''The Flying Matchmaker'' (also: ''Two Kuni Lemel'', ''Shnei Kuni Leml'' or שני קוני למל) is a 1966

Israeli film Cinema of Israel () refers to film production in Israel since its founding in 1948. Most Israeli films are produced in Hebrew, but there are productions in other languages such as Arabic and English language, English. Israel has been nominated ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

directed by Israel Becker. The film was the first major success on screen for lead actor

Mike Burstyn Michael Burstein (; born July 1, 1945) is an Israeli-American actor known onstage as Mike Burstyn. He was born in New York City to the late Yiddish-language actors, Pesach Burstein and Lillian Lux. His first cousin was Borsch Belt comedian, ...

who has a double role as Kuni Leml and his cousin Max, and also casts his father

Pesach Burstein Pesach "Peishachke" Burstein (April 15, 1896 – April 6, 1986) was a Polish-born American comedian, singer, coupletist, and director of Yiddish vaudeville/theater. He was honored with the Itzik Manger Prize in 1986. His wife Lillian Lux, and ...

in a small role. The film was selected as the Israeli entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

at the

39th Academy Awards The 39th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1966, were held on April 10, 1967, hosted by Bob Hope at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. The Academy Awards broadcast faced the threat of cancellation due ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Plot history

The plot is based on the 1880 Yiddish play, a

comedy of errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farce, farcical Shakespearean comedy, comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addit ...

, ''Di tsvey Kuni-Lemels'' () by

Abraham Goldfaden Abraham Goldfaden (; born Avrum Goldnfoden; 24 July 1840 – 9 January 1908), also known as Avram Goldfaden, was a Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in Yiddish and Hebrew languages and author of some 40 plays. Goldfad ...

. It was based on the German-language comedy ''Nathan Schlemiel oder Orthodoxe und reformirte Juden'' by J. Rosenzweig (Ein Tendenz-Lustspiel in 3 Acten.

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, 1873Nathan Schlemiel oder Orthodoxe und reformirte Juden. Ein Tendenz-Lustspiel in 3 Akten
public domain, readable in Google Books). Rosenzweig's was also the base for the 1879 play ''Di tsvey shmuel shmelkes'' (''Two Shmuel Shmelkes'') by

Joseph Lateiner Joseph Lateiner (December 25, 1853 – February 23, 1935, birth surname: Finkelshteyn) was a playwright in the early years of Yiddish theater, first in Bucharest, Romania and later in New York City, where he was a co-founder in 1903 with Sophia K ...

, and some sources say that Goldfaden's was based on Lateiner's, because the play of the latter one was earlier, but Lateiner's text is no longer available.''Landmark Yiddish Plays. A Critical Anthology'', 2010
p. 39
/ref>

Plot

The local matchmaker (''

shadchan The ''Shidduch'' (, pl. ''shidduchim'' , Aramaic ''shidduchin)'' is a system of matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced to one another in Orthodox Jewish communities for the purpose of marriage. The practice In the past and until to ...

''), Reb Kalman, arranges a match for Carolina, the daughter of a wealthy client, Reb Pinchas. The daughter is already romantically linked with Max, who teaches her French. He arranges to show up in Kuni Lemel's place, disguised as Kuni Lemel, so he can marry Carolina. Confusion ensues as both Max and Kuni Lemel show up to court Carolina.

Cast

as Max / Kuni Leml * as Matchmaker * as Matchmaker's Daughter (as Jermain Unikovsky) *

Shmuel Rodensky Shmuel Rodensky (; 10 December 1902 – 18 July 1989) was a Russian-born Israeli actor whose stage, film, and television career in Israel and West Germany spanned six decades. He immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1924 and studied drama at the E ...

as Rebbe Pinchas * as Rebbe Pinchas' Wife * as Carolina, Rebbe Pinchas's Daughter *

Aharon Meskin Aharon Meskin (; 22 March 1898 – 11 November 1974) was an Israeli stage actor. Biography Aharon Meskin was born in 1898 in Shumyachi in the Russian Empire. His parents were Moshe Meskin and Rashel Chasanov. Following the Russian Revolution, Ma ...

as Kuni Leml's Father * as Max's Father

Sequels

*' (), 1976 *' (), 1983

Notes

References

External links

* *Joel Berkowitz
Di tsvey Kuni-Leml [The Two Kuni-Lemls
(synopsys of the original play) {{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Matchmaker 1966 films">he Two Kuni-Lemls">Di tsvey Kuni-Leml [The Two Kuni-Lemls
(synopsys of the original play) {{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Matchmaker 1966 films 1966 musical films 1960s Hebrew-language films Yiddish-language films Films about twin brothers Israeli musical films