it was filmed in poland to minimize costs: the total budget was $50,000. picon was contemplating entering english-language entertainment and had to be paid an astronomical fee in terms of yiddish cinema, $10,000 or a fifth of the entire expenditure, to star in the main role. besides her, all actors were polish. the film turned into a resounding commercial success and covered the producers' expenses even before opening in the united states. when it premiered in the ambassador movie theatre, frank s. nugent wrote in the "new york times": "it must be set down to her credit that, despite the fact that there is not a single new thing in the whole bag of tricks emptied on the screen, miss picon puts so much infectious gayety, not forgetting the proper modicum of sadness, into the action that the result is genuine entertainment." it was exported to most of western europe, australia and south africa, and was screened in the british mandate of palestine with hebrew dubbing. in britain, it opened at academy cinema, oxford street, on 21 july 1937. the picture was exported outside of london and was quite a success; in a review for "night and day" from 29 july 1937, graham greene wrote of "yiddle": "a story in which even the music seems to have the dignity and patina of age and race. an odd feeling of freedom pervades the film full of ugly people in bowler-hats strumming in courtyards... freedom even from the closer tyranny of a well-made script, as if the whole picture were an impromptu performance, like the stories in the decameron." several copies were sent to nazi germany, where jews were not allowed to attend regular cinemas, and viewing was restricted to "members of the jewish race." premiere in the hall of the jüdischer kulturbund took place on 2 may 1938, and it then ran in communities across germany.