Rosa Rosanova Movies

Having starred in two earlier Westerns produced by Harry S. Webb, Tom Tyler signed with Webb's new company Reliable, where the former silent star went on to make 18 inexpensive but well-made oaters. The first in the series, Fighting Hero, cast Tyler as Tom Hall, a fugitive from justice rescuing a young Mexican woman, Conchita (Renee Borden), from a murder conviction. He falls in love with the girl, but he then overhears her apparently plotting with the leader of a gang of stage-robbers. As it turns out, Conchita is only looking out for Tom's welfare, and with her help he is soon able to apprehend the gang. When the sheriff (Tom London) arrives, Tom reveals himself to be an undercover agent for the Wells Fargo Company. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this drama, with a story that closely parallels the 1927 feature The Jazz Singer, a Jewish son disregards his father's hope that he too will become a jeweler in favor of a show business career. His devoted mother supports him all the way as he goes to California where he is a hit at an amateur show. Unfortunately, when his mother becomes terrible ill, he must curtail his plans and return home to New York. There he finds his real break when he is selected to star in Broadway's newest show Lucky Boy. Songs include: "Lucky Boy," "My Mother's Eyes," "Old Man Sunshine," "My Real Sweetheart," "In My Bouquet of Memories," "My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now," and "California Here I Come." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

According to the original studio press releases, contentious Columbia president Harry Cohn not only produced Pleasure Before Business but directed it as well. In truth, Frank Strayer was the director, though he undoubtedly danced to the crack of Mr. Cohn's whip. Jewish comedian Max Davidson stars as a prosperous cigar manufacturer who suffers a nervous breakdown. Ordered to take a rest by his doctor, Davidson gets his chance when his wife inherits an enormous sum of money. The previously parsimonious hero goes on an uncontrolled spending spree, culminating in a trip to the racetrack where he puts his entire fortune on a 40-to-1 shot. It is at this point that Davidson discovers that his wife's inheritance was a hoax, and that he's flat broke -- and will be a whole lot flatter and broker if his horse loses. But things turn out OK for Davidson, who's learned the hard way that even a successful cigar maker can be full of empty smoke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the better "Abie's Irish Rose" derivations of the late 1920s, The Shamrock and the Rose was adapted from a play by Owen Davis Sr. Set in New York's Lower East Side, "where the melting pot boils over," it's the story of a Jewish girl (Olive Hasbrouck) who falls in love with an Irish boy (Edmund Burns). While the hero's parents are delighted at the prospect of his marriage, the girl's mother and father are beside themselves, prompting the heroine to consider converting to Catholicism. She is diverted from this course by an understanding priest (former matinee idol Maurice Costello, in a very minor role) who exhorts her to take pride in her Hebraic heritage. The differences between the two families are settled comedically a year or so later, when the heroine is rushed to the maternity hospital. The film's best performance is delivered by Keystone veteran Mack Swain as the hero's boisterous father. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This drama about a Jewish family on New York's Lower East side marked the screen debut of respected stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut (whose son, Joseph Schildkraut, would also become a stage and screen star). Rabbi Cominsky (Schildkraut) has been reduced to working as a pushcart peddler, but he and his wife, Rosie (Rosa Rosanova), scrimp and save so that their two sons can get an education. Morris (Arthur Lubin) grows up to become a successful lawyer, but Sammy (George Lewis) displeases his father by becoming a pugilist. Cominsky throws him out of the house, not realizing that Morris is the ungrateful one -- he has become engaged to his boss' daughter and, ashamed of his humble family, says he is an orphan. The old man becomes very ill and Sammy wins enough money in a prize fight to send him away to get well. While the father is away, Sammy confronts his brother, and Morris begs his family for forgiveness. Cominsky realizes that he misjudged Sammy and takes him back into the fold. Sammy, meanwhile, finds romance with Mamie Shannon (Blanche Mehaffey), a pretty Irish girl. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

