Humoresque is a 1920 American silent drama film produced by Cosmopolitan Productions, released by Famous Players–Lasky and Paramount Pictures, and was directed by Frank Borzage from a 1919 short story by Fannie Hurst and script or scenario by Frances Marion. It follows the childhood and going to war of an immigrant family Lower East Side violinist.
This film was the first film to win the Photoplay Medal of Honor, a precursor of the Academy Award for Best Picture.
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Humoresque was very popular with the film going public and was praised by critics for the realism in its portrayal of New York City ghetto family life. Its success led to the release of several ghetto life films from other studios, often with a “long suffering mother” character.
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