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Taken in front of Moishe’s Home Made
Kosher Bake Shop—note yummy
hamantashen in window!
Photo Credit: Sally Heckel (4/4/08)
 

Tour
193 Second Avenue
(site of the original
Yiddish Art Theater)
with
Second Avenue Tzivi


 

 

Schwartz’ TEVYE
Receives
the Royal Treatment
from NCJF


 


 

 
When the film begins, Chava 
& Fyedka are already in love.
 


Tevye grows suspicious, 
when Chava tells him that 
Fyedka is a “second Gorky.”
 

 
After Motel dies (off camera), 
Tzeitel brings her children home 
to live with Tevye & Golde.
 


Tzeitel guesses what’s up & warns 
Chava not to marry Fyedka.
 


After Chava’s marriage, Tevye 
decrees that he, Golde & Tzeitel 
will mourn for her as soon as
the Sabbath ends


Tevye teaches his grandson 
Shloimele Hebrew prayers.
 


The constable forces Tevye to 
sign the official edict expelling
him from the village.
 


Tevye says goodbye to his horse.
 

Exciting news for lovers of Yiddish theater: the National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University has just released a new DVD version of Maurice Schwartz’s 1939 classic TEVYE. The film has been restored with great care in richly textured black and white from an original nitrate print. Solomon Secunda’s wonderful score also went through a digital clean-up. 

Schwartz’s version is loosely-based on two of Sholem Aleichem’s eight TEVYE THE DAIRYMAN stories: CHAVA from 1905 and LEKH-LEKHO from 1916 (with one comic scene thrown in out-of-context from the first story TEVYE STRIKES IT RICK). Those coming to TEVYE from stage and/or screen versions of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF will be very surprised; Hodel, Motel, Perchik, Yente, and other beloved characters are nowhere to be seen. TEVYE contains a whole new cast of characters, most of whom do not appear in Sholem Aleichem’s original stories either. 

The focus of Schwartz’s version is on Chava’s marriage to Fyedka, and more than anything else, it captures the deep despair and foreboding occasioned by Krystallnacht. Therefore, key roles are played by Fyedka’s non-Jewish parents (the despicable Galagans) and the Russian Orthodox priest. But the darkness is balanced by the introduction of Tzeitel’s two young children: Shloimele and Perele.

Cinephiles should also adjust their expectations. 1939 was the extraordinary year when Hollywood released timeless gems such as MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, NINOTCHKA, OF MICE AND MEN, STAGECOACH, THE WIZARD OF OZ, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and of course, GONE WITH THE WIND. But even though it is relatively primitive cinematically, TEVYE is extraordinary as a recorded play. 

Although Schwartz opened the frame with some outdoor location shots, all of the most moving moments occur inside the house. Of particular note are a luminous Havdalah ceremony, the scene in which Tevye tenderly teaches Shloimele how to chant daily prayers, and the wordless but intensely emotional sequence in which Tevye packs his books after he’s ordered to leave the village. These scenes are likely very similar to their original theatrical staging.

Schwartz, who was born in the Ukraine in 1890 and died in Tel Aviv in 1960, founded New York’s world famous Yiddish Art Theatre in 1926. He acted in both American and European films, appearing on screen for the last time as the prophet Daniel in the 1953 Hollywood feature SLAVES OF BABYLON. Extras on the new NCJF DVD include clips from two of his best known roles: “Leybke” in the 1924 silent film YISKOR and “Moses” in the 1932 screen adaptation of Solomon Asch’s play UNCLE MOSES. 

In 1991, the Library of Congress added TEVYE to the National Film Registry, thereby naming it one of the greatest American films of all time.


© Jan Lisa Huttner (12/1/04)

 

FF2 NOTE ON NAMES:

The Yiddish language is written with Hebrew characters, therefore various authors use different English transliterations. In this article, I have used the name spellings used in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF under the assumption that they are familiar to most readers. The chart below maps the names from FIDDLER to the names that appear in the TEVYE subtitles.

TEVYE Names FIDDLER Names Actor’s Names
Khave Chava Miriam Riselle
Fedye Fyedka Leon Liebgold
Golde Golde Rebecca Weintraub
Perele NA Betty Marcus
Shloimele NA Vicki Marcus
Tevye  Tevye Maurice Schwartz
Tseytl Tzeitel  Paula Lubelski

 

FF2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

FF2 gratefully recognizes Sharon Pucker Rivo, Executive Director of the National Center for Jewish Film, for her input on this article, as well as John Quackenbush, who provided all the e-files.

All photographs on this page are Courtesy of NCJF.

 
FF2 UPDATE

Message from Paul Glasser at YIVO
(received 12/30/09)

Dear Jan Lisa Huttner,

That's a lovely write-up of "Tevye" on your website! One correction, however: the movie was based on the untranslated play "Tevye the Dairyman" that Sholem Aleichem himself adapted from his stories. That explains the disparity between the stories and the movie. However, the scene thrown in for comic relief out of "Tevye Strikes it Rich" is not present in the play either.

Dr. Paul (Hershl) Glasser
Associate Dean, Max Weinreich Center
Senior Research Associate, Yiddish Language
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

Reply to Hershl from Tzivi:

Correction much appreciated!
 

HOW TO ORDER

The new TEVYE DVD can be ordered directly from the NCJF website or by calling 781-899-7044. 
Copies will also be available in selected Jewish bookstores and museums in time for Chanukah.

FOR RELATED ARTICLES ON FF2:

Read Jan’s Review of 40th Anniversary Productions of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF in Chicago & on Broadway in the COLUMNS section. 

Read more about Boris Aronson (the artist who designed most of the sets for Maurice Schwartz’ Yiddish Art Theatre in the 1920s & also designed the sets for the original Broadway production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF) in the FAQ section. 

Read Jan’s interview with Sally Murphy (Broadway’s current Tzeitel) in the CHATS section. 

 

FF2 NOTE:
This article is a slightly expanded version
of the review originally published
in the December 2004 edition of the
WORLD JEWISH DIGEST
(Volume 2 Number 3) 
& is posted here with their permission.

For WJD subscription information:
Call 312.332.4172 extension 42
or
Fax 312.332.2119

 

 

 

 
Second Avenue Tzivi

Jan visits Manhattan in search of
Maurice Schwartz’ Yiddish Art Theater…

Photo Credits: Sally Heckel (4/12/08)

Huge thanks to Sally for documenting the quest!

Found It!

193 Second Avenue
(at 12th Street)

 

 

 


“In 1926, Jewish Civic leader Louis N. Jaffe erected the Yiddish Art Theater, in a neighborhood once known as Yiddish Rialto. Designed by Harrison G. Wiseman, it is the largest and most prominent of the theaters that once housed Yiddish productions. Its design is reminiscent of a contemporary synagogue in Semitic style with a large central arch, gold-hued cast-stone facing, and symbolic Judaic ornaments. The Yiddish Art Theater lasted only four seasons, but remained a Yiddish Stage, known as the Yiddish Folks Theater.

With Yiddish theater in decline, the building was converted into a movie house in 1946... It was restored in the 1991 and converted into Village East Cinemas, a multiplex movie theatre. Six small screening rooms have been added below the original lobby. Its past is still evident in the Byzantine and Moorish designs. A large Star of David adorns the dome of the main auditorium, and Yiddish writing is prevalent in the lobby.

The Yiddish Art Theater was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1993.”

Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/507557207/