Restored by NCJF
Jolly Paupers combines the rare talents of the Warsaw Art Players under the leadership of Zygmund Turkow. In this musical comedy, the famous comic duo Dzigan and Shumacher play two small town "entrepreneurs" who believe they have struck oil in a local field. The whole town finds out and thus begins a comedy of errors, including millionaire investors, Amercian schemers, and insane asylums (not to mention a little matchmaking on the side...). Yet in the face of setbacks, these two simpletons are relentless in their efforts to escape their misery and achieve fame and fortune and refuse to give in to despair.During the last years preceding the outbreak of WWII, the Dzigan and Shumacher comedy revue theatre gained immense popularity. Their satirical monologues and skits provided Jewish audiences with an escape and a rare opportunity to laugh.
"The film has its charm, especially in delightful comic sequence when the pair are declared insane.... It's all silly fun."
Dan Kimmel, Variety"A low-budget satire of shtetl mores...Jolly Paupers is the closest the screen came to a Yiddish cabaret sensibililty: irreverent, mordant, and consciously theatrical."
J. Hoberman, Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds
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
