
The Bergers, a blue-collar Jewish family living in an overstuffed tenement and undone by the Depression, struggle through hard times and dream of a better future in this 1972 production of Clifford Odets' pungent play. Personalities and politics clash as Odets' mélange of characters try to survive on pennies a day. Walter Matthau plays cynical World War I amputee Moe Axelrod, and Leo Fuchs portrays the family's iron-willed leftist grandfather.
Directed by Robert Hopkins, Norman Lloyd, Awake and Sing! leans on a strong ensemble — Walter Matthau, Ron Rifkin, Felicia Farr — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1972.
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A true story of politics and art in the 1930s USA, centered around a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.
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