His Wife's Lover (1931) - A weirdly fun piece of Yiddish film history

So, is His Wife's Lover actually worth your time today? If you're a nerd for weird film history or early talkies, absolutely. But if you hate scratchy audio and screechy theatrical acting, you will probably turn it off in five minutes. 😅

This is supposedly the first Yiddish talkie feature made in America. It plays out less like a movie and more like a captured stage play where the actors are shouting at the back row.

The plot is wild. Ludwig Satz plays this big-shot actor who decides to marry a woman who says she doesn't care about looks.

To test her, he puts on this incredibly fake beard, hunches his back, and pretends to be a miserable old guy. It is as ridiculous as it sounds.

Satz's physical comedy is something else. He does this weird, wobbly walk that makes him look like he is constantly trying to avoid stepping on hot coals.

If you've seen early sound transition comedies like Wife Savers, you already know how clunky this era could be. But here, the clunkiness is half the fun.

There is this one musical number where the audio sync is so far off it feels like watching a dubbed foreign film. The actors mouth is closed but the singing keeps going for a good three seconds.

The camera barely moves at all. It just sits there, staring at the actors like an awkward party guest who doesn't know when to leave.

Yet, there is a strange energy to the whole thing. It has none of the clean, polite pacing of silent films like The White Sheep, replacing that charm with pure, unadulterated noise.

Lucy Levine has a few scenes where she looks directly at the camera. You can almost see her thinking about what she's going to have for dinner after the shoot.

And the dialogue is just endless arguing. Everyone is always shouting over one another, which is probably realistic for a hectic household but it gets exhausting.

I did love the scratchy clarinet music in the background though. It gives the whole mess a nice, nostalgic atmosphere.

It's not a great film by any modern standard, but it's a fascinating relic. Just don't expect it to make much sense. 🤫