- A Jewish boy grows up in 1920s Montreal with a grandfather who tells stories and a father who won't work.
- It's the 1920's. The Hermans - Harry Herman, his wife Annie Herman née Elias, their six-year-old son David Herman, and Annie's father - are a Jewish family living in a small flat in the working class Jewish neighborhood of Montréal (in Canada). David loves his "Zaida" (grandfather) with who he spends most Sundays driving around in their horse drawn wagon collecting junk - namely "rags, clothes, bottles" - to earn money. David also loves hearing his Zaida's stories about their Jewish culture, although most of those stories are made up and not based based on religious Jewish beliefs. Those stories are only one bone of contention between religious Zaida and secular Harry, as modern thinking Harry feels the stories are old fashioned hogwash and provide David with no grounding in what is real in life. Another issue of contention is money, as Harry is always dreaming of get rich schemes - the latest being to manufacture permanently creased and thus iron-less trousers - for which Zaida will not provide unconditional funding. And a third issue is Zaida's aging horse Ferdeleh, which Harry believes would be better put to sleep. Usually, David, who is at the stage in his life where he takes most things literally, sides with his Zaida, and considers his father a liar. Caught in the middle is Annie. How to handle David becomes a larger issue when two of the most natural of events occur within their family.—Huggo
- The film opens with five-year-old David (Jeff Lynas) calling for his grandfather (Yossi Yadin), who makes a living buying and selling "rags, clothes, bottles" with his faithful horse, Freydleh, pulling his wagon. David looks forward to Sundays, when he goes out with his grandfather (whom he calls "Zeideh") on his rounds.
David's father, Harry (Len Birman) is a small-time gambler who tries to sell his inventions in hopes of getting rich and leaving the old neighborhood. His mother, Annie (Marylin Lightstone) is pregnant. Harry is always trying to persuade Annie's brother Benny (Henry Gamer) to invest in his schemes, and pressures Zaideh to loan him startup capital. But Zaideh is skeptical of his ne'er-do-well son-in-law, and is content to earn a slow yet steady living and observe the Torah. Harry disparages the old man and his old world ways, but David adores his Zeideh and their outings, and loves caring for Freydleh.
One Sunday after Harry's latest scheme has failed, he announces that he's taking David fishing. David balks, as he had looked forward all week to joining Zeideh on his rounds. But in the end, Harry wins out. They taking fishing gear with them to cover for the fact that actually Harry leaves David in the front of a soda shop and goes in the back to bet on horses. After he wins, he instructs David to tell his mother that they went fishing.
As the story progresses, Harry gets more abusive with each failed scheme. When Annie gives birth, David is jealous of her attention going to his new baby brother, and he acts out by carrying out Zeideh's idea of putting horse manure on the steps of Mrs. Tannenbaum (Barbara Chilcot), an unpleasant neighbor who is constantly screaming at Zeideh to move Freydleh away, as she can't stand the odor. When Mrs. Tannenbaum comes over to report the manure on her steps, Harry starts to beat David. Zeideh leaps to David's rescue, telling Harry never to touch the boy again "...or I'll kill you", and telling Harry never to ask him for another penny. Zeideh tells David that as long as he lives in that house, no one will ever hurt him again.
One Sunday, David gets up as usual to feed Freydleh and get ready to go on rounds with Zeideh, but Zeideh's not in the stable; he's in bed with pneumonia. The doctor instructs Annie to send David to stay with her brother Benny so that he doesn't catch pneumonia, and so that Zeideh can rest. A week later, when David returns, Zeideh has died. When David goes to the stable to look for Freydleh, the horse is gone and the stable has been converted into an antique shop and Harry has bought a motor car.
The film ends as it had opened, with David running wildly through the neighborhood calling for Zeideh, and we hear Zeideh's call: "rags, clothes, bottles... rags, clothes, bottles".
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Top Gap
By what name was Lies My Father Told Me (1975) officially released in Canada in English?
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