Trivia for
Fiddler on the Roof (1971) More at IMDbPro »

• Topol was only in his mid-thirties when he performed the role of an older Tevye.
  
  
• To get the look he wanted for the film, director Norman Jewison told Director of Photography Oswald Morris, who was famous for shooting color films in unusual styles, to shoot the film in an earthy tone. Morris saw a woman wearing brown nylon hosiery, thought "That's the tone we want," asked the woman for the stockings on the spot, and shot the entire film with a stocking over the lens. The weave can be detected in some scenes. Morris also shot the musical number "Tevye's Dream" in sepia rather than in full color. He had previously filmed Moulin Rouge (1952) with a color style made to resemble Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings and Moby Dick (1956) in a color style made to resemble 19th century engravings of life at sea.
  
  
• "Tevye's Dream" is presented in a desaturated image rather than full color to make it look like a black-and-white dream sequence. There is a full color version of the song, however, which can be viewed on the Special Edition DVD.
  
  
• The title comes from a painting by Russian artist Marc Chagall called "The Dead Man" which depicts a funeral scene and shows a man playing a violin on a roof top. It is also used by Tevye in the story as a metaphor for trying to survive in a difficult, constantly changing world.
  
  
• Cameo: [Sammy Bayes] [the Assistant Choreographer is one of the Russian Dancers.]
  
  
• Director Norman Jewison was brought into the project by executives thinking he was Jewish. His first words to the executives upon meeting were, "You know I'm not Jewish... right?"
  
  
• Director Norman Jewison made blue-eyed actor Paul Michael Glaser wear brown-eyed contacts, even though Mr. Glaser is of Jewish ancestry.
  
  
• The cart-horse, nicknamed "Shmuel" by the cast, was purchased from a lot destined for a Zagreb glue factory. After production Norman Jewison paid a local farmer to keep him for the rest of his natural life, which was another three years.
  
  
• Paul Michael Glaser recorded a song called "Any Day Now" which did not appear in the stage version and was written especially for this film. However, it was cut in the interest of time and content.
  
  
• Many devotees of the Broadway show were annoyed that Zero Mostel (who originated the role so famously on the Broadway stage) was not cast as Tevye in this film. The filmmakers decided that the film needed to be more authentic so a more "believeable" actor was hired.
  
  
• Topol had already played the role of Tevye in the original London production of the stage musical.
  
  
• Norman Jewison considered Hanna Meron for the part of Golde but, when she lost a leg in a terrorist attack in Munich, had to give the part to Norma Crane.
  
  
• Assi Dayan was cast in the part of Perchik but couldn't handle the English dialogue and was replaced by Paul Michael Glaser.
  
  
• Before production Norma Crane was diagnosed with the breast cancer which would eventually kill her. She told only director Norman Jewison, co-star Topol and associate producer Patrick J. Palmer, all of whom kept her secret.
  
  
• Zero Mostel, who created the role of Tevye on Broadway, was reportedly bitter that he did not play the role in the movie. Years later, when his son Josh Mostel received a phone call offering him the role of Blotto in the TV series "Delta House" (1979), he reportedly yelled, "Tell them to ask Topol's son if he wants the job!"
  
  
• Director Cameo: [Norman Jewison] the voice of the Rabbi who sings "Mazel tov, mazel tov" in Tevye's dream sequence.
  
  
• Orson Welles, Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando were among the many actors who turned down the lead role of Tevye. Frank Sinatra and Danny Kaye both wanted the role and were passed over
  
  
• According to the Casting Notes on the special edition DVD, Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn and John Ritter all had appointments (probably for auditions, as character names were listed) for various roles including Motel, Perchik, and Fyedka. Also listed for probable auditions are Rob Reiner for Motel; Leland Palmer for Hodel and Tzeitel; Richard Thomas for Fyedka; Katie Sagal for an unspecified role; and Talia Shire (listed on the appointment sheet as Talia Coppola) for Hodel and Tzeitel. As the auditions were held in January 1970, most were very early in their careers.
  
  
• To make Topol look older, the makeup team clipped 15 white hairs from director Norman Jewison's beard and applied them to Topol's eye brows (seven on the left, eight on the right).
  
  
• The Broadway stage production of "Fiddler on the Roof" opened at the Imperial Theater in New York on September 22, 1964 and ran for 3,242 performances, setting a record for the longest running show on Broadway. In the original cast as Tevye was Zero Mostel. Bea Arthur, best known to today's audiences as Dorothy on TV's "The Golden Girls" (1985), played Yente the Matchmaker. "Fiddler on the Roof" won the 1965 Tony Awards (New York City) for the Best Musical, Best Author and Best Score.
  
  
• According to producer Walter Mirisch, Anne Bancroft declined the role of Golde.
  
  
• During the record setting original Broadway run (3,242 performances) and the need to replace cast members from time to time, those who appeared in the original stage production include Bea Arthur, Adrienne Barbeau, Herschel Bernardi, Bert Convy, Leonard Frey, Maria Karnilova and Bette Midler.
  
  
• The "Sunrise Sunset" scene was not lit by electric light but by hundreds of candles.
  
  
• It was only because President Tito of Yugoslavia was a huge movie fan that he allowed the film to be made in his country. His Russian counterparts were less pleased as the film is openly critical of the pogroms.
  
  
• Topol had severe toothache during the filming of the "If I Were a Rich Man" number.
  
  
• Every time Topol talks on camera to God, he's talking to a white ball on the end of a stick held out of camera range.
  
  
• To create the correct air of authenticity, production designer Robert F. Boyle studied the plans of over 100 turn-of-the-century Ukrainian synagogues before designing the one that appears in the film.
  
  
• Jewison had Tutte Lemkow - the actor who plays the fiddler - try seven different instruments until he found the one that fit right.
  
  
• Adverse weather in Croatia meant that some scenes had to be completed at Pinewood, just outside London.
  
  
• Talia Shire auditioned for the role of Hodel.
  
  
• The first time this was shown on US TV it garnered 40 million viewers.
  
  
• The film was a surprise hit in Japan where its obvious love for crumbling tradition struck a chord with Japanese audiences.
  
  
• Marble dust was used to represent snow.
  
  
• The production design department scoured Europe looking for suitable locations, finding that most of the original villages had been destroyed by the Nazis during WWII. They eventually found what they required in rural Yugoslavia, in what is now Croatia.
  
  
• Great care was taken to ensure that the Jewish customs were portrayed as accurately as possible.
  
  
• Director Norman Jewison eshewed the levity of the stage production as he felt that the material deals with some fairly serious themes. This is why he adopted a more realistic approach to the material.
  
  
• The film version omits two songs from the stage production - "Now I Have Everything" and "The Rumor".
  
  
• Topol was nominated for the 1991 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Musical for "Fiddler on the Roof" for recreating his film role of Tevye and is still performing the role in regional theater (2009).
  
  

Related Links