Messiah in America

In Moyshe Nadir’s 1932 satire, we meet a shyster producer who has decided to bring the Messiah. He casts his assistant's uncle—fresh off the boat from the old country—in the role and proceeds to fleece the faithful with seven shows a week plus matinees on Shabbos and Sundays and redemption on an instalment plan. His competition, a Coney Island sideshow man, decides to bring his own Messiah: a young, hip Messiah who can play football and dance the Black Bottom:  “Our Messiah won’t come riding no ass. Our Messiah’ll come riding a motorcycle at 70 mph.”

And so, the Messiah Wars are under way.