From Ellis Island to Shooting Hoops

To its credit, however, The First Basket is a rare documentary that not only provides context (thanks to interviews with scholars of Jewish history), but also is fun to watch. The film's story, while covered in such works as Peter Levine's 1992 book Ellis Island to Ebbets Field (Oxford University Press), has not been put on celluloid in such detail.

Vyorst's interviews allow for a glimpse into a generation of Jews who shaped basketball - and who are proud of their accomplishments and their toughness. As Jack "Dutch" Garfinkel, who played for the Boston Celtics from 1946 to 1949, remembers with a smile: "I'm the first man who used the look-away pass in basketball. My passes were very tough. I broke a lot of fingers."

 

This article was first published at JewishJournal.com, one of our Partner sites, and is reprinted with permission.  For more information, visit www.thefirstbasket.com.

Peter Ephross's articles and reviews have appeared in The Village Voice, Publishers Weekly, and Antiques & Collecting Magazine, among other publications.

10/15/2009 4:00:00 AM
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