The World of Sholom Aleichem

Dec 14, 1959

1h 38m

★ 0.0

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

Overview

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.

Genres

Drama

TV Movie

Production Companies

Talent Associates

The World of Sholom Aleichem Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Hannah

Gertrude Berg

Mendele

Sam Levene

Melamed / Maxel

Zero Mostel

Aaron Katz / Presiding Angel

Morris Carnovsky

The Goatseller / Avenging Angel

Lee Grant

Rifkele

Nancy Walker

Bontsche Shveig / Angel

Jack Gilford

The Angel Rochele

Charlotte Rae

Elsa Freed

Dodi the Innkeeper

Henry Lascoe

(as Conrad Josephs)

Conrad Bromberg

Rabbi David / Prosecuting Angel

Frederick Rolf

An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.

8.0

Amadeus

Sep 19, 1984

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

7.4

Meet Joe Black

Nov 12, 1998

Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?

8.6

12 Angry Men

Apr 10, 1957

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

7.7

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Jun 22, 1966

A history professor and his wife entertain a young couple who are new to the university's faculty. As the drinks flow, secrets come to light, and the middle-aged couple unload onto their guests the full force of the bitterness, dysfunction, and animosity that defines their marriage.

9.0

On Summer Sand

Jul 4, 2025

This story begins with a protagonist whose sense of time has halted due to the grief of losing his son, now abandoned by his wife, and his sudden cohabitation with his 17-year-old niece left behind by his sister. A man who has lost love, a woman who has renounced love, and a girl who knows nothing of love... As they confront their respective pains, their journey of discovering faint sprouts of hope in hearts as parched as summer sand is depicted—a poignant yet tender masterpiece where sorrow and warmth intertwine.

3.0

The Incendiary's Daughter

Mar 21, 1941

The fiddler Valenta has troubled his wife with his drinking and disorderly life. His daughter Rozárka and her younger sisters go to their aunt's in Prague, and their father sets fire to the abandoned house. Rozárka is suspected...

6.5

Blackmail

Jul 28, 1929

London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.

7.7

Stalag 17

May 29, 1953

After two American prisoners are killed by guards in the act of escaping from a German POW camp in World War II, barracks black marketeer J.J. Sefton is suspected of being an informer.

7.2

Driving Miss Daisy

Dec 13, 1989

The story of an old Jewish widow named Daisy Werthan and her relationship with her black chauffeur, Hoke. From an initial mere work relationship grew in 25 years a strong friendship between the two very different characters, in a time when those types of relationships were shunned.

6.8

Romeo + Juliet

Nov 1, 1996

In director Baz Luhrmann's contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.

7.1

Chicago

Dec 10, 2002

Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

7.9

Rope

Feb 1, 1948

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.

7.7

Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down

Nov 9, 2019

This anthology film, whose Chinese title begins with a romantic name for human excrement, premiered internationally at Rotterdam and won Best Screenplay from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. A variety of Hong Kong people wrestle with nostalgia when facing an uncertain future. Their stories give way to a documentary featuring a young barista turned political candidate.

No Image Available

9.0

Matkina spoveď

Jun 10, 1938

No overview available.

5.0

The Great Waltz

Nov 1, 1972

A musical based on the life and music of Johann Strauss, Jr.

2.7

Oldrich and Bozena

Aug 1, 1985

At the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries Boleslav's kingdom fell apart in the fratricidal war between the Přemyslovci and the other clans the main profiteer of this being the German emperor. At that time it seemed as if the Czech state and the lineage of its princes was awaiting its end..." It is with these words that the tale of this film begins, whose narrative is based upon the the play by František Hrubín of the same name.

No Image Available

0.0

Clavijo

Jan 1, 1982

No overview available.

8.0

Equals

Jan 1, 2014

An omnibus film on children's rights and the problems that the youngest members of our society have to face. Each story tackles a specific theme and has its own hero.

6.3

Love's Whirlpool

Mar 1, 2014

A room in a fancy downtown apartment. The evening orgy kicks off with eight men and women meeting for the first time, including an unemployed guy who pays the 20,000 yen party fee with money from his parents, and a female college student whose run-of-the-mill appearance hides a voracious sexual appetite.

The World of Sholom Aleichem

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The World of Sholom Aleichem Trailers