Mein shtetale belz, Nina Stiller

Tango in Yiddish: "Papirosen" - Zully Goldfarb

Papirosen, sung by Zully Goldfarb in a contemporary, Argentine fashion.
First words of the refrain: „Kupitie (...) papirosen !" are actually very close to Polish „Kupcie (...) papierosy !" (Buy...cigarettes !) and may be indicative of factual roots of this moving song performed with such a passion.

Kupitie, koift-zhe koift-zhe papirosen,
Truquene fun regn nit fargosn
Koyft -zhe bilig b'nemones
Koyft un hot oif mir rajmones
Ratevet fun hunguer mij atzind
.....................................
Argentine recording

Yiddish Muzikalisher Tango

Metropolitan Klezmer's "Yiddish Celluloid Closet" version of Muzikalisher Tango. Live band footage intercuts with pivotal revelatory moments in the nightclub scene of Yiddish screwball comedy "American Matchmaker" [Americaner Schadchen, 1940]. This bittersweet lyric from the film is revealed to have a coming-out subtext, and while onscreen text elucidates some of the film's wordplay and plot twists, the band plays fabulous horn section and accordion solos in the octet's arrangement of the same song. Leo Fuchs plays dapper closet case Nat Gold in the original soundtrack version, meeting his matchmaking client (Judith Abarbanel) at a swank New York nightclub. Director Edgar Ulmer and his cast enjoy plenty of onscreen in-jokes, even feygele triple entendres. The "musical" tango can be enjoyed on many levels... an homage to Vito Russo's original 'Celluloid Closet.'

Band:
Deborah Karpel, vocals
Ismail Butera, accordion
Debra Kreisberg, alto saxophone
Pam Fleming, trumpet
J. Walter Hawkes, trombone
Michael Hess, violin
Dave Hofstra, upright bass
Eve Sicular, drums

Videography by Bill Poznanski a.k.a.
Bill Imprint
Additional camera by Sasha Wortzel
Edited by Rich Brotman & Eve Sicular, facilities by Magnetic Post Production