The movie was adapted by Marcy Klauber and Schwartz from the Sholom Aleichem play Tevye der Milkhiker, which was in turn based on a series of fictional memoir by Sholom Aleichem about a pious milkman and the troubles he has with his seven daughters. Schwartz also directed the film. The production is in the Yiddish language. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
The story and play were also used as the source for the Broadway musical and subsequent film Fiddler on the Roof.