c. 1998 Religion News Service
UNDATED _ Here’s a look at the films featured in Kathryn Bernheimer’s”The 50 Greatest Jewish Movies.” 1.”The Chosen”(1981):”One of the most profoundly Jewish films ever made,”this adaptation of the Chaim Potok novel explores the friendship between two Jewish boys, shedding insight on the”tension between different branches of Judaism.” 2.”Fiddler on the Roof”(1971): Adapted from the long-running Broadway musical, this film”remains a high water mark in the depiction of the Jewish experience on the screen.”Central character Tevye is called”the single most positive, sympathetic, and best-known Jewish character in film history.” 3.”Schindler’s List”(1993): Steven Spielberg, who learned to count using the concentration camp numbers tattooed on a relative’s arm, directed this Academy Award-winning film, which is”the most widely seen, universally acclaimed, and ambitious feature film on the Holocaust ever made.” 4.”Shoah”(1985): While Schindler’s List brought the horrors of the Holocaust to the masses, this excruciatingly detailed, obsessively researched, eight-and-a-half hour film remains”the definitive documentary”on the Nazi death machine.
5.”The Jazz Singer”(1927): Guaranteed a safe place in film history as the world’s first talking picture, this film, featuring Al Jolson’s powerful portrayal of a cantor’s son caught between traditional Judaism and the Jazz Age,”immortalized the struggle between first and second generation Jews in the land of opportunity.” Also on the list:
6.”Annie Hall”(1977)
7.”Funny Girl”(1968)
8.”Gentleman’s Agreement”(1947)
9.”Exodus”(1960)
10. tie,”Ben-Hur”(1959) and”The Ten Commandments”(1956)
11.”Crossing Delancy”(1988)
12.”The Golem”(1920)
13.”Au Revoir, Les Enfants”(1987)
14.”Almonds and Raisins: A History of the Yiddish Cinema”(1988)
15.”Enemies, a Love Story”(1989)
16.”The Great Dictator”(1940)
17.”The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz”(1974)
18.”Blazing Saddles”(1974)
19.”Chariots of Fire”(1981)
20.”Body and Soul”(1947)
21.”The Pawnbroker”(1965)
22.”Goodbye Columbus”(1969)
23.”Bugsy”(1991)
24.”Cabaret”(1972)
25.”Crimes and Misdemeanors”(1989)
26.”The Last Angry Man”(1959)
27.”The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick”(1988)
28.”The Revolt of Job”(1983)
29.”Homicide”(1991)
30.”Madame Rosa”(1977)
31.”Driving Miss Daisy”(1989)
32.”Reversal of Fortune”(1990)
33.”Europa Europa”(1991)
34.”The Big Fix”(1978)
35.”Broadway Danny Rose”(1984)
36.”Julia”(1977)
37.”Marathon Man”(1976)
38.”A Majority of One”(1962)
39.”Oliver!”(1968)
40.”Down and Out in Beverly Hills”(1986)
41.”Holocaust”(1978)
42.”Dirty Dancing”(1987)
43.”The Front”(1976)
44.”Biloxi Blues”(1988)
45.”The Diary of Anne Frank”(1959)
46.”Shine”(1996)
47.”Daniel”(1983)
48.”Yentl”(1983)
49.”The Young Lions”(1958)
50.”Marjorie Morningstar”(1958)
MJP END RNS