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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 739

Humoresque

192071 minUnited States
Drama
Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs
71:34
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · da218835 · Public domain

Synopsis

A boy growing up in a Jewish family on New York's Lower East Side shows an exceptional gift for the violin. His mother's encouragement helps turn that gift into a career. Success opens a wider world, but military service threatens the future built around his playing and tests the family affection that has sustained him since childhood.

Cast

DirectorsFrank Borzage

Inspirations

Frances Marion adapted Fannie Hurst's story about music, ambition and an immigrant family. The film changes the story's ending, placing renewed emphasis on hope and recovery.

Reception and legacy

Humoresque received the first Photoplay Medal of Honor. Its popularity helped encourage other studio films centered on immigrant neighborhoods and devoted mothers.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

  • Gaston Glass — unknown (Fox Film Corporation); http://www.toutlecine.com/images/star/0011/00118275-jeanne-helbling.html · Public domain
  • Vera Gordon — Unknown photographer; Exhibitors Herald (Oct. - Dec. 1920) on the Internet Archive · Public domain
  • Bobby Connelly — film still (Cosmopolitan Prod. / Paramount); http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/features/summer-of-silents/films.html · Public domain
  • Alma Rubens — Witzel; J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs · Public domain

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