Danny Kaye kissing Jennie Grossinger on the cheek. (Photo from the Library of Congress, Music Division.)
South Florida film lovers have the chance to enjoy a humorous and informative trip down memory lane when "The Catskills" makes its world premiere during the Miami Jewish Film Festival's upcoming 27th edition.
People who spent summers at the Catskill Mountains' resorts may find the documentary about the rise and fall of what became known as the Borsch Belt to be a nostalgic tribute to this upstate New York vacation destination. Jewish travelers who were seeking relief from the overcrowded New York City tenements and also antisemitism as Jews weren't allowed in many hotels in the early part of the 20th century found refuge in the numerous Catskills resorts, which attracted Holocaust survivors as well as celebrities.
The film, written and directed by Lex Gillespie, screens during the festival at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center in North Miami Beach and again at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 14 at the Hub at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest.
In the film, stand-up comedians, former waiters, entertainers, and dance instructors recount stories from their time in the Catskills. The documentary features home movies, publicity photos, postcards, and menus. People may find it fascinating to see the family-run resorts and bungalows that served as the inspiration to films like "Dirty Dancing."
Comedian Jack Wakefield on stage. (Photo from The Catskills Institute)
Audiences can learn how personalities such as Jennie Grossinger of the Grossinger’s Hotel hosted politicians and athletes, and get insights into the nightclubs that featured musicians and comedians on their way to stardom such as Jerry Lewis, Joan Rivers and others. Among the various personalities featured in the film is Jackie Horner, who Started at Kutsher’s Hotel and Country Club in the Catskills in 1954 and taught dancing until her passing in 2020.
Gillespie, who is expected to be in attendance in the premiere event to introduce the film and participate in a Q & A afterward, said in an interview that he hopes audience members can get a glimpse of Jewish life in the post-World War II era.
"I think they'll get an appreciation for a place that seemed like it was born quickly and then had a very slow death," says Gillespie. "I think people who went there will certainly feel nostalgic about it, but I wanted to tell the history of it as most people won't know how the origins began."
He adds: "I think it's interesting that we've just been through this pandemic that's disrupted our lives and changed the way we do things, and back in the beginning days of the Catskills, a similar thing had happened with another kind of health crisis, tuberculosis, which pushed people out of cities like New York City, so that's one of the reasons the Catskills was born. There's this kind of odd parallel between our world today and this little world of the Catskills that was created after a similar thing that was going on. I also wanted to look at the history of the comedy and give a short history of that too. I think for some people, it will be nostalgic, and hopefully for others there will be a history lesson there."
Gillespie said his inspiration for making the film comes from another film he made previously, "The Mamboniks."
"When I was showing 'The Mamboniks,' in 2019 before the pandemic, I went to the Jewish film festivals, and, because there was just a portion of my previous film that was about the Catskills, a lot of the people that I met there wanted to share their own experience about being in the Catskills, and I thought this was a great topic for a film."
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Gillespie said he was looking for a project to do, and as he had a lot of footage that was just sitting on the shelf that he hadn't used, he decided to make "The Catskills."
"I had leftovers from 'Mamboniks,' and one of the seasons of 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' had a few episodes devoted to the Catskills, so I realized there's this huge passion and interest in the Catskills now," he said. "Along the way, I realized there were over a hundred Facebook groups devoted towards the Catskills. I thought, 'Wow, there's this big interest in the Catskills that I should capitalize on.' "
Gillespie admits he loved going to the Catskills while making the film.
"I didn't have the experience of other people who vacationed there," he says. "I'm not Jewish for one thing, and I loved going there to film. It’s such a great part of the world and just being there was great."
He said the film was challenging on many levels.
"I have so many stories to tell, and so much ground to cover, that I liked the challenge of editing. The other part was meeting all the different people that had this passion for the Catskills."
He's excited that the film make its premiere at the Miami Jewish Film Festival.
". . . To be part of the Miami Jewish Film Festival is a real honor because it has such an influence over other festivals and there's real recognition for your film if you get to play in the Miami Jewish Film Festival. It's a great way to kickoff the film and hopefully other film festivals will take notice from it being there."
"The Catskills" premieres at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Michael-Ann Russell JCC. It will also screen at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan.14 at the Hub at Temple Beth Am. For tickets and information, go to miamijewishfilmfestival.org. The 27th Miami Jewish Film Festival runs from Jan.11-25.
