Synopsis
This heartfelt paean dedicated to the inhabitants of New York's Lower East Side serves up laughter and tears along with the chicken soup. Mendel Marantz (George Sidney) may be a lackluster plumber, but he's a first-rate inventor -- at least in secret! Forbidden from tinkering by his wife, Zelda (Anna Appel), Mendel works on a dishwashing machine in his tenement's cellar with help from janitor Bessie (Aline MacMahon) and funds meant for the rent. Mendel is on the cusp of success when the landlord's agent, Zelda's brother Schnaps (Charles Dale), arrives to evict them. Mendel convinces his scheming brother-in-law to take a stake in his invention in lieu of rent, which draws the interest of Schnaps' business partner, Mendel's other brother-in-law Shtrudel (Joe Smith). Mendel may just secure his family's future -- if he can escape his in-laws! Based on the play Mendel, Inc. by David Freedman, which starred Smith and Dale on Broadway.