Shtick, Shmaltz, and Shtereotypes: Jewish Presence in Early Film Comedy (1912-1940) [program]

Guest curated by local archivist Jenni Olson, and filmmaker and SFJFF board member David Weissman, this fascinating compendium of American rarities runs the gamut from famous Jewish comedians to offensive cartoon stereotypes. The program begins with a pair of raucous silent comedies: JANE AND LITTLE MORITZ, starring Maurice Schwartz, and NIZE PEOPLE, a slapstick glimpse at the Goldberg and O'Connor families of 14 Salami Street featuring the West Brothers, a.k.a. the Weiss Brothers. Then, some of our favorite Jewish comedians show off their shticks. Monroe Silver starts in COHEN ON THE TELEPHONE, Benny Rubin plays THE DELICATESSEN KID and Eddie Cantor is Stanley B. Zweiback in INSURANCE, plus Danny Kaye delights in a wildly funny untitled skit. HEY WORKERS!, a rare vaudeville fragment is next, followed by LAUNDRY BLUES and DOUGH NUTS, a pair of cartoons that reveal an incredible range of derogatory stereotypes of blacks, gays, Chinese, Italians, and Jews. Then we'll see the hilarious pairing of Leo Fuchs and Yetta Zwerling in I WANT TO BE A BORDER. Saving the best for last, Willie Howard belts out the priceless story of TYRONE SHAPIRO, THE BRONX CAVALLERO in Yiddish, Spanish, and English! JANE AND LITTLE MORITZ (circa 1912) silent, 5 mins. NIZE PEOPLE (1927) silent, 20 mins. COHEN ON THE TELEPHONE (1923) 3 mins. THE DELICATESSEN KID (1929) 8 mins. INSURANCE (1930) 8 mins. UNTITLED DANNY KAYE (circa 1930s) 4 mins. HEY WORKERS! (date unknown) 2 mins. LAUNDRY BLUES (1930) 9 mins. DOUGH NUTS (1933) 7 mins. I WANT TO BE A BORDER (1937) 15 mins. TYRONE SHAPIRO, THE BRONX CAVALLERO (1940) 5 mins. All films are U.S.A., 16mm, black & white This fascinating compendium of American rarities runs the gamut from famous Jewish comedians to offensive cartoon stereotypes. The program begins with a pair of raucous silent comedies: JANE AND LITLE MORITZ, starring Maurice Shwartz, and NIZE PEOPLE, a slapstick glimpse at the Goldberg and O'Connor families of 14 Salami Street featuring the West Brothers, a.k.a. the Weiss Brothers. Then, some of our favorite Jewish comedians show off their shticks: Monroe Silver stars in COHEN ON THE TELEPHONE, Benny Rubin plays the DELICATESSEN KID and Eddie Cantor is Stanley B. Zweiback in INSURANCE, plus Danny Kaye delights in a wildly funny untitled skit. HEY WORKERS!, a rare vaudeville fragment is next, followed by LAUNDRY BLUES and DOUGH NUTS, a pair of cartoons that reveal an incredible range of derogatory stereotypes of blacks, gays, Chinese, Italians, and Jews. Then we'll see the hilarious pairing of Leo Fuchs and Yetta Zwerling in I WANT TO BE A BORDER. Saving the best for last, Willie Howard belts out the priceless story of TYRONE SHAPIRO, THE BRONX CAVALLERO in Yiddish, Spanish, and English.