Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 2 no. 42
July 22, 1992
 
1) Mamele (David Neal Miller)
2) Sex (Bob Werman)
3) Shmuck and Schmuck (Ellen Prince)
4) Meshorer (David Sherman)
5) Avrom Reisen (Bob Werman)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 1:19:16 EDT
From: David Neal Miller <dnmiller@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: _Mamele_
 
In MENDELE Vol 2.38, David Sherman writes that
 
One thing I find unfortunate is that the credits list the
actors but don't say who was who.  In Mamele, for example,
I know Molly Picon was Mamele, but I don't know who the
others were.  Who played her father?  Who played the fellow
she was in love with?  Are there complete lists anywhere?
 
In at least one case, Waszynski's _Dibek_, at least one
lead would have preferred that there be no credits at all:
the late Dine Halpern,  whom I had the pleasure of
interviewing in the mid- 1970s, retained the stage actress'
distain for "movis," and never did understand--that is,
chose not to understand--why the scholarly community kept
pestering her about a (well-paying) gig as Fradl, when she
had devoted her considerable talents toward developing a
"better" Yiddish theatre. That attitude may have been
generational, since the romantic leads were quite content
to have starred in the one (near-)classic of Yiddish
cinema.
 
Eric Grossman's 1979 dissertation (NYU), "A World History
of the Yiddish Cinema," contains an incomplete but
extremely valuable FIlmography. J. Hoberman's recent book,
_Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film between Two Worlds_, is now
the study of record; of the Yiddish-language film critics,
Filmikus (= ?) in the _Literarishe bleter_ and A. Filman (=
Dovid Matis) in the linke prese and, later, the _Forverts_,
are worth the time with the microfilm.
 
Circling round to _Mamele_, Grossman's filmography (p. 229)
lists the cast, but not the roles they play. Hoberman
discusses _Mamele_, from which I gleaned the following:

Khavtshi Samet: Molly Picon
Khavtskhi's father: Max Bozyk
Max Katz: Menashe Oppenheim
Berta: Gertrude Bullman
the young musician: Edmund Zayenda
 
David Neal Miller      miller.3@osu.edu

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue,  21 Jul 92 13:04 +0300
From: RWERMAN%HUJIVMS.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu
Subject: re: sexual intercourse.

The Yiddish word I remember, considered unmentionable
for the most part, for sexual intercourse was "trennen."

__Bob Werman     rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il    Jerusalem

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 10:15:52 -0400
From: "Ellen F. Prince" <ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu>
Subject: RE: Shmuck and Schmuck

[Mikhl Herzog writes (Vol2.38):]
>
>Ellen, there's some literature on the Yiddish/English
>shmok/shmuck distinction (and their NON-RELATIONSHIP to
>German Schmuck). I don't have access to the bibliography at
>the moment but will be glad to quote chapt verse next
>month.

i'd heard about the non-relationship, but see this week's
philologus column in the english _forward_. (no, i'm not
assuming that the column is correct.)

Ellen Prince

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 11:19:11 EDT
From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.CA
Subject: RE: Meshorer

Paul Weichsel writes:

> During those years I was a meshorer with Samuel Sterner's
> Symphonic Choir.

Meshorer?  What does this mean (well, some of that was clear from
the rest of the article), and what's its derivation?

David Sherman

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue,  21 Jul 92 18:58 +0300
From: RWERMAN@HUJIVMS.HUJI.AC.IL
Subject: Avrom Reisen

Does anyone know of a new book of translation of
Reisen,

Avraham Reisen, __The Heart-Stirring Sermon and Other
Stories__?  And of the publisher, Overlook?

Thanks.


__Bob Werman    rwerman@hujivms.bitnet    rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il
Jerusalem

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