In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threa... Read allIn pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.In pre-revolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant with traditional values contends with marrying off three of his daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village.
- Director
- Writers
- Sholom Aleichem(adapted from stories)
- Arnold Perl(adapted from Sholem Aleichem stories by special arrangement with)
- Joseph Stein(stageplay by)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Sholom Aleichem(adapted from stories)
- Arnold Perl(adapted from Sholem Aleichem stories by special arrangement with)
- Joseph Stein(stageplay by)
- Stars
- Won 3 Oscars
- 9 wins & 13 nominations total
Videos2
Paul Michael Glaser
- Perchikas Perchik
- (as Michael Glaser)
Ray Lovelock
- Fyedkaas Fyedka
- (as Raymond Lovelock)
- Director
- Writers
- Sholom Aleichem(adapted from stories)
- Arnold Perl(adapted from Sholem Aleichem stories by special arrangement with)
- Joseph Stein(stageplay by) (screenplay by)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Jews and Orthodox Christians live in the little village of Anatevka in the pre-revolutionary Russia of the Czars. Among the traditions of the Jewish community, the matchmaker arranges the match and the father approves it. The milkman Reb Tevye is a poor man that has been married for twenty-five years with Golde and they have five daughters. When the local matchmaker Yente arranges the match between his older daughter Tzeitel and the old widow butcher Lazar Wolf, Tevye agrees with the wedding. However Tzeitel is in love with the poor tailor Motel Kamzoil and they ask permission to Tevye to get married that he accepts to please his daughter. Then his second daughter Hodel (Michele Marsh) and the revolutionary student Perchik decide to marry each other and Tevye is forced to accept. When Perchik is arrested by the Czar troops and sent to Siberia, Hodel decides to leave her family and homeland and travel to Siberia to be with her beloved Perchik. When his third daughter Chava decides to get married with the Christian Fyedka, Tevye does not accept and considers that Chava has died. Meanwhile the Czar troops evict the Jewish community from Anatevka. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Taglines
- The screen's most magnificent entertainment returns...filled with joy, laughter, love and life. (re-release)
- Genres
- Certificate
- U
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaFinal film of Norma Crane; she was suffering from breast cancer during production, and died less than 2 years later.
- GoofsDuring the first few shots of the crowd holding candles on their way to the wedding, the sun changes positions above the horizon. (But as such indicates the length in time of the journey by foot, which could be intentional, in which case the slow melting of candles might be a goof in its own right.)
- Crazy creditsTopol and the cast sing "Tradition" without any opening credits rolling. At the end of the number, the fiddler standing on the left of the screen launches into an extensive solo while the opening credits roll on the right of the screen.
- Alternate versionsOriginally released at 181 minutes (with an intermission); later trimmed for 1979 reissue to 149 minutes.
- ConnectionsEdited into 5 Second Movies: Fiddler on the Roof (2008)
- SoundtracksTradition
(1964) (uncredited)
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Performed by Topol and Chorus in the pre-credits sequence
Top review
The Songs Make It Happen
Opening with the wonderful song "Tradition" which is the overriding theme of the entire musical, with its comedy and its pain, this film is a charming, sentimental telling of the lives and tribulations of a family. The beauty of it is that despite occasional violence against a people, they maintain their spirit through the ages. It's about what every father believes, "There is no one adequate to marry my daughter." Things happen and people get knocked down, and eventually everyone gets to his feet once more. There is the combative relationship between Tevye and his wife, and their love ("but do you love me") that goes pretty much unstated. In the end they continue to stand tall together because what they have put into the world is true love, not the overly dramatic, silly love that permeates our world today. See the movie. See the stage play. You will always leave with an optimistic spring in your step, and wonderful songs in your heart.
helpful•80
- Hitchcoc
- Sep 29, 2006
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $9,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $10,404,330
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,726,942
- Nov 11, 1979
- Gross worldwide
- $10,405,457
- Runtime3 hours 1 minute
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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