Isn't Life Wonderful


1924

Brief Synopsis

The story follows a Polish professor and his family who have become refugees in the aftermath of World War I. They try to survive in Germany during the period of the Great Inflation. Carol Dempster is Inga, a Polish war orphan who struggles to provide for the family that has taken her in, while accumulating a meager dowry from the rubble of depression-stricken Berlin so that she can marry Paul. Returning to his family, weakened by the battlefront's poisonous gases, Paul invests in his and Inga's future by tending a secret garden which he hopes will provide the resources for them to live, and which serves as a symbol of optimism for the two young lovers.

Film Details

Release Date
Dec 1, 1924
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Isn't Life Wonderful " by Geoffrey Moss in Defeat (New York, 1924).

Technical Specs

Sound
Silent
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Film Length
8,600ft (9 reels)

Synopsis

Orphaned by the war, Inga, a Polish refugee, lives in Berlin with a professor and his family--an old grandmother, the professor's sister, and a son, Theodor. Another son, Paul, Inga's sweetheart, is still at the battlefront. Near starvation and living in cramped quarters, they show with weary faces the hardships they have endured. The professor takes a job correcting papers, and Theodor becomes a waiter. Paul returns, weakened from the war. He begins to work in a shipyard while Inga works in a shop, but he falls ill. During his convalescence, Paul and Inga decide to marry, although the family discourages them, pointing out the lack of money, inadequate housing, and the declining value of the mark. Paul procures a piece of land and secretly grows potatoes and builds a cottage, while Inga prepares her dowry by mending furniture in a secondhand shop. When the potatoes are ready to be harvested Paul brings some home, and with the liverwurst Theodor has brought, they have a feast. Grandmother brings out a wedding gown she has made for Inga. The next day Paul and Inga take a cart to harvest the potatoes. As they are returning, a group of hungry, desperate men attack them in the woods and take the crop. The couple are disconsolate, but they are comforted by the knowledge that they still have each other. In an appended ending "one year later" the couple are shown prospering in their new cottage.

Film Details

Release Date
Dec 1, 1924
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Isn't Life Wonderful " by Geoffrey Moss in Defeat (New York, 1924).

Technical Specs

Sound
Silent
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Film Length
8,600ft (9 reels)

Quotes

Trivia