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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 768

Jewish Luck

192598 minSoviet Union

Synopsis

Menakhem Mendl pursues one business opportunity after another, convinced that the next idea will finally bring prosperity. Insurance, trading and matchmaking each offer a fresh route to riches, but reality keeps resisting his calculations. His persistence and imaginative schemes create comedy against the background of economic insecurity and the constraints of Jewish life under the tsars.

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Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs: 98:20
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Режиссёр Алексей Грановский · Public domain

Cast

Solomon Mikhoels

Alexander Epstein

Ilya Rogaler

DirectorsAlexis Granowsky

Inspirations

The character comes from Sholem Aleichem's stories. Solomon Mikhoels carries him from the world of Yiddish theatre into Granovsky's silent film, preserving the mixture of comic invention and disappointment.

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 reference Wikidata — film identity and credits National Center for Jewish Film — Jewish Luck

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.

Solomon Mikhoels — Mosfilm; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1938._Семья_Оппенгейм.webm · Public domain

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