- My Grandparents had a Hotel
Infobox Film
name = My Grandparents had a Hotel
image_size = 200px
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director = Karen Shopsowitz
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released =1991
runtime = 30 min.
country =Canada
language = English
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imdb_id ="My Grandparents had a Hotel" is a
1991 documentary film by Karen Shopsowitz that takes anostalgic look at a Jewish-clutural icon that's now gone. Shopsowitz shares the story of the Montieth Inn as a representativeJewish resort . Although it'sCanadian , the inn is similar toGrossinger's and theConcord Hotel in theCatskills , which also saw their heyday in the mid-20thcentury .With playful
16mm home video footage, interviews with people who once worked and vacationed at the family-run inn, and the filmmaker's father's own memories of the family's prizedhotel , the film recreates the magic of this spot while telling the history of how thephenomenon came to be, how it flourished, and, finally, why it declined.ummary
Segregated Jewish resorts thrived for only a short time. In the
1930s , restrictions against Jews were common in theNorth American hotel industry. When someone with a Jewish-sounding last name called to make a reservation, hotels would often lie and say they had no vacancies.Recognizing that Jews needed a place where they could get away without having to worry about
antisemitism , one Canadian-Jewish couple sold their deli and bought a beautiful 150-room hotel onLake Rousseau in theMuskokas , just north ofToronto . The Monteith Inn became a popular vacation spot, where guests could relax in the countryside and enjoy the steady stream of talented entertainers that passed through.The film shares numerous vacationeer's anacdotes. For example, one old man laughs at his young self, recalling the time he and his teenage friends once stirred up trouble by showing up to the formal dining hall wearing dress shirts, ties, and suit jackets — but no pants.
For better and worse, things have changed. Eventually, the
government cracked down on theantisemitic practices that made Jewish resorts necessary. Social reform and a terrible natural disaster spurred the decline of the Monteith Inn, but it and other hotels like it have left their traces in old family videos and memories.Awards
* "My Grandparents had a Hotel"'s original musical score won a
Gemini award.Resources
* [http://www.tjctv.com The Jewish Channel]
ee also
Similar Jewish Documentaries:
*"My Yiddish Momme McCoy "
*"Unwanted Cinema "
*"A Home on the Range "External links
* [http://catskills.brown.edu/shopsowitz.html Catskills Institute]
* [http://tjctv.com The Jewish Channel]
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