Fiddler On The Roof

This film version of one of the greatest, most heartbreaking of all Broadway shows really should have been no less than magnificent, given its source and the opportunities it presents to create movie magic. Through the tale of Tevye and his search for husbands for his five daughters, director Norman Jewison describes the tragic background to the expulsion of the Jews from the Ukraine and the dissolution of their traditions. As Tevye the garrulous milkman, Topol is memorable, and to have his performance (he played the part on the London stage) preserved on film is a major plus. The generally unfamiliar supporting cast is exceptionally well chosen, but the real gem here is the Oscar-winning soundtrack. The songs - including If I Were a Rich Man and Sunrise, Sunset - provide joyful and sublime highlights, the fiddler is Isaac Stern, and Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's wonderful score is magnificently adapted by John Williams. Another Oscar went to British cameraman Oswald Morris's loving Panavision photography, shot through burnished (actually stockinged) lenses. It's quite long-winded, but it's still a lasting memorial to a great play.