A CANTOR ON TRIAL
Directed by Sidney M. Goldin
Written by Isidor Lillian
Music by Sholom Secunda
1931
10 minutes (a short), B & W
Released in the United States in August 1931.
Cantor Louis "Leibele" Waldman
This short film features Louis "Leibele"
Waldman playing three different parts: an old-world Eastern
European then a German auditioning to be the synagogue
cantor. Displeased with what they've heard and unable to
agree, the synagogue committee is visited by Leibele's agent
who offers them a third alternative: a modern and American
Chazan, with "pep and jazz," who can do Kol Nidre with a
"two-step" and Unetaneh Tokef with a "black bottom."
-- Jewish Music Research Centre
Here is the short in its entirety (10 mins.,
25 secs.)