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In the advertisement, right:
Today! 7:45 to 9:45 in the evening, and an
entire week.
Moishe Oysher in a new musical film, from David Pinski.
"Yankl der shmid."
In the film there participates: Anna Appel,
Paul Baratov, Florence Weiss, Miriam Riselle, Leah Naomi, Yudl
Dubinsky, Michael Goldstein, Benjamin Fishbein, Max Vodnoy et al.
Personal appearance at the premiere by Moishe
Oysher and David Pinski! Special Midnight show for all the Yiddish
actors.
The entire cast will perform personally.
Continental Theatre, Broadway at 52nd Street.
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The Cast: |
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Moishe Oysher |
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Yankl |
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Miriam Riselle |
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Tamara |
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Florence Weiss |
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Rivke |
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Anna Appel |
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Chaye-Peshe |
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Ben-Zvi Baratov |
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Bendet |
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Michael Goldstein
(as Michael Gorrin) |
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Raffuel |
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Leah Naomi |
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Mariashe |
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Max Vodnoy |
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Simche |
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Luba Wesoly |
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Frumeh |
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Yudl Dubinsky |
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Reb Aaron |
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Luba Rymer |
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Sprintz-Gnesye |
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Benjamin Fishbein |
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Frolke |
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Ruben Wendorf |
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Elia |
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Ray Schneier |
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Chaika - Rivke's Mother |
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R. Shanock |
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Leah |
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Herschel Bernardi |
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Young Yankl |
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Sophie Bressler |
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Dvoshe, Frumeh's Maid |
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Libby Charney |
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First Girl |
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Clara Deutschmann |
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Chalke |
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Janet Deutschmann |
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Second Girl |
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Riesa Halpern |
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Seamstress |
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Michel Rosenberg |
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YANKL DER SHMID
(THE SINGING BLACKSMITH)
1938, 105 minutes, B & W
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Written by David Pinski
Music by Jacob Weinberg
Filmed in New York, NY and Newton, NJ
First released in the United States
on November 1, 1938
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Moishe Oysher, the renowned cantor and
star of Yiddish radio, stars in Edgar G. Ulmer's musical
version of David Pinski's play Yankl der shmid. Singing,
dancing, and flashing his eyes, Oysher gives his most robust
performance as a passionate shtetl blacksmith who must
struggle against temptation to become a mensch.
Recently
rediscovered footage makes this the most complete extant
version of Ulmer's lively folk operetta, replete with an
example of Yiddish swing. With Florence Weiss and Miriam Riselle.
-- The National Center for Jewish Film
Here is a review of the film from the
Brooklyn (N.Y.) Daily Eagle, Nov. 2, 1938:
With David Pinski's popular play,
"Yankl der shmid," as his vehicle. Moishe Oysher came back
to Broadway last night in person, as well as on the screen
of the Continental Theatre. Not since "Marie Antoinette"
opened, has a night film premiere attracted such an
enthusiastic crowd. During two showings of "The Singing
Blacksmith," the Continental was packed to capacity.
This was Oysher's crowd. It applauded
vigorously after he completed each important scene. But it
thrilled as well to a screenplay that bears few of the
heavy-handed dramatic trappings that have marred other film
efforts of Yiddish players.
The action of "The Singing
Blacksmith" is not always fluid. At the outset, it is
definitely episodic and is badly in need of tightening-up
which would at once speed up its pace and cut down its
running time of nearly two hours.
Episodic or not, "The Singing
Blacksmith" never loses sight of the business at hand.
Sometimes that business is to rib the ancient Jewish custom
of matchmaking. It does its job inoffensively and, with the
help of two comic matchmakers, makes the ribbing an amusing
highlight. |
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When it has settled down to
characterizing the blacksmith, it fixes the burden firmly on the
shoulders of Moishe Oysher. And that, too, is a good choice, for he
is [a] splendid actor with diversified talents: a fine comic strain,
an invigorating baritone voice, and a sensitive feeling for his
drama.
On the Continental screen, Oysher is Yankl the
smithy -- a boisterous fellow who has learned his trade by
apprenticeship and has made it pay. Without responsibilities, he
enjoys life and refused to settle down. Strong, personable and
fun-loving, he charms the village girls.
But when he sees Tamara, the orphaned niece of
the town's most aristocratic family, he realizes that he really
hasn't been happy. Refusing to recognize the difference in rank.
Yankl engages a matchmaker to arrange the marriage and pledges
himself to abandon his easy living.
Tamara accepts him though her uncle warns her
against him. Their married life is happy until one of the smithy's
old flames breaks with her husband and comes to Yankl's house to
room. He is tempted to return for a spree and almost does -- but not
quite -- in the gay celebration that follows the birth of his first
son.
There is no smooth gradation of emotion in
Yankl's reform. If there were, "The Singing Blacksmith" might easily
be the best thing the Yiddish screen has produced. But even in its
episodic manner, it manages to be bright, frequently thrilling,
entertainment. To those who know the language, the dialogue, is
evidently richer than the English captions which, nevertheless, are
adequate. -- H.C. |