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Top 10

Jewish-Related
Movies to Watch

During Christmas Break

NATE BLOOM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

W

ho doesn’t love a good
Christmas movie, right?
But if you crave a dose of
Jewishness this holiday season, check out
our list of eclectic, somewhat eccentric
selections of Jewish-related films and TV
episodes to cozy up to.
All are pretty upbeat. Some are pretty
familiar but come with some notes that
may enhance your viewing. Some will
probably be newfound pleasures. Except
otherwise noted, each is available on
Amazon streaming for $3; some are free
on Amazon Prime and other premium
streaming services.

CASABLANCA (1942). Last year
marked the 75th anniversary of this
film — among the “most Jewish” of
Hollywood film classics. Michael Curtiz,
a Hungarian Jew, won the Oscar for
directing and the film’s Jewish screen-
writers, Howard Koch and the brothers
Philip and Julius Epstein, won the best
screenplay Oscar.
Drink a toast as each Jewish member
of the cast first appears: Paul Hernreid
as freedom fighter Victor Laszlo; Peter
Lorre as Ugarte, the crook who steals
“letters of transit”; S.Z. “Cuddles”
Sakall, as Carl, the cute waiter; Curt
Bois as “the pickpocket”; Marcel Dalio,
as Emil, the croupier; Joy Page as
Annina, a refugee who is almost black-
mailed into sex; and Dan Seymour as

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December 20 • 2018

jn

In a recent interview, Fiddler pro-
ducer Hal Prince, now 90, detailed
how difficult the super-talented Mostel
could be, and it’s understandable that
he didn’t get the film role. I was sur-
prised, however, by two other Prince
nuggets — the role of Tevye was first
offered to Milton Berle! He wanted
too much money and it didn’t happen.
Berle was still a big star in 1963, when
the show was being written, and he
could draw crowds. Still, Berle’s per-
sona was so far away from a humble,
pious milkman that Fiddler likely
would have closed in Philadelphia.
Also: The semi-comic song “When
Messiah Comes” was cut from the
stage and film version because they
discovered it just didn’t work in con-
text of the story.

Diner (1982)

Abdul, the doorman.

DINER (1982). Barry Levinson
directed and wrote this film, his first.
He perfectly captured the way funny
young Jewish guys schmooze and ban-
ter.
The setting is Baltimore in winter,
1959. It centers on six old pals, all
around 21, who often meet at a diner.
We find at the movie’s end (a Jewish
wedding) that all but two are Jewish.
Virtually everyone in the cast was an
unknown in 1982 and, for many, it was
their first film role. The Jews playing

Jews: Paul Reiser and Daniel Stern,
both now 61, and Steve Guttenberg,
now 60. Mickey Rourke plays a Jew,
with Kevin Bacon and Tim Daly
playing the non-Jews. Ellen Barkin
(Jewish; now 64) plays Stern’s wife.
Diner has it all — funny, touching and
insightful.

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971). A
classic with one problem: Israeli actor
Topol, now 83, wasn’t bad as Tevye; but
he lacked the warmth that others who
played Teyve on stage had (like Zero
Mostel or Herschel Bernardi).

THE FRISCO KID (1979). This film
has so many Jewish things going for it
that you can forgive that it sometimes
gets too cutesy-heartwarming. The late
Gene Wilder stars as Avram, a Polish
rabbi who arrives in Philadelphia with
the intent of traveling to a post in San
Francisco. Long story short: Con men
rob him; the Amish (who Avram first
thinks are Jews) help him; more trou-
bles ensue, but he’s helped by a bank
robber (Harrison Ford, then 37), with
a heart of gold. Everything turns out
great in the end. Footnotes: Wilder