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A Simple Tailor was filmed in Russia for the worldwide Yiddish-language movie market. Humble haberdasher Motele Spindler (I. Mindlin) volunteers for the Russian army at the outbreak of WW I. As a "reward," his family is mistreated by the anti-Semitic power structure, with most of the abuse heaped upon his beloved sister Rose (Y. Solnzeva). Essentially propaganda against the Czarist regime, A Simple Tailor sidesteps the fact that the Russian Jews were not exactly given red-carpet treatment by Joseph Stalin. Some traditionally self-deprecating Yiddish humor helps to smooth over the film's rough spots.