The Cantor's Son

SCREENINGS

WORLD PREMIERE Jerusalem Film Festival (2006)
New York Jewish Film Festival (2007)
Stockholm Jewish Film Festival (2007)
Rochester Jewish Film Festival (2007)
Jewish Film Festival, Austria (2007)

NEWLY RESTORED 35MM PRINT WITH COMPLETE NEW SUBTITLES

This Yiddish feature film musical drama marks the screen debut of singer and cantor Moishe Oysher (Overture to Glory and The Singing Blacksmith). Shot in Pennsylvania near the Pocono Mountains, the film features Oysher in the title role of a wayward youth who makes his way from his Polish shtetl to New York's Lower East Side (the film includes rare glimpses of the Lower East Side and of 2nd Avenue Yiddish theater marquees of the period). While washing floors in a nightclub several years later he is “discovered” and becomes a well-known singer. Ultimately, Oysher's character returns home to the Old Country and reunites with his parents and his childhood sweetheart.

In his book on Yiddish cinema, Bridge of Light, critic J. Hoberman calls The Cantor's Son an "anti-Jazz Singer," further remarking that the film's story parallels Oysher's own struggle to reconcile his cantorial calling with a career in show business. Like his film character, Oysher, born in Bessarabia the son and grandson of cantors, was both a matinee idol and a celebrated cantor. Oysher was married to his The Cantor’s Son co-star Florence Weiss.

After film director Sidney M. Goldin (Uncle Moses, East and West) suffered a fatal heart attack during the production of The Cantor’s Son, he was replaced by Stanislavsky-protege Ilya Motlyeff, who is credited as the film’s director. The film's score (including the sentimental song "Mayn Shtetle Belz") was composed by Alexander Olshanetsky, a concert violinist and veteran of the 2nd Avenue Yiddish theater.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

"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 (Dec. 1937).

“May be the most exhilarating example yet exhumed of the once-thriving, completely global
Yiddish cinema.” – Michael Atkinson, Boston Phoenix (3/25/2008)

"One of the most enjoyable movies...is “The Cantor’s Son.” The black and white
restoration is fantastic, and the musical numbers are plentiful." - Ed Symkus, CNC & Tab
newspapers (4/2/2008)

ARTICLES

"HISTORIC YIDDISH FILM RESTORED"
News Tribune, July 2006

"BRIEF REVIEWS: THE CANTOR'S SON",
Hadassah Magazine, August/September 2007

PURCHASE DVD

HOME USE ONLY
$36.00 plus shipping
Home Use Only DVD (Not for Classroom/Institutional Use)

Does not include Public Performance Rights
Home Use Policy (pdf)

INSTITUTIONAL USE

$72.00 plus shipping
Classroom/Institutional Use Only DVD

Does not include Public Performance Rights
Institutional Use Policy (pdf)

Back to Top

The National Center For Jewish Film
Brandeis University, Lown 102, MS053, Waltham MA 02454
P: (781) 899 7044, F: (781) 736 2070