An elderly Jewish couple are separated when they are forced to sell their farm. Living with different children, they must learn to survive not only without each other, but in the unfamiliar landscape of modern America.
Largely forgotten today, Yiddish-speaking films were made in great quantity in the United States in the 1930s. Using actors pulled from the Yiddish theater in New York, producer-director Joseph Seiden made dozens alone under the auspices of his company Yiddish Talking Pictures. Ironically, Seiden's greatest success would not be in his chosen field, but scripting the exploitation feature Sex Madness (1938). With the outbreak of World War II in Europe, all production of Yiddish films ceased in 1940, making Eli, Eli one of the last entries in this overlooked genre.