In an industry replete with Jewish executives and creators, a number of important movies reflected on the American Jewish experience. We will view all of these films and discuss the era in which they were made, what issues were dealt with, and the changes in attitudes they reflect. Some of the films do not even refer to their characters as Jews, yet they are proto-typically Jewish.
Certainly, they reflect a self-consciousness of their creators and of the studios which funded their production. One does not need a Jewish background to analyze and discuss these provocative films. Just a willingness to view, to research, and to discuss not only the quality of each film, but its intrinsic observations of its time and reflections on our own.our own. ( Please Note: There are no films about European life or the Holocaust.)
1. The Jazz Singer, 1927; 2. Body and Soul, 1947; 3. Gentleman's Agreement, 1947; 4.The Young Lions, 1958; 5. Hester Street, 6. Goodbye, Columbus, 1969; 7. The Chosen, 1981. 8, Broadway Danny Rose, 1984; 9. Crossing Delancy, 1988; 10. Avalon, 1999; 11. The Way We Were, 1999; 12. Liberty Heights, 2000; 13. A Serious Man, 2009; 14.The Fabelmans, 2022.
Eric A. Goldman, THE AMERICAN JEWISH STORY IN CINEMA, Univ. of Texas Press, Austin 2013
Bernheimer, Kathryn, THE 50 GREATEST JEWISH MOVIES, (Birch Lane Press, 1998
and selected others