The Rise and fall of the Borscht Belt

Duration: 80

Year Published: 1985

Creator: Villon Films

Format: 16mm

Color: Color

Sound: sound

Description: A documentary that combines archival footage, home movies, travelogues and silent films to present a history of the Jewish resort area in the Sullivan County, Catskill region of New York State. Frequented by Eastern European Jews wishing to escape the cramped quarters of New York City's Lower East Side, the hotels, rooming houses and bungalow colonies of this area provided a summer respite, extended familial ties and offered a meeting place for the youth to meet future wives and husbands. The film charts the expansion and growing opluence of the resorts, the impact of the Great Depression, World War II, and the demise of the smaller hotels which could no longer compete with their larger, more affluent counterparts. Discusses the Jewish resorts as training grounds for renowned entertainers.