Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt
1986•1h 21m•9.0•Released
Documentary
At its peak, one million New York Jews spent their summers in the Borscht Belt, the birthplace of Jewish-American iconoclastic humor. This film shows how these Catskills communities were run by women, and how class divisions were reflected in the resort hotels: upwardly-mobile hotel guests were entertained by a who's-who of talent, while in the bungalows, do-it-yourself burlesque and vaudeville reigned among the blue-collar families. This film is happy, humane, ironic, and, finally, bittersweet, as we see that today's Jews no longer share the tastes or aspirations of their parents.
Director
Peter Davis
Languages
English
Studio
Villon Films
Cast
Joseph Wiseman
Self - Narrator (voice)
Production
Company
Villon Films
Producer
Peter Davis
Recommended
8
My Mom Jayne
2025
7.2
Come See Me in the Good Light
2025
6.4
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
2017
7.2
Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20
2022
6.1
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me
2023
6.4
A Toxic Love Story
2026
7.6
To Kill a Tiger
2023
6.8
LA Originals
2020
7.1
The Mole: Undercover in North Korea
2020
7.4
McQueen
2018
6.7
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
2017
7
Public Speaking
2011
7.4
For the Love of Spock
2016
8.4
S4: The Bob Lazar Story
2026
6.6
APEX: The Story of the Hypercar
2016
5.9
Trainwreck: The Real Project X
2025
6.4
Fuck
2006
6.1
Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste
2022
7.1
The Class of ‘92
2013
7.6
Night Will Fall
2014
Similar Movies
Land of Little Rivers
2019
The Catskill Mountain House and the World Around
2010
Deep Water: Building the Catskill Water System
2002
Rails to the Catskills
2014
7.2
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
2020
6.5
When Comedy Went to School
2013
10
Sweet Lorraine
1987
5.1
Tyrel
2018
6.5
The Land of Owls
2021
Your Lips Never Left Mine
2026
BALL LIGHTNING
2021
5.9
Mr. Saturday Night
1992
7.6
Hidden Exposure
2023
6.9
You Can Count on Me
2000
6.2
Taking Woodstock
2009
3.2
Catskill Park
2018
5.5
Dirty Dancing
2017
A Letter to Jonathan
1980
Poolgeschichten - Der Traum vom kühlen Nass
2025
A Counter Fire
0