{{short description|American screenwriter}} {{infobox person |image=HENRY.LYNN.PowerOfLife.1939.jpg |caption=Production: Power of Life, NYC, 1939 |birth_date={{birth date|1895|07|21}} |birth_place=Białystok, Congress Poland |death_date={{death date and age|1984|08|25|1895|07|21}} |death_place=Miami Beach, Florida |occupation=Producer/Director/Writer |spouse=Kitty Cooperman }}
'''Henry Lynn''' (July 21, 1895 – August 25, 1984) was a film director, screenwriter, and producer, who concentrated on Yiddish life and culture in the United States in the years 1932–1939, the era of Yiddish film in America. Lynn was an innovator in sound technology, frequently commissioned original music, and he used popular radio and opera stars Boris Thomashefsky, Esther Field, and Seymour Rexite, as well as New York stage actors like Celia Adler.
==Biography== Lynn was born in the region of Białystok, then Russian Empire, now in Poland. Frustrated by difficulties of obtaining an education in Białystok, he emigrated to America, arriving in Boston in 1914. Initially, he taught languages in Boston and suburbs, Dorchester, Lynn, and Revere. Later he moved to New York City where he taught Hebrew and Russian, then became a film producer/director/writer, 1932–1939. During WWII Lynn created a business to manufacture plastic products for the war effort,<ref name="Light page 323">''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 323'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref> and he was a news commentator on radio station, WEVD. Henry Lynn is survived by his daughter, Lila Lynn, who appeared as a child actress in his 1938 film, ''The Power of Life''. Lynn's wife, Kitty Cooperman, also appeared in ''The Power of Life''.
==Career== From 1932 to 1939, Lynn was writer and/or producer/director of at least 10 films, emphasizing family life and the challenges to traditional values. He directed 9 films. The first two: ''The Intolerance of 1933'' (1933), and ''The Youth of Russia'' (1934), are documentaries and contain rare footage of historical events, e.g., labor union marches in New York City in the early 1930s.<ref name="googlesyndicatedsearch.com">[http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/brandeis?q=Henry+Lynn&SUBMIT=Search&hq=inurl%3Ajewishfilm%2F+site%3Awww.brandeis.edu Brandeis: National Center for Jewish Film]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Light page 199">''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 199'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref><ref name="emgee.freeyellow.com">[https://web.archive.org/web/20010223214009/http://emgee.freeyellow.com/ Glenn Studio, EmGee Films, Reseda, California]</ref>
Lynn was an innovator, implementing Joseph Seiden's new sound technology in ''The Unfortunate Bride'', his 1932 remake of silent film, ''Broken Hearts'' (1926).<ref name="Light page 184">''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 184'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref> Lynn included Hebrew dubbing in ''Shir Hashirim'' by Tel Aviv exhibitor Ya'acov Davidon and produced some short films for theatrical shows. One example is ''Papirossen'' by radio star Herman Yablokoff. This theatrical play was based on a current hit song, ''Papirosn''. Lynn's short 15-minute film featured Sidney Lumet, as an 11-year-old cigarette vendor. The play and short film were booked into the Bronx McKinley Square Theatre in 1935. This was one of Henry Lynn's most unusual productions.<ref>''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 208, 209'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref>
Lynn and Joseph Green, a contemporary actor and film producer/director, collaborated and distributed ''Bar Mitzvah'' (1935) in Europe, notably Poland, where it was playing in 1937 in Warsaw with another film, ''Green Light'' with Errol Flynn. Boris Thomashefsky, a popular opera singer and actor at the time, was a co-producer and starred in the film. He sang in Lynn's film, as he had in the earlier 1924 play, ''Bar Mitzvah'', a hit song, ''Erlekh Zayn'' (''Being Virtuous'').<ref>''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 207'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref> Despite the advent of "talkies" Lynn did not recognize the new technology and saw his film style disappear with the rise of Hollywood.{{clarification needed|date=January 2024}}
During World War II Lynn and Joseph Seiden suspended their film careers to assist the war effort. Lynn founded a small plastic products manufacturing company.<ref name="Light page 323"/>
