Maurice Schwartz, the theatrical impresario who did more than anyone else to introduce the works of Yiddish author/playwright Sholom Alecheim to the American public, both produced and starred in the Yiddish-language film Tevye (aka Tevya). Schwartz plays the title role, a philosophical milkman in the small Jewish-Ukrainian ghetto community of Anatevka (recreated in the Long Island community of Jericho). Tevye is "blessed" with five marriageable daughters, one of whom, Chave (Miriam Reselle), defies his wishes and falls in love with Fedia (Leon Liebgold), an intellectual gentile. This plot should sound familiar to anyone who's ever seen the stage or film hit Fiddler on the Roof, which was based on several Alecheim short stories. Long believed lost, Tevye was rediscovered and restored in 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Morris Strassberg - Starasta; Leon Leibgold; Revecca Weintraub
Credit
Maurice Schwartz - Director, Sam Citron - Editor, Larry Williams - Cinematographer, Maurice Schwartz - Screenwriter, Sholom Aleichem - Short Story Author
Tevye is a 1939 film adaptation of Sholem Aleichem's story of the same name (also known as Tevya and Tevye der Milchiker, and Tevye the Milkman). It stars Maurice Schwartz, Miriam Riselle, Rebecca Weintraub, Paula Lubelski, Leon Liebgold, Vicki Marcus, Betty Marcus and Julius Adler. The movie was adapted by Marcy Klauber and Schwartz from the Sholem Aleichem play based on his own book. Schwartz also directed the film. The production is in Yiddish. The film was the first Non-English language film to have been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
