MISS ROSE WHITE

REVIEWED BY BRETT & LAURA WILLIS

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

Recently, on vacation, we visited the Hallmark museum in Kansas City. The displays and film clips of Hallmark Hall of Fame movies were intriguing, and when we got home we used interlibrary loan to order several that we hadn’t already seen. This was one of the first ones that arrived, and it sets a pretty high standard for any others still to come. Adapted from the play “A Shayna Maidel” (“a pretty girl”) by Barbara Lebow, and graced with an excellent cast and high production values, it was nominated for 10 Emmys (won 4) and for 3 Golden Globes.

The setting is New York, the late 1940s. Twenty-one-year-old Rose White (Kyra Sedgwick) has an important job at Macy’s, and is about to be promoted to Second Assistant Buyer. She likes to go out with coworker and boyfriend Dan McKay (D.B. Sweeney) for dinner and dancing on Saturday nights. But she never goes out with him, nor makes any other social plans, on Friday nights. It’s as though she disappears off the face of the earth on that night. We soon see why. After work on Friday, Rose puts on an Old World black dress, does her hair differently, and becomes Reyzel Weiss. She visits her family for the traditional Shabbat (Sabbath) meal. She takes on the accent that she’s otherwise successfully dropped.

Her family consists of her father Mordecai (Maximilian Schell) and an aunt and uncle, Perla and Shimon (Maureen Stapleton and Milton Selzer). The meal, eaten after the men return from Synagogue, is normally held in the living quarters attached to Shimon’s Jewish clothing store. Rose’s mother and several other family members were killed in the Concentration Camps, and Mordecai is alone. In more ways than one. In keeping with his upbringing, he’s opinionated and demanding, and no one had better cross him. Rose tries to placate him and respect the old ways, but keeps her two lives completely separate. Mordecai never visits his daughter’s apartment. He doesn’t know and doesn’t want to know that she violates the Kosher diet at home, or that she’s changed her name in order to “fit in.” If he knew, it would be an affront to his sense of honor and he’d be furious.

Then comes some startling news. Rose’s older sister Lusia (Amanda Plummer), who was presumed killed in the Camps, is alive and on her way to America. Mordecai makes a simple statement (otherwise known as an order) that since Rose is temporarily without a roommate, Lusia will naturally stay with her. This creates several conflicts. Rose came to America with her father 17 years ago, while her mother and Lusia had to be left behind because Lusia was sick. So the two sisters hardly know each other, Lusia speaks broken and accented English, and her presence dredges up a lot of half-buried conflicts over why Mordecai never sent for the rest of his family, why Mordecai and Rose are always at odds, etc. And of course, having to watch over Lusia creates problems for Rose at work, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for her to maintain the “two worlds” approach. Everything she’s worked so hard for is at risk. The question is, what really matters? What’s most important? Is it status, or is it family? Perhaps Lusia, who at first appears “simple” to us because she’s a “foreigner,” has a better sense of self than Rose does.

The story development is outstanding, and the acting is excellent. Everyone is utterly convincing. It’s a rare thing to truly get lost in a story and forget that you’re watching actors playing roles. There’s no profanity and no physical violence. There is, of course, a good deal of shouting and strong emotion in certain spots, when long-repressed family issues and the memories of the horrors of World War II are brought to the surface. There’s no sexual content. Rose and Dan lightly kiss once. When Lusia’s long-lost husband arrives in America, they weep and kiss in the receiving line.

Most viewers will identify on a low level with Rose’s struggle for independence. Most will not understand all the specifics of Jewish culture, nor be able to identify with Rose’s unique challenges. Nevertheless, seeing what she and the other members of her family have to work through is like seeing the stresses attached to anyone’s move into adulthood, amplified by a factor of 10 or 100. So, there are lessons to take home and apply to our own lives. I needed a box of Kleenex. The emotional grip of the movie stayed with me for quite a while after it was over. The story’s conclusion gives hope that, yes, it is possible live a “full life” and at the same time respect family and tradition. We recommend it highly.