he World
Jewry's Role in
Human Affairs
he Mythic Israeli Driver
THE PLAY IS THE THING
,
ew stuazes snow that
sraelis behind the wheel
re not as ornery and
ebellious as is popularly
believed.
ARRY DERFNER
srael Correspondent
0
f all the myths and miscon-
ceptions Israelis have about
traffic safety in this count
— or the shortage of it —
one is more prevalent than the idea
at the root of the problem is the
"Israeli mentality." The main reasons
there are so many crashes and deaths
,
William Shakespeare's words resonate in the works of Jewish playwrights
and screenwriters who appeared before this country's footlights. Their social
consciousness, wit and eloquence, poetry and spirited sense of theater have
helped place contemporary American stagecraft at world center.
Future columns will raise the curtain on Bertolt Brecht who cast words for
the ageless The Threepenny Opera, and Oscar award winning Patty
Chayefsky, author of screenland's Marty and The Bachelor Party. As well
as Betty Comden and lifetime partner Adolph Green who wrote the book
for On the Town and for Singing in the Rain, perhaps the greatest musical
ever filmed. Broadway's marquees have for generations flashed the names
of theatrical giants such as Elmer Rice, Clifford Odets, George S.
Kaufman and Moss Hart. For the moment we meet:
on the roads, goes the folklore, are
that:
• Israelis are so aggressive.
• They are so tense from terror and
war that they can't keep their minds
on their driving.
"This theory is for laymen and
journalists. Among experts in the
field, it doesn't carry much weight,"
said Dr. Don Moukhwas, an industri-
al psychologist with the Technion's
Transportation Research Institute.
Israeli drivers, it turns out, are not
as ornery and rebellious as is popular-
ly believed. For example, when the
seat belt law began going into effect
in the mid-1970s, it was widely pre-
dicted that drivers here would pay no
attention to it. Instead, Israeli drivers
and passengers now have one of the
highest front seat belt compliance
rates in the world, said Professor
•••
•
LILLIAN HELLMAN
(1905-84) b. New Orleans Many critics have
hailed her as the most accomplished and
provocative playwright of her time--a chronicler of
psychological abnormalities, hypocrisy and greed.
Her more than a dozen gripping and biting dramas
argued for moral responsibility and integrity in
public and private life. The highly controversial
The Children's Hour (1934) ran in New York for
691 performances. Dealing with lesbianism, the play was banned in
England but instantly made her reputation. Equally popular and also
adapted for successful screen productions were The Little Foxes (1939),
depicting a reactionary Southern family, and Watch on the Rhine (1941), a t
poignant and powerful anti-Nazi drama. Twice winning the New York
Drama Critics Award for best play of the year, the courageous victim of the
McCarthy era witch-hunt was portrayed by Jane Fonda in the 1977 hit
:::::::::::
movie; Julia.
•
• s
's
O
0
A traffic jam on the highway entrance to Tel Aviv.
ARTHUR MILLER
(1915-) b. New York City Considered by some
as a peer to Tennessee Williams and Eugene
O'Neill, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright first
received critical attention with All My Sons (1947),
the tragedy of a manufacturer who knowingly
produced defective war materials. The debut of
The Death of a Salesman two years later won
•lasting, international fame as one of the most
important post-World War Two plays. The story of an unexceptional
American ruined by empty values also reflects Miller's frequent themes: the
insecurities of modern life, guilt and failed ideals. Such occur in some of
his other memorable works including The Crucible (1953), A View from the
Bridge (1955) and The Price (1968). Toward the end of his brief, turbulent
second marriage to actress Marilyn Monroe (who converted to Judaism
before they were, wed) he wrote an original screenplay, The Misfits (1961),
in which she made her final film appearance.
-
NEIL SIMON
(1927-) b. Nev. York City No playwright in
recent history has constantly composed more stage
hits and successful TV and film adaptations and
original screenplays. Collecting a Pulitzer Prize
and several Tony awards, he favors suburban
settings and childhood flashbacks for his
outpouring of witty and sometimes bitter-sweet
: productions. Before his first Broadway play , the
long-run Come Blow Your Horn (1961)--co-written with his brother Danny-
-Simon created TV comedy material for Sid Caesar, Red Buttons, Jackie
Gleason, Garry Moore and Phil Silvers. His has consistently been a
whimsical but tolerant look at the incongruities of everyday life, as in
Barefoot in the Park (1963), The Odd Couple (1965) and Plaza Suite
(1968). Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983), Biloxi Blues (1985) and
Broadway Bound (1986) comprise an acclaimed autobiographical trilogy of
plays. Among his best known screenplays are The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
and The Goodbye Girl (1977).
--- Saul Stadtmauer
COMMISSION FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF JEWISH HISTORY
Walter Lea Field, Founders'Sponsors
Harold Berry & Irwin S. Field, Co-chairmen
Harriet F. Siden, Secretary
4/17
1998
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