The Vow (1937)

Two friends make a sacred pact pledging their newborn children, Rachel and Jacobl, in marriage. Years pass, Rachel's father dies, and the two children, knowing nothing of their fathers' pledge, meet for the first time and fall in love. But Jacob's father Mendel insists his son study at the Vilnius Yeshiva, and Rachel's rich old landlord insists on marrying her. Based on the same legend as S. Ansky's classic play The Dybbuk, this spirited film offers the divine intervention of Elijah and a happy ending. Made in 1937 on the eve of the Holocaust, The Vow captures authentic scenes of Jewish shtetl life, Yiddish love songs, and the clash between tradition and modernity. Yiddish theater diva Dina Halpern stars as Rachel.