Yidl Mitn Fidl, a yiddish song, a yiddish film
Classic yiddish film starring Molly Picon.
Filmed in Poland in 1936.¨
“Director Green returned to his native Poland from America to produce this film, the most commercially successful musical in the history of the Yiddish cinema, starring Molly Picon, consummate comedienne of Yiddish theater, vaudeville, and film. This is the classic folk comedy about a man and his daughter who, penniless, decide to become traveling musicians. The daughter disguises herself as a boy to relieve her father’s anxiety about unforeseeable problems that could befall a young woman “out in the world.” They then join together with “another” father-son duo for music, comedy and romance. Green’s original screenplay was enhanced by the folksy lyrics of Yiddish poet Itzik Manger and the memorable musical score of Abraham Ellstein, as well as the talents of Leon Leibold, the romantic lead who later starred in The Dybbuk and Tevye, and Max Bozyk, a character actor par excellence. Breaking away from the studio-bound cinematography of the early Yiddish talkies, the film was shot on location in the picturesque town of Kazimierz and nearby Warsaw. With shtetl inhabitants as extras, the film captures the vitality and invincible spirit of traditional small town Jewish life. ” (source Imdb.com)
Directed by
Joseph Green
Jan Nowina-Przybylski
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Joseph Green
Konrad Tom novella
Molly Picon … Itke aka Yiddle
Leon Liebgold … Froim Kalamutker, the fiddler
Simche Fostel … Arye, Itke’s father
Max Bozyk … Isaac ‘Ajzyk’ Kalamutker
Dora Fakiel … Taibele Lepski (as D. Fakiel)
Chana Lewin … The Widow
Symche Natan … R. Singer, theater manager
Samuel Landau … Saul Gold
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Max Brin … Marszelik
Basia Liebgold … Taibele’s mother (uncredited)
Produced by
Joseph Green …. producer
Jacob Kalich …. producer
Original Music by
Abe Ellstein Abraham Ellstein
Cinematography by
Jack Jonilowicz
Seweryn Steinwurzel
Production Design by
Jacek Weinreich
Art Direction by
Jacob Kalich
Czeslaw Piaskowski (uncredited)
Production Management
Józef Frankfurt …. production manager
Edward Hantower …. production manager (as Edward Hantowicz)