THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ (1974) C widescreen 121m dir: Ted Kotcheff

w/Richard Dreyfuss, Micheline Lanctot, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid, Joseph Wiseman, Denholm Elliott, Henry Ramer, Joe Silver, Zvee Scooler, Robert Goodier

From The Movie Guide: "Dreyfuss, a zealous Jewish boy determined to become rich in the world, loses all personal contact with women, friends, and family in his desperate business transactions. A strong, often very funny film that points out the potential emotional loss in the pressure to succeed put on the young by families. Not anti-Semitic, the film means to point out the corruption of youth and power of greed in all young people, not the Jews alone, although the film did receive many negative reactions from Jewish groups, as did the book it is based on [by Mordecai Richler]. Dreyfuss, who later went on to become one of the better-known faces of the 1970s, turns in an early great performance, making Duddy simultaneously loathsome, funny, and vulnerable. British actor Elliott masterfully portrays the washed-up British director Dreyfuss hires to make Bar Mitzvah movies for his relatives. In the most hilarious scene in the film, Dreyfuss's relatives are stunned to see that 'artsy' filmmaker Elliott has juxtaposed Bar Mitzvah scenes with footage detailing African tribal dances celebrating the circumcision rights of the young warriors. Although there are quite a few holes in the script and Dreyfuss is undeniably grating, THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ is a sad, funny, memorable film."

THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Richler, Lionel Chetwynd).