Directed by Ján Kadár • 1970 • United States
Starring Zero Mostel, Harry Belafonte, Ida Kaminska
Ján Kadár, codirector of the Oscar-winning Czechoslovak New Wave touchstone THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET, made his Hollywood debut with this unique, long-overlooked adaptation of a Bernard Malamud story, coscripted by visionary independent filmmaker Bill Gunn and produced by star Harry Belafonte. The legendary Zero Mostel stars as Morris Mishkin, a poor New York City tailor struggling to support his ailing wife (Ida Kaminska), whose difficulties have caused him to turn against his Jewish faith. Enter Alexander Levine (Belafonte), a Black Jewish angel who makes it his mission to restore hope to Mishkin’s life. Gloria Foster, who would go on to achieve widespread fame as the Oracle in THE MATRIX, costars.
Up Next in By the Book
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Dodes’ka-den
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1970 • Japan
Starring Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Junzaburo BanBy turns tragic and transcendent, Akira Kurosawa’s film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their circumstances are, e...
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Picnic at Hanging Rock
Directed by Peter Weir • 1975 • Australia
Starring Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray, Helen MorseThis sensual and striking chronicle of a disappearance and its aftermath put director Peter Weir on the map and helped usher in a new era of Australian cinema. Based on an acclaimed 1967 novel by Joan Lin...
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The American Friend
Directed by Wim Wenders • 1977 • Germany
Starring Dennis Hopper, Bruno GanzWim Wenders pays loving homage to rough-and-tumble Hollywood film noir with THE AMERICAN FRIEND, a loose adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel “Ripley’s Game.” Dennis Hopper oozes quirky menace as an amoral American a...
