Israeli Movies Are Coming of Age
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
18 Friday, August 1, 1969
—
Jewish Code in 'Emily Post's Etiquette'
country a number of men who had I man's attitude towards, the boy is
BY MENDEL KOBANSKY
Managers of movie houses all had experience in film making , one of love-hate, hate because the The voluminous "Emily Post's gious sentiments should predom-
over Israel are complaining that abroad, did serious attempts at'; little one is the offspring of the Etiquette," now available in an inate.
attendance has been falling off, and creating a movie industry begin.; woman he loves—by another man. edition revised by Elizabeth L.
Well illustrated, with texts of In-
blame television for their plight. What was to be the first full-length' During the three tense days, he Post, the wife of Emily's grandson vitations, containing budgetary
Though Israel television is only in picture "The Halutz," was filmed i several times approaches the point William G. Post, contains a great items and other facts to guide the
its incipient, experimental stage, in 1927. Like the first documentary,' of letting the boy come close to a deal of new material, including a reader seeking information about
the manner of adhering to social
recent statistics show that there it was never completed, but for a I fatal accident, but in the last mo- social chapter on Bar Mitzva.
codes, "Emily Post's Etiquette"
are already 100.000 sets in opera- different reason: the enterpreneurs 1 ments rights himself, so that all
lion• and on the three evenings a ran out of funds, and the footage 1 ends with the mother's return. The Published
by
Funk
and
Wagnalls
(38° Madison, NY17), this volume will surely continue to serve an
week when television programs are remained in storage, never to be ! picture was directed with great of _ more than 700 pages serves as important role in society's literary
sensitivity by Ury Zohar, a popular a guide for all who desire to have musts.
broadcast. movie attendance takes seen by the public.
Another first, this one re- entertainer turned movie maker, the proper approach to social be-
a sharp drop. On a Tuesday eve-
It would have been well for the
ning a few weeks ago. I went to a leased. was the 1933 "Oded Hanod- was well photographed and of a havior, the right way of arranging
author to delve into an import-
neighborhood movie where a popu- ed" (The Wandering Oded), the high technical level.
social functions, the established
ant Jewish aspect of social codes
lar French film was playing, and story of a boy who got lost on an 1 The most successful box office rules for meeting religious de-
—the "derekh eretz"—the estab-
was pleastantly surprised to see outing, encountered on his wander-1 picture to date—this despite a . prac- mands and the expectations of so-
lished traditional Jewish custom
that there was no line at the box ings friendly Arabs, lovable am- Malty unanimous condemnation by ciety.
—dealing with secular occupa-
office: the cashier politely offered mals, a comical American tourist. the critics—was "Salah Shabati,"
pations and other matters. There
Suggestions for arrangements
me a choice of seats, and I found before he was safely restored to written and directed by the popular
is even a tractate of the Talmud
of Jewish weddings contain both
the hall inside about two thirds his parents. And to end up with humorist and prolific film producer
entitled "Derekh Eretz."
the Orthodox and Reform regu-
empty. On my way home I passed firsts/ in 1955 the film "Hill 24 Does Ephraim Kishon, starring the now
But that would require special
lations and the author quotes the
an electrical appliance store where Not Answer" was produced, the world-famous Ilayim Topol. It ran
"harei at"—"thou shalt be con- attention to Hebraic code—and
a television set in the window was first 'to be shown abroad, and with for months all over Israel, was
secrated unto me"—and lists the the "Post Etiquette" book surely
turned on. A crowd was gathered some success. The subject was , seen by people who never before
symbolizations, including the would be straying from an estab-
on the sidewalk watching the Tamil- taken from the 1948 War of Inde- set foot in a picture house, and
breaking of the glass. And in ex- liOed path. For general usage,
tar double chinned face with horn pendence; it related the experi- house managers in small towns
plaining the Reform method she therefore, the current volume, like
rimmed glasses belonging to Abba ences of four soldiers caught in an swore that they saw persons come
states that "If the young couple the preceding ones, remains of im-
Eban. who was explaining the gov- isolated post and eventually cut back to see it as many as eight
decide to include elements tra- mense interest.
ernment's view of a recent UN de- down by enemy lire. times.
ditionally associated with the
The turning point had come one
It was inevitable that in search
bate.
Christian wedding ceremony, 5,000 E. Jerusalem Arabs
year earlier when the Knesset for subjects the film producers
Despite the drop in attendance,
they should consult with their
passed a law for the encourage- should eventually turn their sights
Israel remains a nation of movie
rabbi about this beforehand." Become Histadrut Membe
ment
of
film
production,
with
a
back
to
the
origins
of
the
Yiddish
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Some 5,000
afficionados, as the amount of
This may serve as an affront to
system of premiums designed to and Hebrew theater, with the re-
tickets annually sold reaches a
Reform Jews, since going to a workers from East Jerusalem — a
ease financial problems besetting cently awakened popular interest
fabulous 45,000,000. With the popu-
Reform rabbi means acceding to majority of Arab wage-earners
producers. The result was a wave- in the nation's pre-Israel past.
have joined the Histadrut, Israel's
lation still under 3.000.000, this
Reform regulations.
