Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Encyclopedia
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg is a 2009 documentary film on the broadcast career of Gertrude Berg
and her radio and television serials, The Goldbergs
. Aviva Kempner
directed the film, interviewing family members of Berg, cast members of the Goldbergs and historians of radio and television. She also includes interview statements by non-celebrities, and celebrities, including All Things Considered
anchor Susan Stamberg
, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, television sitcom producer Norman Lear
and Mary Tyler Moore Show actor Ed Asner
.
The film follows Berg's early years of marriage, her short period in New Orleans, her move to New York City
, to her work in the radio and television renditions of The Goldbergs. The film devotes attention to the role of The Goldbergs in helping to present a congenial image of a striving Jewish family to the broader American public, and the tremendous popularity that the radio and television shows experienced. Stamberg deems Berg, "the Oprah
of her day."
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg addresses developments contemporaneous with the years of The Goldbergs, Kristallnacht
, the American Nazi German-American Bund
and right-wing radio lecturer Father Coughlin. It also deals with Berg's struggle against the McCarthy Era blacklisters
and the influence of Red Channels
. The film ends with the end of the television program and Berg's post-Goldbergs professional career.
The film won the 2009 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award.
Gertrude Berg
Gertrude Berg was an American actress and screenwriter. A pioneer of classic radio, she was one of the first women to create, write, produce and star in a long-running hit when she premiered her serial comedy-drama The Rise of the Goldbergs , later known as The Goldbergs.-Career:Berg was born...
and her radio and television serials, The Goldbergs
The Goldbergs
The Goldbergs is a comedy-drama broadcast from 1929 to 1946 on American radio, and from 1949 to 1956 on American television. It was adapted into a 1948 play, Me and Molly, and a 1973 Broadway musical, Molly.-Radio:...
. Aviva Kempner
Aviva Kempner
Aviva Kempner is an American filmmaker. Her documentaries investigate non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and focus on the untold stories of Jewish heroes. She is most well known for The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg....
directed the film, interviewing family members of Berg, cast members of the Goldbergs and historians of radio and television. She also includes interview statements by non-celebrities, and celebrities, including All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
anchor Susan Stamberg
Susan Stamberg
Susan Stamberg is an American radio journalist who is currently a Special Correspondent for National Public Radio and guest host for Weekend Edition Saturday.Stamberg was born in Newark, New Jersey...
, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, television sitcom producer Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
and Mary Tyler Moore Show actor Ed Asner
Ed Asner
Edward Asner , commonly known as Ed Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...
.
The film follows Berg's early years of marriage, her short period in New Orleans, her move to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, to her work in the radio and television renditions of The Goldbergs. The film devotes attention to the role of The Goldbergs in helping to present a congenial image of a striving Jewish family to the broader American public, and the tremendous popularity that the radio and television shows experienced. Stamberg deems Berg, "the Oprah
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
of her day."
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg addresses developments contemporaneous with the years of The Goldbergs, Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
, the American Nazi German-American Bund
German-American Bund
The German American Bund or German American Federation was an American Nazi organization established in the 1930s...
and right-wing radio lecturer Father Coughlin. It also deals with Berg's struggle against the McCarthy Era blacklisters
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
and the influence of Red Channels
Red Channels
Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television is an anti-Communist tract published in the United States at the height of the Red Scare...
. The film ends with the end of the television program and Berg's post-Goldbergs professional career.
The film won the 2009 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Freedom of Expression Award.