''The Wandering Jew'' is a 1933 British

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

produced for the Gaumont-

Twickenham Film Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

and directed by

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

. It recounts the tale of a Jew (played by

Conrad Veidt Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German film actor who attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and ''The Man Who Laugh ...

) who is forced to wander the Earth for centuries because he rebuffed

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

while he was carrying his cross. The other cast members included

Peggy Ashcroft Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...

Francis L. Sullivan Francis Loftus Sullivan (6 January 1903 – 19 November 1956) was an English film and stage actor. Early life Francis Loftus Sullivan attended Stonyhurst, the Jesuit public school in Lancashire, England, whose alumni include Charles Laughton ...

, and

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early ...

. This film is a remake of the 1923 silent film of the same name, based on a play of the same name by

E. Temple Thurston Ernest Charles Temple Thurston (23 September 1879 – 19 March 1933) was a British poet, playwright and author. Biography Thurston was born in Halesworth, Suffolk, England, the youngest of four children of brewery manager Frank Joseph Thurston a ...

Plot

The plot follows the eponymous character's epic journey. He is finally burnt at the stake by the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

. As he burns, he is forgiven by God and finally allowed to die. The story is a retelling of the myth of the

Wandering Jew The Wandering Jew is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion was then cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming. Th ...

, dating back to the 13th century. The story bears a resemblance to the legend of the

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...

Cast

as Mathathias *

Marie Ney Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tro ...

as Judith * Basil Gil as

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of J ...

* Cicely Oates as

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

Anne Grey Anne Grey (born Aileen Stephen Ewing; 6 March 1907 – 3 April 1987) was an English actress, who appeared in 44 films between 1928 and 1939, including some Hollywood films during the late 1930s. She was educated at Lausanne and King's College L ...

as Joan de Baudricourt *

Dennis Hoey Dennis Hoey (born Samuel David Hyams, 30 March 1893 – 25 July 1960) was a British film and stage actor, best known for playing Inspector Lestrade in six films of Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. Early life Hoey was born Samuel David ...

as Lord de Baudricourt *

Bertram Wallis Bertram Wallis (22 February 1874 – 11 April 1952) was an English actor and singer known for his performances in plays, musical comedies and operettas in the early 20th century, first as leading men and then in character roles. He also later a ...

as Prince Bohemund of Tarentum *

Hector Abbas Hector Abbas (9 November 1884 – 11 November 1942) was a Dutch film actor who appeared mainly in British films after emigrating to the United Kingdom. Partial filmography * ''The First Men in the Moon'' (1919) * ''A Prince of Lovers'' (1922) * ...

as Isaachar the Miser * Kenji Takase as Phirous *

Jack Livesey Jack Edwards Livesey (11 June 1901 – 12 October 1961) was a British film actor. He was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, the son of Sam Livesey, the brother of Barry Livesey, and the cousin and step-brother of Roger Livesey. He died in B ...

as Godfrey, Duke of Normandy *

Joan Maude Joan Maude (16 January 1908 – 28 September 1998) was an English actress, active from the 1920s to the 1950s. She is probably best known for playing the Chief Recorder in the 1946 Powell and Pressburger film '' A Matter of Life and Death''. Th ...

as Gianella * John Stuart as Pietro Morelli *

Arnold Lucy Arnold Lucy (born Walter George Campbell, 8 August 1865 – 15 December 1945) was a British theatre and film actor, best known as Professor Kantorek in ''All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film), All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930). Life ...

as Andrea Michelloti *

as Ollala Quintana *

as Archbishop Juan de Texada *

Abraham Sofaer Abraham Isaac Sofaer (1 October 1896 – 21 January 1988) was a Burmese-born British actor who began his career on stage and became a familiar supporting player in film and on television in his later years. Life and career Although Sofaer was b ...

as Zapportas *

as Ferera *

Ivor Barnard Ivor Barnard (13 June 1887 – 30 June 1953) was an English stage, radio and film actor. He was an original member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he was a notable Shylock and Caliban. He was the original Water Rat in the first L ...

as Castro

Portrayal of Jews

Unlike the Nazis' 1940 antisemitic propaganda film, this film portrayed Jews as the victims of unjustified persecution throughout history, such as during the

. The version made under the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, by contrast, was intended to be virulently antisemitic.

References

External links

*
The Wandering Jew
' at

The Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

1934 films Films originally rejected by the British Board of Film Classification British black-and-white films Films about race and ethnicity British fantasy drama films 1930s fantasy drama films Films about Jews and Judaism Wandering Jew 1933 drama films 1933 films 1934 drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films {{fantasy-film-stub