"Tevye and His Daughters" was
would mean that every man, let of movies, none of them com-
In the explanation of the Bar labor federation, its secretary-gen-
ing up to prevailing international an adaptation of the well known Mitzva regulations, the author eral Aaron Becker disclosed. He
woman and child in Israel sees an
Sholem Aleichem stories, but the
average of 15 to 20 movies per standards, but of great impor-
emphasis on the social as praised the Jerusalem council for
tance to the future of local film producers were too keen to imitate places
year.
well as the religious aspects and its efforts to recruit new members.
production. It developed cadres "Fiddler on the Roof," and with states that "Bar Mitzva differs
Of the plethora of movies
of directors, script writers, predictable results. Another at- from the Christian confirmation in
shown per annum in Israel's
cameramen, editors and the vari- tempt, this one a much more suc- that, in addition to being a deeply
ALL TYPES OF
movie houses, an average of only
ous technicians whose skills go
cessful one, both artistically and as religious occasion, it is always
five to six are of local origin. The
MORTGAGES
into
making
a
movie.
crowd
pleaser,
was
"The
Two
a
rest come from the large pro-
$25,000 to $250,000,000
celebrated socially as well."
It was only in the '60s, when the Kuny Lemels." from the play by
duction centers—including India
1 Perhaps the book's aim—to serve
J. C. SOSNICK
whose pictures are very popular rise of the population and relative Goldfaden. the father of the Yid- as a social guide—explains such
341-7998
with Israelis of Oriental origin— prosperity enabled the local film dish theater. The reconstruction of emphasis, but Jewish authors writ-
as well as the usual sprinkling of producers to invest large sums of life in the shtetel was romantic but ing about the Bar Mitzva inevit-
money
and
to
draw
on
the
consid-
not
over-sentimentalized,
and
one
art movies from all over.
aby attempt to urge that the reli- Classified Ads Get Quick Results
One can stretch a point by noting erable reservoir of talent, specially of the picture's main assets was
that the first local movie was made acting talent by then available, that I the action of the popular young
as early as 1912, but the fact is Israeli movies came into their own comedian Mike Burstein—scion of
that Israeli film production aid not and even began making tentative a Yiddish .theater family.
come into its own before the '60s, appearances at international Mud The latest and most ambitious
I undertaking in this series was "The,
after years of experimentation and festivals.
The prize for best acting awarded Dybbuk," from the Ansky play
false starts. The first movie, by the
way, was never completed. It was to Oded Kotler, the hero of "Three which more than four decades ago
meant to be a documentary, photo- Days and a Boy," at the 1968 made Habima world famous. Re- ;
graphed by a citizen of early Tel Venice Festival, contributed a leased towards the end of 1968,
Aviv. He sent the footage abroad great deal towards making the "The Dybbuk" was an Israel-
for laboratory work — there were, movie world aware of the existence German co-production made with a I
of course, no laboratories in Tel of Israeli films. Regardless of the large budget, employing hundreds
Aviv in those days—and it got lost prize, "Three Days" is a fine pie - of actors, both local and foreign,
FRIDAY and SATURDAY, AUG. lst-2nd
in the turmoil of World War I. The ture, as well as an unusual one by and directed by the Israeli Ban
SUNDAY, AUGUST 3rd — 10 to 3
first documentary to remain, was the fact that the story, unlike most Eldar.
Three new movies were released
made five years later. It was named of its predecessors, is not "Zionist'
"General Allenby Enters Jerusalem in the broad and pejorative sense at the beginning of 1969, and at
at the Head of His Army," and is of the term, but deals instead with least five others are in various
NOW 2.50
of more interest to historians than the relations between two human stages of completion. The year
Reg. to 8.95
MEN'S
to cinema goers. beings. It concerns a young man 1969 promises to be the most pro-
NOW 1.00
Reg. to 5.95
Only in the '20s. with increased left alone to care for a little boy ductive— at least in quantity — of
immigration which brought to the whose mother went away. Th e the country's movie industry.
SIDEWALK SALE!
Summer Merchandise
BELOW COST SALE
SHIRTS
How!
0
...
how does The
Jewish News publish
up-to-the-minute news?
POST'S winning combination of Hot Type composi-
tion and Letterpress Printing is the "time-proven"
answer. From page proof "OK" to "on press" is
minutes, not hours. POST also offers the most versa-
tile line of Offset Printing in
the Midwest.
Printers of The Jewish News for over a Quarter Centun'
Frisco Gives Bookmobile
' in 3 Tongues to Jerusalem
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA)—A trav-
eling library has been shipped to
Jerusalem to promote peaceful
relationships between Jews and
Arabs. The bookmobile was pur-
chased by a public subscription in ,
San Francisco under the sponsor- 1
ship of Book Bank USA at the re-
quest of Jerusalem Mayor Teddy'
Kollek.
The library will be used by Jeru-
salem's society of arts and hu-
manities to serve primarily East
Jerusalem's largest Arab popula-
tion. The bookmobile was dedicated
by San Francisco Mayor Joseph L.
Alioto. The 1,500 volume library is
inscribed in English, Hebrew and
Arabic, and will carry books in all
three languages.
ik Olctii/mve,
BOY'S
PANTS
MEN'S
BOY'S
Reg. to $25
Sizes 24 to 34
NOW 10.00
NOW 3.00
JACKETS
MEN'S
BOY'S
Reg. to 20.00
Reg. to 11.95
NOW 5.00
NOW 3.00
SPORT COATS
MEN'S
Sport Coats
BOY'S
Sport Coats
Reg. to 39.95
Reg. to 25.00
NOW 15.00
NOW 10.00
SUITS
MEN'S Suits
BOY'S Suits
Reg. to 75.00
Reg. to 60.00
NOW 35.00
NOW 25.00
BATHING SUITS
MEN'S
BOY'S
Reg. to 6.00
Reg. to 5.00
NOW 2.50
NOW 2.00
JACK'S
OUTFITTERS FOR GENTLEMEN AND THEIR SONS
PRINTING COMPANY
1442 BRUSH • DETROIT • 962-3703
"The most highly inflam-
mable kind of wood is the chip
on the shoulder."
9 MILE RD. & COOLIDGE
OAK PARK