Almonds And Raisins: A History Of The Yiddish Cinema

This documentary reviews the Yiddish cinema in the US and Europe between the release of The Jazz Singer in 1927 and the outbreak of the WW2 in 1939. It present excerpts from several of the 300 Yiddish movies made between during these years, and also ties this short life together and puts it into a context. It captures the idea and the history of these movies, which are now, in themselves, important documents of American and Jewish immigrant history. The excerpts of the films themselves tell of the life in New York, many times lives of poverty in new ghettos. There are melodramas about aged parents finding long-lost children who have become doctors or lawyers, strikes and of social climbers. Seven of the great figures of Yiddish films appear in interviews to review what they did and to relate the movies to the audiences that relished them. With: Herschel Bernardi, Joseph Green, Zvee Scooler, Seymour Rexite, Leo Fuchs, Miriam Kressyn, David Opatashu. Narration by actor Orson Welles.