Shut Up...I'm Crying is a 1970 short film (20 minutes) directed by Robert Siegler.
Murray and Tilda Weinman are an older Jewish couple who run a plumbing supply business. Their life appears to be mostly bickering. One day a stranger shows up at the Weinman plumbing business. The stranger announces that he is a genie, and that the Weinmans have been granted three wishes. They have to decide on the three wishes immediately. Murray wishes for a son, with a wife, who could take over his business. Then he wishes for a vacation in Bermuda. His last wish is for the genie to go away, because he's convinced the genie is a crazy man. The genie promptly disappears...and then the Weinmans' son appears, with his wife, wishing Murray and Tilda good luck on their vacation to Bermuda.
Tropes:
- Benevolent Genie: The genie, who, despite being rather cranky and irritated by the Weinmans, not only grants their wishes but gives them a son and daughter-in-law who make their plumbing business more successful.
- But Now I Must Go: The magical son granted by the genie turns the Weinman business from what looks like a less-than-successful plumbing supply company, to a hip modern art emporium which sells pipes and toilets and other plumbing implements painted bright colors. After doing that, the son says that he has to go. And he, and his magical wife, disappear.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Not quite monochrome, but a sepia, desaturated look that seems appropriate for independent film.
- Deus ex Machina: The genie, who shows up out of nowhere. Why the Weinmans, as opposed to anyone else? No answer.
- Iris Out: The film ends with an iris onto the hands of Murray and Tilda, as he weeps over the loss of his magical "son."
- Magical Realism: A genie appears to a cranky elderly couple and grants them three wishes.
- Round Hippie Shades: The Weinmans' "son", when he materializes out of nowhere, is a hippie with the typical round hippie glasses.
- The Silent Bob: The son's wife. She never says a word until near the end where Mrs. Weinman urges her to call her "mama" and she complies. A joyful Tilda says "Murray, she talks!"
- Stock Footage: Some obvious stock footage of a tropical location that's supposed to be Bermuda, while Murray and Tilda, in voiceover, wonder what is going on with their shop.
- Three Wishes: The genie grants Murray three wishes. Murray really doesn't take the genie seriously—in fairness, he has no reason to take some weirdo who shows up at his shop seriously—so he wastes his third wish by wishing the genie would go away.
- Title Drop: The last line of dialogue, after Tilda tries to comfort Murray, after their "son" and his wife vanish. Murray says "Shut up...I'm crying."
