The World of Sholom Aleichem (1959)
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
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Gertrude Berg as Hannah |
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Sam Levene as Mendele |
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Zero Mostel as Melamed / Maxel |
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Morris Carnovsky as Aaron Katz / Presiding Angel |
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Lee Grant as The Goatseller / Avenging Angel |
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Nancy Walker as Rifkele |
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Jack Gilford as Bontsche Shveig / Angel |
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Charlotte Rae as The Angel Rochele |
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Elsa Freed as |
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Henry Lascoe as Dodi the Innkeeper |
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Conrad Bromberg as (as Conrad Josephs) |
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Frederick Rolf as Rabbi David / Prosecuting Angel |
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Dora Weissman as |
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Carl Reindel as |
| Lighting | Vernon Cook | Lighting Director |
| Art | Myron Bleam | Set Decoration |
| Production | Marc Merson | Casting |
| Crew | Ellida Geira | Choreographer |
| Sound | Robert de Cormier | Original Music Composer |
| Production | Budd Wilds | Production Supervisor |
| Production | Lee Miller | Production Assistant |
| Writing | Sholom Aleichem | Story |
| Costume & Make-Up | Cricket McCune | Makeup Supervisor |
| Writing | Arnold Perl | Writer |
| Art | Zvi Geyra | Settings |
| Writing | Bob Rafelson | Script Editor |
| Production | Lewis Freedman | Producer |
| Production | Henry T. Weinstein | Producer |
| Art | Bill Bunce | Graphic Designer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Michael Travis | Costume Design |
| Sound | Serge Hovey | Original Music Composer |
| Production | Jack McGeehan | Unit Manager |
| Writing | Y.L. Peretz | Story |
| Directing | Don Richardson | Director |
