The World of Sholom Aleichem
Based on the Writer Whose Stories Inspired The Fiddler on the Roof
98 mins
This omnibus release consists of three playlets filmed and aired during television's Golden Age, and starring some of the legends of film and television. The collection originally ran as a two-hour segment on December 14, 1959, on the anthology series The Play of the Week, broadcast locally in New York City via the independent radio station WNTA. Each "tale" in the anthology was adapted from a single tale by the inimitable Sholom Aleichem, regarded by many as the "Yiddish Mark Twain". Included are: "A Tale of Chelm" starring Zero Mostel and Nancy Walker in the story of a bookseller attempting to buy a goat; "Bontche Schweig" about a poor man (Jack Gilford) whose recent arrival in Heaven makes the angels cry; and "The High School" about a Jewish merchant (Morris Carnovsky) persuaded by his wife (Gertrude Berg) to let their son attend a particular high school despite the enforcement of quotas for Jewish students.
Conrad Bromberg
(as Conrad Josephs)
Y.L. Peretz
Story
Michael Travis
Costume Design
Robert de Cormier
Original Music Composer
Arnold Perl
Writer
Zvi Geyra
Settings
Myron Bleam
Set Decoration
Vernon Cook
Lighting Director
Jack McGeehan
Unit Manager
Sholom Aleichem
Story
Lewis Freedman
Producer
Lee Miller
Production Assistant
Henry T. Weinstein
Producer
Marc Merson
Casting
Bill Bunce
Graphic Designer
Ellida Geira
Choreographer
Budd Wilds
Production Supervisor
Serge Hovey
Original Music Composer
Cricket McCune
Makeup Supervisor
Don Richardson
Director