Saturday, January 13, 2024
Fiddler on the Roof
- Commentary: Under construction.
So, here I was, a few minutes ago, adding an entry to my continually expanding catalog of owned discs, talking about why I don't own Fiddler on the Roof, even though I seek it out on streaming at least once or twice a year. I looked it up online to see when and where I can catch it streaming, next, because, you know, thinking about it suddenly made me want to watch it, again, and I noticed that Amazon, who is usually streaming it, has begun playing a lot (if not most, or all) of their "content" "with ads", including Fiddler on the Roof, and I decided, well, f**k and g*dd*mn*t, I forgot about that, let me see if I can find a cheap copy of it to add to my personal collection. And I did. I also realized why Amazon, likely, has decided to run ads as a matter of course. Maybe it's not satisfied with hard copy sales, anymore, since "everyone" (an exaggeration, of course; I subscribe to more than a few movie review vlogs that lately have been promoting ownership of "physical media" even as it seems that "everyone else" is trying hard to promote their [ad supported] streaming) is streaming, with ads. Sorry, Media Moguls. I can only barely tolerate ads, anymore. So, if I can afford it and can find a copy that fits into my budget, it's "physical media" for me. I'm guessing I'm right because, as ads have been added, prices for physical copies have been dropping. More on this later, likely.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Chaim Topol Tevye Norma Crane Golde Rosalind Harris Tzeitel Michele Marsh Hodel Neva Small Chava Molly Picon Yente Paul Mann Lazar Wolf Leonard Frey Motel Kamzoil Paul Michael Glaser Perchik Ray Lovelock Fyedka Elaine Edwards Shprintze Candy Bonstein Bielke Zvee Scooler Rabbi Louis Zorich Constable Vernon Dobtcheff Russian Official Tutte Lemkow The Fiddler
Just a note, here. The cast is huge with many excellent actors (and dancers). So, above in the table, I whittled it down to the ones who play memorable parts. At the film's 50th anniversary, critics came out of the woodwork to reevaluate the film. I've peppered this write-up with some of those re-reviews. Here's one more by yet another critic. I'm telling you, people can't seem to walk away from this film. This movie will likely live on for decades to come. Nell Minow at Roger Ebert's site reviewed the documentary on the movie in 2022, one year beyond the original movie's 50th anniversary. I haven't yet found this documentary for free anywhere, which, I suppose, makes sense, although it mightily annoys me. If I should find a free venue for it, I'll post it. It may take a few years, though, for it to show up for free. Considering the prices quoted for it, I doubt that the documentary is worth the price, to rent or to buy, even though it may very well be interesting.
Okay. Last word on accessing the documentary mentioned above, and, another, Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles, both of which run about 90 minutes. If you have a public library card, it's likely that your library has a subscription to kanopy, a movie streaming service to which libraries can subscribe, and, if they do, so can you. At the moment, kanopy is streaming both the above mentioned documentaries. I have an account through my local public library, and, as it turns out, although I've lost my pin number so I can't access it through my computer, I'm still logged in on my television version of kanopy and have access to both documentaries. Over the next few days I'll watch both and report back.
You'll notice, as well, that this is the second time I've owned this movie. I used to own it because my mom loved it. Then she died and I donated it to our local library, feeling exactly the same way I described in the write-up of it in yellow, just above this listing in my Alpha Index to the left on this page, and in the aforementioned entry. Oh, well. Live, and learn, and try to avoid streaming service ads. That's my new motto.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1971
Directed by Norman Jewison.
Labels: historical5, musical2, period7
