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The World of Sholom Aleichem

"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.

Top Cast

  • Gertrude Berg

    Gertrude Berg

    Hannah

  • Sam Levene

    Sam Levene

    Mendele

  • Zero Mostel

    Zero Mostel

    Melamed / Maxel

  • Morris Carnovsky

    Morris Carnovsky

    Aaron Katz / Presiding Angel

  • Lee Grant

    Lee Grant

    The Goatseller / Avenging Angel

  • Nancy Walker

    Nancy Walker

    Rifkele

  • Jack Gilford

    Jack Gilford

    Bontsche Shveig / Angel

  • Charlotte Rae

    Charlotte Rae

    The Angel Rochele

  • Elsa Freed

    Elsa Freed

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.

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