Yoo Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

SHOWTIMES

"A rousing portrait! An inspirational look at one of the key pioneers

in both radio and TV." - Rochester City News

Who was the first lady of early television? Well, Lucille Ball, sit down at Molly Goldberg's Seder table and pass the Matzo to Gertrude Berg. From 1929 to 1959, The Goldbergs was one of the most successful shows on radio and television. The image of Molly Goldberg leaning out of her Bronx tenement window became iconic. Aviva Kempner's biography reveals a multi-talented woman who not only acted but wrote the scripts for her shows (over 12,000). At one point, Berg was the wealthiest woman in America and the 2nd most respected (Eleanor Roosevelt was first). Born in NYC in the late 19th century, Gertrude Berg had a difficult childhood. Her mother never fully recovered from the death of her young son. Her father was unsupportive of her ambitions but, as a teenager, she managed his Catskill Mountain resort and wrote plays for children. Here she met her husband, a chemical engineer who helped invent instant coffee during WWII. During the 1930s, Berg was a staunch New Dealer. After over a decade of success on radio, Berg transformed The Goldbergs into the first hit TV sitcom. In the warm, inviting Goldberg apartment Mother knew best. In 1950, at the height of its popularity, the Right Wing "Red Channels" attacked her co-star Philip Loeb, who was a major force in Actors Equity. Gertrude Berg stood by him, fought the blacklist and lost her show (it was replaced with I Love Lucy). The Goldbergs, which celebrated the dream of assimilation, became victim to the nightmare of McCarthyism. —Marty Haas 

USA, 2009, 92 min., color & b/w • Director/writer: Aviva Kempner