The folks at Kino Lorber have been very busy the past couple of years putting together important collections of niche movies by forgotten and/or marginalized filmmakers. In 2016 there was PIONEERS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA. In 2018 there was PIONEERS: FIRST WOMEN FILMMAKERS. Now in 2020 it’s THE JEWISH SOUL: TEN CLASSICS OF YIDDISH CINEMA. These movies are a poignant and important look back to a time when Jewish filmmakers made movies for Jewish audiences and the common language was Yiddish not Hebrew. “10 Classics” is a misnomer as half of the offerings are low budget programmers. Even these movies are important for their glimpse into what entertained Jewish-American audiences 80 years ago.
The 5 “serious” films are the 1935 Polish documentary MIR KUMEN ON (WE”RE ON OUR WAY) about Jewish children at a sanatorium run on socialistic principles. The 1938 Polish supernatural drama THE DYBBUK about possession in a 19th century Jewish village. THE YIDDISH KING LEAR from 1935. 1940’s CALL TO GLORY which contains elements of THE JAZZ SINGER as it tells the story of a cantor who leaves his congregation to become an opera singer. 1939’s TEVYE which provided the source material for FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. These last 3 titles were made in America. All 5 are concerned with what it means to be Jewish in a Gentile world.
Of the 5 low budget movies featured in this set, 4 (MOTL THE OPERATOR (1939), HER SECOND MOTHER (1940), ELI, ELI (1940) and THREE DAUGHTERS (1950) were made by Joseph Seiden, the B movie king of Yiddish cinema. The one exception is AMERICAN MATCHMAKER (1940) which was directed by cult director Edgar G. Ulmer and shot on his customary shoestring budget. These films are a fascinating blend of comedy and melodrama with stock characters and a few songs thrown in for good measure. In 2 cases there are Jewish takes on the popular 1930s Hollywood films STELLA DALLAS and MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW. Art they are not but they were never intended to be anything other than disposable entertainment. It’s amazing they survived at all when you consider that over 90% of Yiddish films are lost.
THE DYBBUK (the only Yiddish movie to make an international impact), MIR KUMEN OM, and TEVYE are the best preserved and have been beautifully restored with crisp, clear images and clean sound. The other 7 are a hit and miss affair. All of them are watchable with decent sound and new subtitles for those unfamiliar with Yiddish. THE YIDDISH KING LEAR is virtually a filmed stage play while the other 6 are similar to the “poverty row” movies of the 1930s and 40s. MOTL THE OPERATOR is extremely touching with lots of stock footage of 1930s NYC while CALL TO GLORY contains an eye and ear opening experience into an Orthodox Jewish service. Most of the actors came from the NY Yiddish Theater and were well known to New York audiences.
THE JEWISH SOUL is a remarkable set that by its very nature will have a limited appeal. While it may not be for mainstream audiences it is a definite must for any serious student of film history or for anyone interested in Jewish customs and traditions from the pre- World War II years. The differences between the 1930s European Jews and those in 1940s America are on full display here. What makes this set so valuable, as is the case with any movie, is that it is a time capsule of when it was made. We are given the opportunity to revisit and explore that period with its fashions. social and political attitudes and whatever was “in” at the time. Make sure you listen to the various bonus commentaries as they explain the background of the films and reveal hidden meanings.
The Capsule Critic 