My Girl Tisa
Cast & Crew
Elliott Nugent
Lilli Palmer
Sam Wanamaker
Akim Tamiroff
Alan Hale
Hugo Haas
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In New York City, in 1905, immigrant Tisa Kepes works in a garment factory run by Mr. Grumbach, who is studying to become an American citizen. Tisa and her cousin Jenny live in Mrs. Faludi's boardinghouse. Fellow boarder Mark Denek, who is employed by alderman Thomas Dugan, dreams of becoming a lawyer and advisor to his idol, President Teddy Roosevelt. Learning that Tisa needs extra money because she is saving to bring her father to America, Mark brags that he will help her get a job. Mark eventually persuades ice cream store owner Swenson to hire Tisa to work in the evenings after she finishes her work at Grumbach's, but later quarrels with Swenson over Roosevelt and causes Tisa to lose her job. Despite this, Mark and Tisa fall in love, although their lack of money prevents them from expressing these feelings to each other. After Mark's ambitious self-promotion causes Dugan to fire him, he asks Grumbach for the money to finish his correspondence course in law. When Grumbach refuses, Tisa asks Tescu, the shipping agent to whom she is paying her father's passage, to give her $100 from the money she has saved. Tescu gives Tisa the money, and informs her that her father could come to America immediately if he agreed to work off his passage after his arrival. Tisa consents to this arrangement, but when Mark learns what has happened, he explains that her father will be working off his passage in a distant state for many years. When Tisa confronts Tescu, he offers to return the contract in exchange for sexual favors. After she refuses, Tescu tells Mark that he has sold her father's contract to someone else. Mark asks Grumbach for a loan to buy back the contract, and again, Grumbach refuses to part with his money. A vengeful Tescu then lies to immigration officials in an effort to get Tisa deported. Mark offers to marry her so that, as his wife, she will become a citizen, but before they can be married, Tisa is arrested. Due to a misunderstanding, the judge believes that Tisa paid Mark to marry her, orders her deported and sends Mark to jail. Happy that he has finally passed his citizenship exam, Grumbach bails Mark out of jail, but Tisa is sent to Ellis Island to await deportation. While waiting, Tisa sees her father's ship dock. Mark visits Tisa to say that he loves her and is determined to become a lawyer and change the laws so that she will be able to return. As Mark leaves, he learns that Teddy Roosevelt is at the dock to meet a head of state. Mark convinces Roosevelt to intervene on Tisa's behalf, and she is able to meet her father's ship.
Director
Elliott Nugent
Cast
Lilli Palmer
Sam Wanamaker
Akim Tamiroff
Alan Hale
Hugo Haas
Gale Robbins
Stella Adler
Benny Baker
Sumner Getchell
Sid Tomack
John Qualen
Tom Dillon
Sidney Blackmer
Fritz Feld
John Banner
Gabriel Canzona
Rudy Wissler
Charles Jordan
George Sherwood
Frank Conlan
Olga Fabian
Max Barwyn
Bunty Cutler
David Newell
Ralph Peters
Doria Caron
Dorothy Lotta
Anitra Sparrow
Harry Seymour
Gene Collins
Fred Chapman
Ray Dolciame
Billy Scallon
Donald Olsen
Vincent Graeff
Jerry Wissler
Maxine Gates
Juggling Normans
Hobart Cavanaugh
John Wesley
Oliver Crawford
Jack Mower
Martin Berliner
Ralph Dunn
Charles Middleton
Harry Shannon
James Flavin
Ian Macdonald
Ivan Simpson
Ed Dearing
Frederick Ledebur
Garry Owen
Richard Kipling
Ben Hall
Elliott Nugent
Phyllis Godfrey
Edward Clark
Francis Morris
Crew
Harry Barndollar
Allen Boretz
Paul Butner
Larry Cairns
Pat Clark
Walter Douglas
Leo F. Forbstein
Oliver S. Garretson
James Goldenhaur
Helen Goodman
Robert Haas
Ernest Haller
Chuck Hansen
Otto Harbach
Bob Hoffman
Bill Hole
Karl Hoschna
H. F. Koenekamp
Russ Llewellyn
Art Lueker
Fred M. Maclean
Marcia Masa
John More
George Nogle
Christian Nyby
Leah Rhodes
Milton Sperling
Max Steiner
Vic Vallejo
Eddie Voight
Perc Westmore
Stanley Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working titles were Tisa and Ever the Beginning. This film marked Sam Wanamaker's screen debut.
