Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural History of Fiddler on the Roof (67 page)

Piro gave the kids the requisite backstage pep talk … wept openly
Dorsey, McCullers, Hirsch, Haskins, Reynolds, Dais, Piro, Birnel interviews.

“The one word which keeps knocking”
Piro memo; Piro,
BF
, 226.

“It helped me to embrace”
Reynolds interview.

“all in vain”
Piro-1 interview.

A special screening was arranged
“Black Students React to New ‘Fiddler’ Film,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
Jewish Press
(Omaha, NE), November 18, 1971, clippings, BSA-TA.

film being shot with pieces of stocking
“Dialogue with Norman Jewison,”
Hollywood Reporter
, February 13, 2003.

CHAPTER 8: ANATEVKA IN TECHNICOLOR

“the most important film”
Jewison letter to publicity team in Toronto (Mick Langston), July 20, 1971, NJP32:15.

the first Harry Belafonte special
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 49.

“my life was being wasted”
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 92–93.

Jewison wiggled out of his contract
See Mark Harris,
Pictures at a Revolution
, 143.

“the movie that made me feel”
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 114.

“wanted to make films about political problems”
Jewison interview.

summoned to the office of United Artists
Jewison interview. In
This Terrible Business
, Jewison dates this meeting to 1969, clearly an error. He and Mirisch traveled to London to consider Topol for the role before mid-February 1968; correspondence between Jerry Robbins and his lawyer as well as Hal Prince in March and April 1968 refer to Jewison’s having been signed for the film; Mirisch, in
I Thought We Were Making
, says he’s the

one who offered the position to Jewison at his “first opportunity” (p. 305) after a summer 1967 meeting with United Artists.

“never a big fan”
“Norman Jewison, the Man Behind Fiddler on the Roof, Talks to John Williams,” news clipping from unidentified publication; n.d., NJP33:4.

“Studios Again Mining Gold with Lavish Film Musicals”
by Howard Thompson,
New York Times
, October 26, 1968, 39.

United Artists went after it
memos to Jerry Robbins JRP8:27.

Kramer put in a bid
Memo from Floria Lasky to Robbins, April 22, 1965, JRP8:27.

“memorandum of terms”
HPP115:8 and JRP8:27.

293–94
he stood to receive $100,000 … “exact a high price”
Floria Lasky memo to Robbins, March 16, 1966, JRP8:29. Also see meeting summary memo, March 11, 1966, HPP115:8.

Perl demanded $250,000
Memo from Floria Lasky to Robbins, March 23, 1966, JRP8:28.

He got $75,000
Letter from Jerome Talbert to George Litto (Perl representative), April 4, 1966, JRP8:28.

a last-minute, $2.5 million bid
“Minutes of meeting re: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’—United Artists,” October 24, 1966; letter from Allen Klein to Edward Colto, Esq., November 17, 1966. JRP8:28

$2.75 million
Mirisch,
I Thought We Were Making
, 305.

Hollywood, like the rest of America, had been rocked by change
For a thorough discussion of these changes, see Harris,
Pictures at a Revolution
.

the leader of the bloody slave revolt
See Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 153–56; also see Christopher Sieving,
Soul Searching: Black-Themed Cinema from the March on Washington to the Rise of Blaxploitation
(Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2011), esp. 83–117.

Jewison assertively told the press
Wayne Warga, “Civil Rights and a Producer’s Dilemma: Rights Challenge for Jewison,”
Los Angeles Times
, April 14, 1968, N1.

Jewison had been feeling discouraged … “grief and disappointment”
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 175–77. Also, Jewison interview.

“to bring it into the big money”
clipping from
Variety
, July 14, 1971, NJP33:4.

“What would you say if”
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 12–13. Also, Jewison interview and Lincoln Center Q&A, May 29, 2011.

“He covered so beautifully”
Jewison, Lincoln Center Q&A, May 29, 2011.

“He could make a film free of complexes”
“G. Yitur talks to Chaim Topol,”
Olam Hakolnoa
, December 16, 1971, trans. from Hebrew, Elik Elhanan, clipping, BSA-TA.

“hey Jewboy” bullying
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 11–15.

“we need to feel how ‘the other’”
ibid., 216.

