Laughter Through Tears (1933)
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Filmed in Russia, this Yiddish-language film is based on a bittersweet tale by Sholom Alecheiem. Poverty-stricken Jewish ghetto dweller Shimmen-Eyle scrimps and saves enough to buy a female goat to provide milk for his children. But when he arrives back in the village, he discovers that he's dragged home a male goat. The poor man becomes the laughing stock of the village because of his presumed lack of business sense. Soon, however, it turns out that Shimmen-Eyle is the victim of a practical joker, and when the villagers find out who perpetrated the hoax, they give the jolly jokester a sound thrashing. A happy ending? Not quite: The Czarist police, caring nothing about the reason behind the whole affair, order Shimmen-Eyle out of the village for inciting a riot!