Broken Barriers (1919 film)


Broken Barriers aka Khava חוה n is a 1919 American Yiddish silent film, based on author Sholem Aleichem's stock character טבֿיה דער מילכיקער Tevye der milkhiker.

Cast

The script was adapted by Maurice Schwartz from the Sholem Aleichem play based on his own book. The film was made the same year Schwartz directed his stage production of Tevye. The two 1919 projects were used to create the 1939 version of Tevya.

Release and restoration

Long thought to be a lost film, an original copy was donated to The National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University for restoration by a descendant of one of the actors. The same story was the basis of the 1964 stage musical Fiddler on the Roof and its 1971 film version, though the fate of Chava in the ending was changed for the change in attitudes by that time.