“I’m not a cerebral filmmaker”
Norman Jewison, Film maker
, documentary produced and directed by Doug Jackson, “special feature” on
Fiddler on the Roof
DVD, 2-Disc Collector’s Edition.

37 books
List of books purchased and forwarded from London to Los Angeles, November 6, 1969, NJP30:16.

copies
of Life Is with People
memo from Jewison’s assistant, December 16, 1969. NJP 31:7.

whirlwind five-day trip to Israel
letter from Moshe Davis to Jewison, September 1, 1969; and draft itinerary, proposed schedule change, October 15, 1969, NJP30:15.

old immigrants
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 178, and notes from interview, NJP30:15.

he also spent an afternoon
Jewison letter to Vishniac, September 30, 1971, NJP31:7.

“dear old Roman Vishniac”
Jewison letter to Dan Smolen, UA, September 30, 1971, NJP32:15.

“the look of the people”
Jewison interview.

“casting breakdown” notes
Jewison notes, December 8, 1969, NJP30:6.

“in a dignified manner”
letter to Jewison from Rabbi Israel Klavan, Executive Vice President of the Rabbinical Council of America, March 9, 1970, NJP31:4.

“direct connection” with Sholem-Aleichem
Jewison interview.

The incident “devastated” Jewison
Jewison interview.

“
MADAME CHAGALL SAYS
”
Western Union telegram from Saul Cooper to Norman Jewison, March 12, 1970, NJP30:8.

Cooper updated Jewison
letter, June 11, 1970, NJP30:8.

“where there are animals”
Jewison interview.

“That’s when I turned to Tito”
Jewison interview.

“almost as much as he loved hard currency”
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 178.

forty-five minutes’ drive
“General Information re Yugoslavia from Mirisch Films Limited,” July 13, 1970, NJP10:12.

“All we had to do was build a synagogue”
Jewison in “The ‘Fiddler’ Meets the Yugoslavs” by Frederick M. Winship, UP (dateline: New York),
The Record
, November 23, 1971.

Decades before wide interest
In 2004, the Handshouse Studio, a U.S.-based nonprofit fostering hands-on educational projects, began building, piece by piece, a replica of a magnificently painted wooden synagogue built in 1731 and burned down during the Holocaust in Gwoździec (Ukraine); in 2011, the nascent Museum of the History of Polish Jews entered into a collaboration with Handshouse to build and raise the synagogue replica at the museum, on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. It will stand as “a symbol of the vitality of Jewish culture in Poland,” Handshouse declares. They had no trouble raising nearly $57,000 from 441 donors through a Kickstarter campaign to document the project by film.

building it from the timber
Robert Boyle, “Set in Reality: Production Design,” featurette, Disc 2,
Fiddler on the Roof
, 2-Disc Collector’s Edition, MGM.

visited whatever standing synagogues
Jewison interview.

In Targu Neamt … even tried to purchase
Jewison interview and Mirisch Productions letter from associate producer Patrick Palmer, to Bucharest (National Cinema Center) March 19, 1970, NJP30:12.

The request was denied
Patrick Palmer interview.

re-creating pastel murals
Among the books Jewison and Boyle consulted was David Davidovits,
Tsiyure-kir be-veit-kenesset be-Polin
(Jerusalem: Mosad Byalik, 1968). Books Purchased—and Forwarded from London to Los Angeles, November 1969, NJP30:16.

“I wanted audiences to feel the racial hatred”
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 178.

Though not so thoroughly ignored
See Hasia Diner,
We Remember with Reverence.

in an image inspired by Vishniac
Jewison interview.

“the only wooden period replica”
Jewison letter to Marvin Mirisch, May 24, 1972, NJP32:9.

to the dismantling and rebuilding costs
letter to Jewison from Meir Meyer (Israel Museum) who reports on presenting the matter of the synagogue to Dr. Z. Warhaftig, minister of religious affairs, January 2, 1971, NJP32:8.

