RESTORED BY NCJF
The cantor of the Vilna Synagogue, played by the great real-life cantor Moishe Oysher, leaves behind his prayers to perform in the Warsaw Opera. He struggles to balance the appeal of his newfound fame and notoriety with feelings of guilt and responsibility toward his family and community.
Featuring perhaps the most convincing scenes of synagogue life in any fiction film, Overture to Glory begins during the morning service on Rosh Hashanah and ends at Kol Nidre, making the story a kind of redemptive journey during the days of awe.
"...one of the major events of the Jewish cinema... Moishe Oysher's voice is truly magnificent...."
The New York Post"The entire film is done with exquisite restraint... Moishe Oysher's acting and singing are excellent... the music is magnificent, the finest that Alexander Olshanetsky has ever written... truly an artstic and beautiful triumph of the Yiddish cinema...."
William Edline, The Day (Der Tag)"Seldom has the Jewish faith been more nobly and beautifully espoused as it is in this film.... A milestone in the course of Yiddish film making."
Robert W. Dana, The New York Herald Tribune
The National Center For Jewish Film
Brandeis University, Lown 102, MS053, Waltham MA 02454
P: (781) 899 7044, F: (781) 736 2070
Back
to Top
