

Back in the day, Smith and Dale were a very famous stage act. However, they never made it in films--mostly because their very, very ethnic humor had very limited appeal. It might have played well in New York and with Jewish audiences, but the rest of America most likely had no interest in heavily accented Jewish-American humor. In fact, I'm surprised Warner Brothers even made the film. Most of their film appearances were in Vitaphone shorts but here with "Heart of New York" they were in one of their few starring full-length movies.

So is any of this any good? Well, at least for me the answer is NO. Much of the problem is that the film (as shown on Turner Classic Movies) isn't captioned and understanding the heavy accents was difficult--especially since I am hard of hearing. Additionally, and much more important, is that most of the humor just isn't funny. This isn't to say Jewish humor couldn't be funny. After all, I love the films of Max Davidson and his humor was very, very Jewish...but it also relied much more on funny situations as opposed to hearing Smith and Dale butcher the English language (which gets old VERY fast).

The bottom line is that I am glad this film exists as it's one of the few that feature a bygone sort of borsht humor--but I really prefer them in smaller doses (like in their shorts).

"The Heart of New York" is an adaptation of a play and it shows. However, one scene that appears to stray outside the set is interesting. It takes place in an automobile, with stock footage in the background showing a slice of city life.

The story is about a Jewish family in New York City. This is a stereotypical depiction of Jewish life and personalities, but it rings true. It feels like a vaudeville act and it should as it features some notable vaudeville talents, like Smith and Dale, who (according to notes in IMDb) were the basis for Neil Simon's "The Sunshine Boys." In typical fashion, they bend and abuse the English language with non sequiturs and malapropisms in almost every sentence. Better you should watch other films instead if a constant barrage of one-liners you should find annoying.

But the film does capture a moment in comic history and the distinct style of Yiddish vaudevillians. I kept thinking that the actors, though authentic, were better suited to stage than screen. If, for example, some of the same lines were delivered by Groucho Marx and Charles Grodin, I think they would be funnier and feel more integrated into the story.