Ilya Motyleff, Sidney M. GoldinUSA 1937 / 90 min
In seinem Filmdebüt verkörpert der Sänger und Kantor Moishe Oysher den jungen Juden Saul, der aus einem polnischen Schtetl in die New Yorker Lower East Side auswandert. Bald zieht er in die alte Heimat zurück, um wieder mit seinen Eltern und seiner Jugendliebe zusammen zu sein. Regisseur von Dem Chasens Sundel war zunächst Sidney M. Goldin, der davor schon zahlreiche jiddische Produktionen drehte. Als er während der Dreharbeiten einen tödlichen Herzanfall erlitt, wurde der Film, den der Kritiker Jim Hoberman einen „anti-Jazz Singer“ nennt, von Ilya Motyleff fertiggestellt.This Yiddish musical drama marks the screen debut of singer and cantor Moishe Oysher. Shot in Pennsylvania, the film features Oysher in the title role of a young Jew who makes his way from his Polish shtetl to New York's Lower East Side. Ultimately, Oysher's character returns home to the Old Country and reunites with his parents and his childhood sweetheart. After film director Sidney M. Goldin suffered a fatal heart attack during the production, he was replaced by Stanislavsky-protege Ilya Motlyeff, who is credited as the film’s director. "A deft combination of comedy, romance and outstanding music, this new Jewish picture will appeal tremendously to the Jewish fans. A fine cast, well done story and deft direction combined with an unusually beautiful musical score, make this one of the most outstanding Jewish pictures produced in this country" (Film Daily, December 1937).
