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FAMILIES: STEREOTYPES AND ARCHETYPES
IMAGES OF JEWISH MOTHERS
The
Jazz Singer (1927)
In this first feature film with sound sequences, Al Jolson plays
the son of Jewish immigrants whose pursuit of a career as a jazz
singer, strongly opposed by his cantor father, is supported by his
nurturing, devoted, all-accepting mother.
Mirele
Efros (1939)
An exploration of family conflict, often called "The Jewish
Queen Lear" and the masterwork of the Yiddish writer Jacob
Gordin, this film tells the story of a pious widow, her son, and
her selfish daughter-in-law.
Marjorie
Morningstar (1958)
A bright and beautiful young woman, the daughter of upwardly mobile
Jewish parents in the 1930s, questions the lifestyle and values
represented by her well-intentioned but conventional mother.
Next
Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
Shelley Winters plays the overbearing Jewish mother in Paul Mazursky's
bittersweet comedy about Jewish life in the 1950s, which portrays
a young man's coming of age and asks whether it is possible to leave
home behind.
Brighton
Beach Memoirs (1986)
The first part of Neil Simon's trilogy of autobiographical plays,
this nostalgic comedy set in 1937 depicts a mother determined to
keep her family on track through struggles over money, living space,
and desire.
Radio
Days (1987)
Woody Allen's autobiographical memories of the radio era create
a rich portrait of a lower-middle-class Jewish family in Rockaway
Beach, NY, in the early 1940s.
Families
Introduction
Images
of Jewish Fathers
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