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The Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema - Motel, the Operator
Directed by Joseph Seiden, Aleksander Ford, Edgar G. Ulmer, Maurice Schwartz, Max Nosseck, and Michal Wasczyński
Year: 1935
Country: U.S., Poland
Language: Hebrew, Yiddish, English
A grand tragedy punctuated with outrageous twists of fate, the story follows Motel (Chaim Tauber), a sewing machine operator who runs afoul of his boss, loses his family and his memory. Years later, by Providence, he is given the opportunity to reunite with the child he had never known.
1939 U.S. B&W 87 Min.
Produced and directed by Joseph Seiden.
“A deliciously assorted showcase.”
- George Robinson, The New York Jewish Week
“Sure to provoke spirited debate, an essential form of nourishment for the Jewish soul.”
- The Forward
"The most heavily atmospheric and 'artistic' of the Yiddish talkies."
- J. Hoberman on THE DYBBUK in Bridge of Light
"The authentic version of Fiddler on the Roof."
- Allen Lewis Rickman on TEVYA
"Precious and haunting."
- Times of Israel on MIR KUMEN ON
"Think of it as a superior prequel to The Exorcist."
- Time Out on THE DYBBUK
"Arguably the best Yiddish-language film ever made."
- George Robinson on THE DYBBUK in Cine-Journal
Cast
Avrom Morewski Leo Fuchs
Moyshe Oyster
Maurice Schwartz
Maurice Krohner
Chaim Tauber
Max Badin
Charlotte Goldstein
Michael Rosenberg
Esther Field
Seymour Rechzeit
Fannie Levenstein
Miriam Riselle
Florence Weiss
Judith Abarbanel
Esta Salzman
Ajzyk Samberg
Crew
Directed by Joseph Seiden, Aleksander Ford, Edgar G. Ulmer, Maurice Schwartz, Max Nosseck and Michal Wasczyński
