Re: button accordion

[Owen Davidson <owend...>]

At 06:48 PM 2/6/98 -0500, Pete Rushefsky wrote:
>Owen-- tell us more about the movie with Tsiganoff in it.  Where can it be
>seen/obtained?

It's titled "Angelo My Love," directed by Robert Duval.  It was made in New
York in the late 70's/early 80's.  Alas, it's out of print.  I saw it at an
art house in Northampton years ago, and the fact of Steve and Millie's
identity went right over my head.  Then I found it at my local rental place
this past spring. I was flabbergasted.  It seems to resolve the question of
whether Mishka Tsiganoff was a Gypsy or a Jew.  These two Romany-speaking,
and apparently *very* Christian, people are his children. The question of
why a Russian Gypsy musician chose to play so much in the Romanian/Jewish
repertoire, of course, remains.  Seems to fit into the recent
Romanian/Jewish/Russian discussion on this list.     

The actors in the film are all Rom from New York, playing themselves.  The
fanciful story line centers on a dispute between two Rom families over a
ring.  During the scene where a court (kris) is convened to hear the matter,
Steve Tsiganoff is addressed formally as "Patalay, son of Mishka."  It's a
really charming film, if you can find it.  Try your local rental outlets.


Owen 
_________________________________________________________________________
        Owen Davidson, Amherst, Mass.
        The Wholesale Klezmer Band

        The Angel that presided o'er my birth
        Said Little creature formd of Joy and Mirth,
        Go love without the help of any King on Earth. 

                                Wm. Blake