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ALLAN President GEMOLOGIST/DIAMONTOLOGIST AWARDED CERTIFICATE BY GIA IN GRADING S EVALUATION Hollywood — Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus from Tiberias are settling into their roles as movie moguls with a developing taste for profits and popcorn. The two Israeli cousins are the big guns behind Hollywood's Cannon Films. And these are boom times for Cannon: Charles Bronson is hoarding subway to- kens for the company's Death Wish III, Richard Chamberlain is unearthing his talent for comedy in a remake of King Solomon's Mines, and filmmakers worldwide are eyeing Cannon's plans for a movie on Moshe Dayan: Not bad for a film company once loaded with troubles and deficits. So, how did Israelis Golan and Globus become Hollywood's biggest success stories? "Call it chutzpah and guts," says Golan, 56, chairman of the Cannon Group since 1979. Chutzpah and guts have served the movie-making cousins well indeed. They have forged a dis- tinctive image in Hollywood, turning out inexpensive, some- what exploitive and sexy movies almost guaranteed to turn a pro- fit. "We have grown on difficulty," says Golan. Hard work has served as the fertilizer. "You have to be a good sales- man to make a success in the film industry in Israel," says Golan, who with Globus, Cannon's 41- year-old president, churned out 40 films in 16 years. "What is being a good salesman? Selling a black-and-white Hebrew film to Japan." Hollywood insiders have known for a long time — at least since the cousins first yelled "Sheket (quiet) on the set" six years ago — that obstacles have a way of falling to the wayside when Cannon blasts its way onto the screen. "We came to Hollywood with hard 'training and a knowledge of film making that is the same no matter where you are," says Go- lan. "You need guts, vision and education!' That education came in courses held at the local movie house. "My education was Bogart, Cagney and Cooper," says Golan. His education did not stop once the film ended. Golan went to London, where he studied at the Old Vic, and then headed to the United States, studying film at New York City College in 1960. After earning his degree, Golan signed on with Roger Corman, king of the cheapies, who was making a film called The Young Racers. AT VERY REASONABLE RATES CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT 1919 Salesmanship Helps Israeli Cousins Defy, Conquer Movie Industry 30400 Telegraph Road Suites 104.134 Birmingham. Mi. 48010 (313)642.5575 Daily . 10.5:30 Thurs.... 10-8:30 Sat ... 10-5:00 Menahem Golan turns chutzpah into money-making films. torial job when he went back to Israel. In 1963, Golan encouraged his cousin Globus, who had been a business major in college, to join him in the movie business. The two formed Noah Film Ltd., em- barking on a venture that would give shape and focus to Israel's film industry. Ten years after the company was formed, the cousins'Kazablan was picked up for American dis- tribution by MGM, introducing them to the profitable American market. In 1979, Golan and Globus bought into Cannon Films, infus- "Y ou have to be a good salesman to make a success in the film industry in Israel. What is being a good salesman? Selling a black-and-white Hebrew film to Japan." , The race went to the swift, which included colleagues — and unknowns at the time — Roger Towne and Francis Ford Coppola. "I was lucky to work on that film," says Golan. "I was making $100 a week as a grip, then I became his (Corman's) assistant. Coppola, Towne and I had to pay our own travel ex- penses." The three young filmmakers spent their time away from the set competing in a personal screen- writing contest. Golan's effort, El Dorado, served as his first direc- ing the company with "chutzpah and guts" — and profits. Since their takevoer, Cannon has re- leased such films as Maria's Lov- ers, a series of youth-oriented Lemon Popsicle films, Over the Brooklyn Bridge, Bolero, Breakin' and Sword of the Valiant. "What matters to us at this stage is to be credible and suc- cessful," says Golan. "We work at this profession as if it were a hobby. We do not look at it as a risky business." It is easy to understand Golan's confidence. Cannon presells most of its films, with funds rolling in also from the videocassette mar- ket. The Cannes Film Festival is the cousins' playground, as they dash out deals with foreign com- panies usually blocked out of the American market by the bigger distributors. "Cannes is our Christmas," Golan has said. where we meet distributors from all over the world who are our friends. And we know how to take care of them because we learned the hard way." Despite their successes, Golan-Globus want more, namely respect. "We feel misunderstood by others," says Golan. "Some still look a us as exploitation film makers." Golan is proud to point to some of his more prestigious work, such as the film version of Jason Miller's That Cham- pionship Season and the as-yet- unreleased The Ultimate.Solution of Grace Quigley, with Katherine Hepburn. "But Americans do not notice these things. They forget we are the only foreign producers to earn four Oscar nominations for 'best foreign film."' Four of the team's films in Is- rael have been nominated for Academy Awards: Sallah, The House on Chelouche Street, I Love You Rosa and Operation Thun- derbolt, which was directed by Go- lan. For a while, the moguls thought their new spot in the Hollywood Hills was interfering with their phone reception. "We thought our phones were broken," says Golan wryly of the calls not returned by some of the industry's biggest names. Today, they are attracting in- ternational as well as local calls. Golan and Globus are able to build profits by blasting away at nonsense. One story about actress Shelley Winters and the shooting of Over the Brooklyn Bridge in which she starred, best illustrates their "keep 'em rolling" philos- ophy. Winters had a problem with her role in the film. "She's a method actor. In order to say a simple line