Hungry Hearts on AllMovie

Humoresque (1920) spawned a large number of human interest films featuring Jewish immigrant mothers in the style of Vera Gordon. This picture's mother was played by Rosa Rosanova. Russian immigrants Abraham and Hannah Levin (E.A. Warner and Rosanova) bring their family to America. Like many others, they are in search of a better life, but Levin is not a great businessman and the other family members are forced to find employment. The Levins' eldest daughter Sara (Helen Ferguson) falls in love with lawyer David Kaplan (Bryant Washburn), the nephew of the tenement's greedy landlord Benjamin Rosenblatt (George Seigmann). When Hannah dresses up her kitchen by painting its walls white, Rosenblatt raises the Levins' rent. Infuriated by his action and frustrated by the harshness of life, Hannah wrecks the kitchen, and Rosenblatt takes her to court.