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The World of Sholom Aleichem

1959 · 1h 38m · Drama, TV Movie

Based on the Writer Whose Stories Inspired The Fiddler on the Roof

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.

Cast

• Gertrude Berg as Hannah
• Sam Levene as Mendele
• Zero Mostel as Melamed / Maxel
• Morris Carnovsky as Aaron Katz / Presiding Angel
• Lee Grant as The Goatseller / Avenging Angel
• Nancy Walker as Rifkele
• Jack Gilford as Bontsche Shveig / Angel
• Charlotte Rae as The Angel Rochele
• Elsa Freed
• Henry Lascoe as Dodi the Innkeeper
• Conrad Bromberg as (as Conrad Josephs)
• Frederick Rolf as Rabbi David / Prosecuting Angel

Details

Director

Don Richardson

Released

December 14, 1959

Runtime

1h 38m

Genres

Drama, TV Movie

Studio

Talent Associates

Status

Released

TMDB score

9.0 / 10 from 1 votes