Yidl Mitn Fidl is a 1936

1936 in film

The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...

  musical film

Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

.

History

After the success of Joseph in the Land of Egypt

Joseph in the Land of Egypt (film)

Joseph in the Land of Egypt was a 1932 film, considered to be the first talkie film in Yiddish. Produced in the United States by Joseph Green and directed by George Roland, the film was intended to exploit the burgeoning Yiddish-speaking theater-going in America by introducing them to the new...

, a silent film dubbed into the Yiddish language by Joseph Green

Joseph Green (actor)

Joseph Green , born Yoysef Grinberg, a.k.a. Josef Grünberg, Joseph Greenberg and Joseph Greene, a Polish-born Jew who emigrated to the United States in 1924, was an actor in Yiddish theater and one of the few directors of Yiddish language films; he made four films including A brivele der mamen and...

, met with success, he decided to create an entirely Yiddish film, and returned to his native Poland to do so. Yidl Mitn Fidl was the most successful Yiddish film of all time and the most popular of Green's films as well.

The film was shot on location in Kazimierz

Kazimierz

Kazimierz is a historical district of Kraków , best known for being home to a Jewish community from the 14th century until the Second World War.-Early history:...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, with local shtetl

Shtetl

A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...

 inhabitants as extras. Based on a novel by Konrad Tom, the screenplay was written by Green. Its score was composed by Abraham Ellstein

Abraham Ellstein

Abraham "Abe" Ellstein was an American composer for Yiddish entertainments. Along with Shalom Secunda, Joseph Rumshinsky, and Alexander Olshanetsky, Ellstein was one of the "big four" composers of his era in New York City's Second Avenue Yiddish theatre scene...

, and the lyrics to the songs were written by Itzik Manger

Itzik Manger

Itzik Manger was a prominent Yiddish poet and playwright, a self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, and ‘master tailor’ of the written word...

. Jakob Jonilowicz

Jakob Jonilowicz

Jakob Jonilowicz was an Israeli cinematographer.Jonilowicz was born in Vilna, at that time part of the Russian Empire. He studied cinematography in Paris....

 was the photo director of the film.

Plot summary

The film follows the story of an impoverished man, Arye (Simche Fostel), and his daughter Itke (Molly Picon), who decide to become traveling klezmorim

Klezmer

Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...

. Because her father is concerned about the misfortunes that can befall a young woman, Itke disguises herself as a man and calls herself Yidl.