ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[Ellemeno]

From IMDb:
Country: Poland/USA
Language: Yiddish
A young girl and her father are on their uppers in pre WWII Eastern Europe.  She plays the fiddle and he the double bass so they set off on their travels as wandering klezmorim (musicians). He's worried that she will attract the wrong kind of attention, so she dresses as a boy. (It wouldn't fool anyone, but suspend that disbelief.) They catch a lift from a passing haycart and sing and play their theme tune, Yidl mitn Fidl. "Life is a song!" (fortunately lidl rhymes with fidl), "Life is a joke!". They fall in with two other musicians: Froym, on violin, and Isaac, on clarinet. The band is a hit. Yidl falls in love with the goodlooking Froym and is particularly sent by his fiddle-playing (I know how she feels). She pours out her heart in a plaintive song (all music written by Abe Ellstein). They get booked to play at a wedding. Yidl finds out the bride doesn't want to marry her elderly fiance, so they kidnap her. "Life is a joke!" they tell her, and her voice adds something to their "philharmonie". In fact she's talent spotted in Warsaw and given a gig at a theatre, but at that moment her old love Yossl turns up and she runs off with him. I won't spoil the ending. It ends happily, but ... See it.

Yes, it's creaky and naive, and Yidl's impersonation of a boy can get a bit trying at times. The music, even through a scratchy soundtrack, is heart-stopping. In Yiddish with English subtitles. xxxxx

[MaineWriter]

==comment==

A home movie made by a passenger on the zeppelin 'Hindenburg' as it flew from Frankfurt am Main, Germany to Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA starting on 17 September 1936.

One of the 50 films in the 4-disk boxed DVD set called "Treasures from American Film Archives (2000)", compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation from 18 American film archives. This film was preserved by the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. This version has an uncredited piano music score and runs 7 minutes.

[MaineWriter]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

I think it is time for another special round

to liven things up around here.

I am going to call this one: COUNTDOWN!

For this round...whoever goes first (and I won't, since I just played a Z) will set the starting year. From there, we count down backwards, one year at a time. So, for example, if someone started the round with an A movie from 1976, then B would be 1975, C would be 1974, and so on. I'll post reminders for letters and years to keep up on track.

Unplayed movies, as always. Check the archive, please!

Wildcard X can be any movie from any year--a double wildcard!

Let me know if you have questions.

So...someone jump in and start the round!

Leslie
GameMistress

[Fran]

Next:  "B" from 2006

[southendmd]

From IMDb:  "They are the "Silver Belles," five women aged 84 to 96. They first met in the 1930's as chorus dancers at the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater where they worked 15 hour days, rehearsing a new show every week. In their heyday they performed with legendary band leaders like Cab Calloway, Jimmie Lunceford and Duke Ellington. When the big band era ended, and with it the need for show dancers, they all went into other work. In 1985 they put their tap shoes back on, and are still performing regularly. But in one week, Cleo tumbles down the subway stairs and breaks her knee and arm, Marion gets a pacemaker, and Bertye is taken to the hospital. Is this the end of the Silver Belles?"

I haven't seen the film, but I actually saw the Silver Belles in New York last year.  They rock!

Next:  "C" from 2005.

[MaineWriter]

next up: "D" from 2004

[Fran]

Based on the first third of John Irving's novel "A Widow for One Year".

Next:  "E" from 2003

[southendmd]

This was a fascinating documentary.

Wasn't he a handsome devil?

Next:  "F" from 2002

[MaineWriter]

==comment==

starring what's-his-name....



Next: G in 2001

[memento]

Next: H from 2000