Fiddler on the Roof
FIDDLER ON THE ROOFÂ (U)
D:Â Norman Jewison
United Artists/Mirisch (Norman Jewison)
USA 🇺🇸 1971
180 mins
Â
MusicalÂ
Â
W: Joseph Stein [based on his stage play]
DP:Â Oswald Morris
Ed:Â Antony Gibbs & Robert Lawrence
Mus:Â John Williams; Jerry Bock & Sheldon
Harnick
PD: Robert Boyle
Cos: Elizabeth Haffenden & Joan Bridge
Â
Chaim Topol (Tevye), Norma Crane (Golde),
Leonard Frey (Motel), Molly Picon (Yente), Paul Mann (Lazar Wolf), Rosalind Harris (Tzeitel), Michele Marsh (Hodel), Neva Small (Chava), Paul Michael Glaser (Perchik)
Â
Fiddler On The Roof is without doubt a musical which will
split audiences, you'll genuinely either love it or hate it.
Norman Jewison's three-hour adaptation of the stage
musical is practically a homage to the director's ethnic roots. The production values and performances are all good, and some of the musical numbers are quite memorable ("If I Were A Rich
Man", etc.), but if you're neither a fan of musicals or religious pictures then this will seem like torture.Â
Topol is the standout of the cast as Tevye, a Jewish
father whose daughters are about to be married in his small Russian village.
The film was lucky to be released at the right end of the
1970's, since the genre was practically all but dead less than a decade later.
7/10
Â
