Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

calvinnme Honestly, I never really cared for the roles Francis Lederer played, until I watched this film. He is just perfect as the optimistic Czech immigrant, Karel Novak, who is so glad to be landing in America. The Great Depression doesn't scare him, he's willing to do anything and figures he can triumph over any adversity. Fate is about to hand him that chance as he faces just about every adversity an immigrant can face. First he arrives in New York with less than the money required to get in - he thought it was fifty dollars, instead it is two hundred. Instead of being deported, he jumps out of the window of the cabin he is confined in and gets ashore before he can be discovered missing.Hungry and broke, Karel is befriended by chorine Sylvia (Ginger Rogers), when she spots him chowing down on the donuts and coffee that she and the other girls in the show were breakfasting on. Although not dismal, Sylvia is realistic about how hard times are. An orphan and only 19 herself, Sylvia is taking care of a younger brother, Frank, who is going to be put in an orphanage if he skips school again. Frank is not skipping school to hang out with some local gang though, he just wants to work selling more papers to help out his big sister whom he can see is working so hard to support them both. Karel helps Sylvia see life a bit differently, through the eyes of an immigrant who is so happy to be in bustling New York where he believes anybody can become a millionaire.So Frank, Sylvia, and Karel become a real threesome. Karel sells papers during the day, then gets a job as a taxi driver, and things are looking up. He's hoping to get the two hundred dollars together to give the immigration people before they catch up to him, and his bank balance is rising. But then everything begins to go wrong. There is a taxi strike and Karel is forced off the job with no pay while the strike drags on. The show Sylvia was dancing in closes, and Karel offers to help out and plunders his entire bank account covering living costs. Finally, Frank skips school AGAIN to sell papers and help out, but this time he is going to be sent to the orphanage. Worst of all a crooked lawyer plays on Karel's lack of knowledge of the law and sells out Karel to the immigration people, so he is facing deportation again.So how is this not the most depressing film ever? Because it is a love story - that of two people trying to make it in New York in slim times - Karel and Sylvia - slowly and convincingly falling in love and having great chemistry together. It's also the story of an unconventional family unit of three - Karel, Sylvia, and Frank - who would do anything for one another. I'll let you watch and see how this all works out.It's a heartwarming tale of a different New York from decades ago - one full of boarding houses, cops on the beat who knew everyone in the neighborhood, when donuts and coffee were considered a hearty breakfast, and people largely had good intentions. It's one of my sentimental favorites.

mark.waltz The delightful Francis Lederer shines in this unique drama which salutes the European immigrant in this late depression era drama that shows how determination and fortitude can help goals be achieved. In the case of Mr. Lederer, his Czech background left him desperate to come to America, and he has been saving money for years as well as learning English so he could make the journey. But upon arriving at Ellis Island, he finds out that the regulations for admittance have changed and he is told he will be sent back. This won't do, however, and at his first opportunity, Lederer does a dive out of his port hole, being fished out on the lower east side of Manhattan and losing his wallet.Down on his luck, Lederer befriends a struggling chorus girl (the lovely Ginger Rogers) who helps him out and when he gets a job as a taxi driver, he returns the favor. He is determined to help her keep custody of her troubled younger brother who is always skipping school and being threatened with being put into an institution. Lederer wants to make sure she gets to keep custody so he of course proposes which leads to his identity being discovered and the deportation to go forward. Of course, if you're an illegal immigrant threatened with deportation, it helps to have a big-hearted Irish cop on your side, and here, that is the lovable J. Farrell MacDonald who steals every scene that he is in.This really takes the viewer inside the life of a struggling immigrant, and here the hero doesn't achieve success overnight or become a mobster. He's a very honest sort who believes in hard work, and even faces threats of violence when he reluctantly becomes a scab by driving a cab during his company's taxi driver strike. When he becomes the victim of a shady lawyer, it is his integrity which gets the police force together to help him out, something I don't think you could see in the current day NYPD where red tape has so much glue on it, it sticks without possibility of removal.Ginger Rogers' chorus girl isn't the wise-cracking toughy of "42nd Street" or "Gold Diggers of 1933". She, too, is an honest sort, coming across a starving Lederer stealing from the stash of food left out for the chorus girl's breaks. Jimmy Butler is memorable as her little brother, always charming even when getting into trouble, and one who definitely doesn't deserve the fate planned for him by the two uppity do-gooders (Helen Ware and Eily Malyon) determined to take him away from Rogers' care. This is a surprisingly sweet and affectionate tale of New York during one of its toughest times in history that shows that underneath all that hardness at that time did exist a big heart of gold.

mukava991 A sensitive and skillful performance by Francis Lederer makes this minor film enjoyable enough to sit through. He plays a Czech immigrant who escapes deportation back to his native land by jumping ship, ending up penniless but full of spirit on the bustling streets of New York City. Soon he encounters a kindly chorus girl (Ginger Rogers) who takes him home and with the help of her 11-year-old brother helps him find work. The dialogue is peppered with lines about the state of the economy in 1934, an understanding of how difficult it was to find a job and even wry commentary on New Deal federal policies (someone on the writing team had to have been a Republican). Otherwise, the impact thins as the plot thickens. We are supposed to believe, in line with the moral code of movies at that time, that Lederer willingly agrees to sleep on the roof of Rogers's apartment building for months, coming inside to the stairs only when it rains. Somehow the summery weather never seems to change even though a significant stretch of time evidently passes during which he rises from newspaper seller to taxi driver (even "scabbing" during a strike), sporting an ever-improving wardrobe, savings account and self-confidence. To top it all off, he is helped out of legal snags relating to his immigration status (and marriage to Rogers) by the convenient fact that Rogers just happens to be very good friends with a sweet Irish cop who has connections in the municipal power structure; call it corruption for good ends.Lederer's progress through the streets of New York City is represented by crudely staged actions in front of rear projections. Interior scenes, however, are handled imaginatively and catch the eye. Ginger Rogers is only secondary here, but when you see how many films she cranked out during this period, you have to allow her some slack. Lederer gets top billing and deserves it.

MartinHafer This is an interesting film in that the leading man, Francis Lederer, actually plays a Czech--and he was, indeed, from this country. For Hollywood, this is very unusual! The film begins with Lederer arriving in America. However, because he doesn't have enough money (they required a minimum per person at the time to ensure that they'd have enough to get started), they deport him back to his homeland. But, as the boat left the harbor, he jumps overboard--much like the plot from "The Glass Wall" and it's an interesting coincidence that I'd see the two films only a short time apart. He assumes he'll just be able to get a job--but it is the middle of the Depression.Like "The Glass Wall", the illegal immigrant soon meets a nice lady who feels sorry for him--in this case, Ginger Rogers. She helps him get a job selling newspapers as well as a temporary place to sleep. Will the love that's blossoming between the two come to anything? Can Lederer legally stay in America? Tune in and see.Overall, it's a decent little film, though the chemistry between Lederer and Rogers seems less than convincing. However, despite this, the ending is pretty cute to watch--even if it's a tiny bit silly. Worth seeing, but not a must-see film.