USA, 1939, 96 minutes, B&W
Yiddish with complete NEW English subtitles
Directed by Maurice Schwartz
Screenplay by Maurice Schwartz, based on a novel by Sholem Aleichem
Cast: Maurice Schwartz, Rebecca Weintraub, Miriam Riselle, Leon Liebgold
This award-winning Yiddish feature filmstarring the renowned actor Maurice Schwartz is now on DVD
This classic film, preserved from the original nitrate negative with new English subtitles has been digitally restored and augmented with extras and program notes
Maurice Schwartz's adaptation of the classic Sholem Aleichem play centers on Khave,
Tevye the Dairyman's daughter, who falls in love with Fedya, the son of a Ukrainian peasant. Her courtship and marriage pit Tevye's love for his daughter against his deep-seated faith and loyalty to tradition.
The clash between
tradition and modernity, parental authority and love, customs and enlightenment are foreshadowed by the antisemitism of the rural community.
Tevye's world is a microcosm of the larger world of Russian Jewry in the early 1900s
The DVD extras include scenes from two Schwartz Yiddish language feature films, Yizkor and Uncle Moses, and program notes