Yidl mitn fidl

I must confess that I'm not that much of a fan of Broadway musicals to begin with, and that is what this film most resembles. And as dumbed down and precious as most Broadway musicals are, this movie is ten times more so. I can only imagine just how starved the world must have been for Yiddish entertainment in 1936 in order for this insignificant item to have become a smash hit, both in Poland and in some areas of the US. Beyond the brainless screenplay and childishly simple songs, I found the famous Molly Picon to be very disappointing. I think part of the reason is that she is 38 in this film, well past her prime. I also believe she was never that good looking. But I must admit she did manage to be fairly animated and vivacious. Another strange quality of this film is its almost lunatic defiance shown with respect to some of the marginal character's grotesque appearance, especially those with very bad teeth. I'm 50 myself, and my teeth are yellow from years of cigar smoking, and they have gaps due to gum disease, so I'm not perfect. And I realize that a smile is still a smile, no matter now snaggle-toothed, especially if it's from someone you have affection for. But the scraggily beards and the repellent, bad-toothed grimaces that are thrust into the audience's face here are hard to understand. Frankly they just made me nauseous. I leave it to other, more astute cultural critics than myself to make sense of why this was included in the manner it was. All in all, I guess I'd have to say that this movie is little more than an historical footnote. If you have a soft spot in your heart for Yiddish culture, than maybe you can forgive this movie's many and large faults. I couldn't.