AllMovie

During the Victorian era and for quite a while afterwards -- in other words, before modern-day psychology put a darker spin on parenthood -- mothers were reverently put on pedestals. That's why 1920's Humoresque was such a big success, and in this drama Vera Gordon once again plays a self-sacrificing Jewish mother. Esther Myers (Gordon) has a lot of money, so it's no surprise that her eldest son, Robert (Harry Benham), marries an ambitious girl, Aida (Belle Bennett), with an even more ambitious mother (Beth Mason). Esther goes to live with these uppity in-laws, but it is clear she is unwanted. In addition, she has to save her younger son, Harry (Stanley Price), when he steals from his work. Finally, the long-suffering mother decides to go back to her East Side tenement, where she at least has the warm company of Morris, the family bookkeeper (Dore Davidson). Aida and her mother go to the tenement to make peace with Esther -- and to make sure they'll still get her money -- but while they are there, the building is quarantined. The ladies are stuck in Esther's apartment and they learn to appreciate the woman who they previously scorned.