Release Date
Original Release
December 14, 1959
1h 38m
The World of Sholom Aleichem (1959)
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.
Director
Don Richardson
Department: Directing
Cast
Gertrude Berg
Hannah
Sam Levene
Mendele
Zero Mostel
Melamed / Maxel
Morris Carnovsky
Aaron Katz / Presiding Angel
Lee Grant
The Goatseller / Avenging Angel
Nancy Walker
Rifkele
Jack Gilford
Bontsche Shveig / Angel
Charlotte Rae
The Angel Rochele
Elsa Freed
Unknown
Henry Lascoe
Dodi the Innkeeper