On the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the early years of the twentieth century, a Jewish family struggles to survive -- David Cominsky (Rudolph Schildkraut), who was a man of learning and a teacher in Russia, ekes out a living from his pushcoart, selling the little items that his wife Rose (Rosa Rosanova) toils to make at home, so that their two sons, Morris and Sammy, can have a better life. Morris, the older, likes to study, almost to the exclusion of much else; and Sammy, the younger, is always getting into fights and, as David says, is either going to commit murder or become a prize-fighter (which may be worse). When Sammy gets a dollar from a local tout (Edgar Kennedy) for winning a fight with a bigger boy who was picking on his brother, David is furious -- but it earns Sammy the admiration of Mamie Shannon, the girl who lives in the next apartment over. By the time they're in their early 20's, both boys are moving into the bigger world beyond the ghetto, and are also forced to hide aspects of their new lives from their parents -- and visa versa. Morris (Arthur Lubin) is an attorney and an associate in a law firm, with lots of friends uptown; his employer, former judge Nathan Stein (Bertram Marburgh), even sees him as a potential fiance for his daughter Ruth (Virginia Brown Faire); but he is also doing his best to hide his Lower East Side background from his more worldly friends, claiming he is an orphan; and Sammy (George Lewis) is getting ready to go into the ring professionally, under the name "Battling Rooney," and has been stepping out with Mamie (Blanche Mehaffey). When he learns of Sammy's secret fighting, David is devastated by the fact that one of his sons should become a boxer and throws him out of the house; and when Morris announces that he is leaving home, to live uptown in order to further his career, the Cominsky parents feel as though they've lost a part of themselves. David keeps at his pushcart, scratching out a living even in the dead of winter -- meanwhile, Rose secretly visits Sammy to watch out for him, and he secretly gives her money. When Morris arrives one day to say that he needs money for a dress suit, David sells the coat that that has kept him warm through winters going back to Russia, to buy him a suit -- which Morris throws away in disdain as soon as he leaves their home; but in running his errand, David has caught pneumonia, and Morris neglects to come to see him -- Sammy arrives and pretends to be his older brother, and the subterfuge helps get his father through; in the process, he also decides to settle down and marry Mamie. But now David needs to move to someplace warmer and more hospitable than New York, such as California -- Sammy decides to return to the ring with his old manager when the latter loses his best fighter on the eve of a championship match. On the same night that Sammy is fighting his heart out to help his father, David learns that Morris has abandoned the family, and multiple confrontations ensue as proud old man finally starts to see the truth about both of his sons and his own mistakes. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Although this drama was based on the Sacha Guitry play Deburau (which starred Lionel Atwill on Broadway), Warner Bros. changed it around and threw in a bit of Camille for spice. Jean Gaspard Deburau (Monte Blue) is a clown for a Parisian pantomime theater. He falls in love with Marie Duplessis (Marie Prevost) and neglects his wife (Rose Dione). Eventually, Madame Deburau leaves him for his friend, Robillard (Willard Louis). But instead of finding solace with Marie, Deburau discovers that he was only a passing fancy to her. After she leaves him for Armand, he quits the stage. The only light in his life is his son, Charles (Pat Moore). Years pass and Marie finally comes back to him. Her health is gone and Armand has left her. She begs Deburau to return to the stage and, deliriously ill, marries him believing he is Armand. Deburau breaks down during his performance and Marie dies. But he dresses his son, now grown (and played by Pierre Gendron), in his clown outfit, and he successfully carries on in his father's footsteps. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The bizarre Mae Murray, she of the bee-stung lips and haughty demeanor, plays sisters in this potboiler set during the Russian revolution. Fleeing to America, the non-identical sisters, both poor peasant types, lead totally opposite lives. The elder, Olga, masquerades as White Russian nobility and manages to land a rich husband, while Zita, the younger, finds herself desperately mired in poverty. When Olga is killed by a rejected suitor (Elmo Lincoln, Hollywood's first "Tarzan"), her kindhearted husband (Freeman Wood) adopts the pathetic but faithful Zita as his own. A typically overblown Murray escapade, Fashion Row was produced by Murray herself and directed by her husband, Robert Z. Leonard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Humoresque (1920) spawned a large number of human interest films featuring Jewish immigrant mothers in the style of Vera Gordon. This picture's mother was played by Rosa Rosanova. Russian immigrants Abraham and Hannah Levin (E.A. Warner and Rosanova) bring their family to America. Like many others, they are in search of a better life, but Levin is not a great businessman and the other family members are forced to find employment. The Levins' eldest daughter Sara (Helen Ferguson) falls in love with lawyer David Kaplan (Bryant Washburn), the nephew of the tenement's greedy landlord Benjamin Rosenblatt (George Seigmann). When Hannah dresses up her kitchen by painting its walls white, Rosenblatt raises the Levins' rent. Infuriated by his action and frustrated by the harshness of life, Hannah wrecks the kitchen, and Rosenblatt takes her to court. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide