Now, let's get to that post I threatened promised DR MBarnum: Uncle Woody's Reasons for Watching Fiddler On the Roof! (The movie.)
The Director, Norman Jewison - was in the middle of the best decade of his career. Consider, before Fiddler he'd helmed The Cincinnati Kid (1965), The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming ('66), In the Heat of the Night ('67), and Gaily, Gaily ('69). All right, that last flick wasn't so hot, but he followed Fiddler with Jesus Christ, Superstar ('73) and Rollerball ('75). What a run of films! What a range of genres, and styles! The man was in fantastic form, and Fiddler shows every bit of his skill.
The Story - For something that is specifically rooted to a time, place, and culture, this story ends up having a universal appeal. It's backdrop may be that of the Jews living in Czarist Russia, but it's really about the effects of change as Tevye deals with his daughters as each breaks from tradition in choosing a husband. Betcha' didn't know the stage production was a hit in Japan! Really!
The Storytelling - Ever notice how a really good joke in a film is one that keeps getting retold, and each time it gets better? That's what's going on here, but in reverse, because each time the same thing happens, the film becomes more serious, until the third time around there is genuine heartbreak. Not only that, but as a viewer I felt a great concern for everyone involved. So often, storytelling lags in the second act, but not here!
Topol as Tevye - Thoroughly convincing in the role. And he was only 36 when the film was released! Personally, I think he deserved the Oscar, and he was nominated, but it was Hackman's year with The French Connection.
The cinematography and editing - Oswald Morris won the Oscar for the cinematography, and the stories that it was shot through a ladie's stocking are apparently true. Just as good, to my eyes, was the work by Antony Gibbs and Robert Lawrence in the editing, but they didn't even get nominated.
The Music - To start with, it's one of the classic Broadway scores, by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. Of course you're already humming along; these songs are part of our lives by now. But did you know that the Oscar here went to John Williams? Yep, the same guy that wrote the theme to Lost in Space, and has written a few interesting ditties since. (The Oscar was for Best Music Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score, a catagory that has since disappeared. But it was John's first win! He'd previously been nominated for The Reivers, Goodbye Mr. Chips and (drumroll please) Valley of the Dolls!)
And now, to be completely fair, there's a really good reason for not wanting to see Fiddler: the thing is too freakin' long! It runs three hours! It's like LOTR:TROTK, but with more roles for women and singing and dancing and a whole lot fewer swordfights. Yeah, sure, it was released back when some films were relased with intermissions, but there are times when the thing just plain drags. Sure, getting Issac Stern to play a solo on the cat guts was something of a coup, but he just goes on and on and on. Take advantage of the moment, fix yourself a nice bowl of chicken soup while it plays in the background, you won't miss a thing and you'll feel so much better for it.