“I think Jerusalem has enough”
Kollek letter to Meyer Weisgal, Weizmann Institute, June 14, 1972, forwarded by Weisgal to Jewison, July 4, 1972, NJP32:8.

the minister of religion was reported
letter from Meir Meyer to Jewison saying that the minister of religious affairs “wants the synagogue very much,” May 8, 1972, NJP32:8.

shul
had been torn down
Jewison letter to Arthur N. Greenberg, December 18, 1972, NJP32:8.

advertising budget of more than $3.3 million
“Basic Starting Roadshow Advertising and Exploitation Budget for Fiddler on the Roof covering advance and opening through February 26, 1972: $1,440,024,” and letter from Jewison to United Artists approving the revised advertising budget of $3,360,451, June 20, 1972, NJP33:4.

“We must not merchandise a Winston Diamond”
Jewison letter to Walter Mirisch, October 6, 1971, NJP32:14.

“logged the largest group sales advance”
Variety
, July 14, 1971; clip in JRP33:4.

advertising director didn’t think it was necessary
letter to Jewison from Donald Smolen, United Artists director of advertising, February 12, 1971, NJP33:4.

“strong initial ethnic pull”
Jewison letter to Gabe Sumner, United Artists, September 4, 1971, NJP33:4.

“avoid stressing its Jewishness”
letter from Quinn Donoghue (United Artists, UK) to Hy Smith (United Artists, NY), cc’d to Jewison, June 11, 1970, NJP33:2.

“the 1971 UNICEF film”
letter from Quinn Donoghue to Mirisch Co., cc’d to Jewison, June 11, 1970, NJP33:2.

Jewison repeated the anecdote
United Artists press kit, clippings, “Fiddler on the Roof” folder 1966, NYPL-PA. Also, Jewison is quoted in several preview stories telling this story.

“90 percent of Lutheranism”
Jewison letter to Fred Goldberg, United Artists, December 15, 1971, NJP33:2.

urged clergy to tell
NJP33:2.

“he loved it”
letter to Jewison from Mike Hunter, United Artists, December 16, 1971, NJP33:2.

Catholic Film Newsletter
November 30, 1971, copy in NJP33:2.

“let most of the life out”
Vincent Canby review of
Fiddler, New York Times
, November 4, 1971.

“condescending and way off track … hurt the most”
Jewison letter to Gabe Sumner, United Artists, December 9, 1971, NJP33:2.

“[Topol’s] sense of comedy”
Paul D. Zimmerman review of
Fiddler
,
Newsweek
, November 15, 1971.

“Gone with barely a trace are warmth”
“Last of the Dinosaurs,” Jay Cocks,
Time
, November 22, 1971.

playing to 93 percent capacity crowds in Paris
Gabe Sumner letter to Jewison, December 7, 1971, NJP33:3.

“overwhelm[ing] not only Aleichem”
Vincent Canby, “Is ‘Fiddler’ More DeMille Than Sholem Aleichem?”
New York Times
, November 28, 1971.

“the most
powerful
movie musical ever made”
Pauline Kael, “The Current Cinema: A Bagel with a Bite out of It,”
New Yorker
, November 13, 1971, 133–39.

“Since when did film ever have anything to do with the theatre?”
Jewison letter to Gabe Sumner, December 9, 1971, NJP33:2.

“elitist” prejudices
Denton Stein, “Movie Mailbag: ‘Elitist: Did Bogdanovich Go to School?”
New York Times
, December 26, 1971. See also John Vitale, “Letter to the Editor 6,”
New York Times
, January 9, 1972. In letters to Jewison, United Artists staff Gabe Sumner (January 6, 1972) and Fred Goldberg (January 7, 1972) admit to having written these. NJP33:3.

“part of our campaign”
Fred Goldberg letter to Jewison, January 14, 1972, NJP33:3.

“One critic complains”
Frances Taylor column, “Fiddler’s Appeal Snares Some Critics,” December 5, 1971,
Long Island Press
clipping, NJP33:3.

“a lot of money”
Walter Mirisch letter to Jewison, March 28, 1972, NJP33:4.

To lead off they published
Gabe Sumner letter to Jewison, December 7, 1971, NJP33:3.

“It was a tough night”
Jewison,
This Terrible Business
, 183.

played onstage for thirty-five million
press materials in NJP and quoted, for example, in “Tevye on Film,” Sight and Sound,
Hadassah Magazine
, December 1971.