==Filmography== * ''Mothers of Today'' (1939) (aka ''Hayntige Mames'')<ref>{{TCMDb title|84033|Mothers of Today}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0031673|Mothers of Today}}</ref><ref>[http://www.brandeis.edu/jewishfilm/Catalogue/films/mothersoftoday.htm Brandeis: Mothers of Today]</ref><ref>''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 208'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref> * ''A People Eternal'' (1939)<ref>{{IMDb title|0129296|A People Eternal}}</ref><ref>''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 369'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref><ref>Clippings, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York City Public Library</ref> * ''The Power of Life'' (1938) (aka ''Die Kraft von Leben'')<ref>{{IMDb title|0030617|The Power of Life}}</ref><ref>{{TCMDb title|499192|The Power of Life}}</ref><ref name="Light page 209">''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 209'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref> * ''Where Is My Child?'' (1937) (aka ''Vu iz mayn Kind?'' (Yiddish title) or ''Wo ist mein Kind?'' (German title))<ref name="googlesyndicatedsearch.com"/><ref name="Light page 209"/><ref>{{TCMDb title|95533|Where is My Child}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0029765|Where is My Child}}</ref> * ''The Holy Oath'' (1937) (aka ''Di Heylige Shvue'')<ref>{{TCMDb title|623315|The Holy Oath}}</ref><ref>''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 390'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref> * ''Shir Hashirim'' (1935) (aka ''Farbotene Liebe'' or ''Forbidden Love'' or ''Song of Songs'' or ''Verbotene Liebe'' (reissue title)<ref>{{TCMDb title|500970|Shir Hashirim}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0026989|Shir Hashirim}}</ref><ref>''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 191n'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations</ref> * ''Bar-Mitzvah'' (1935)<ref>{{TCMDb title|490216|Bar Mitzvah}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0026096|Bar Mitzvah}}</ref> * ''The Youth of Russia'' (1934) (aka ''The Yiddish Father'' or ''Der Yiddisher Vater'' or ''Der Yidisher Foter'')<ref name="Light page 199"/><ref>{{TCMDb title|502582|The Youth of Russia}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0026020|The Youth of Russia}}</ref> * ''The Intolerance of 1933'' (1933) Semi-documentary, owned by Emgee Films, Reseda, California<ref name="emgee.freeyellow.com"/> * ''The Unfortunate Bride'' (1932) (aka ''Die Ungluckliche Kale'')<ref name="Light page 184"/><ref>{{TCMDb title|561492|The Unfortunate Bride}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0129496|The Unfortunate Bride}}</ref>
==Casting== Many of Lynn's films used popular theatre actors of the era: opera singer/actor, Boris Thomashefsky, actor and director, Sidney Lumet, Celia Adler, Morris Strassberg, Dora Weissman, actor/singer, Seymour Rechzeit, Michal Michalesko, and the popular radio star Esther Field. The production companies were Lynn Productions, Menorah, Empire Films, S & L Films, Sov-Am Films, Judea Films and Apex Films. Jack Stillman was the musical director of most of Lynn's films, several of which had excellent original compositions by Joseph Rumshinsky, Art Shryer, Ludwig Satz, and William Mercur. Original composition was featured in ''Shir Hashirim'' (''Songs of Songs''). Lynn made effective use of music to heighten the emotional drama of his films.
==Availability== The National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City have copies of some of these films. DVD and VHS copies of ''Mothers of Today'', ''Where is my Child'' and ''Bar Mitzvah'' are available from TCM, Brandeis, Ergo, and Israel-Store. ''The Intolerance of 1933'' is available from [http://emgee.freeyellow.com/ Glenn Studio, EmGee Films, Reseda, California] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024210811/http://emgee.freeyellow.com/ |date=2008-10-24 }}.
==Critical appraisal== ''Mothers of Today'' was reviewed in 1939 by ''Film Daily''.
''Shir Hashirim'' was reviewed in 1935 by ''The New York Times''.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E7D8173CEE32A25752C1A9669D946494D6CF&sec=&spon= ''The New York Times'']</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}} {{refbegin}} * ''Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds)'', J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations. {{Refend}}
==External links== * {{TCMDb person|1170431%7C69402|Henry Lynn}} * {{IMDb name|id=0528690|name=Henry Lynn}} * [http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/brandeis?q=Henry+Lynn&SUBMIT=Search&hq=inurl%3Ajewishfilm%2F+site%3Awww.brandeis.edu Brandeis: National Center for Jewish Film]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Henry}} Category:1895 births Category:1984 deaths Category:Yiddish theatre Category:Yiddish-language film directors Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:American male screenwriters Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:Emigrants from Congress Poland to the United States