Shai Ophir Movies
- 1986
This future dystopia tale is set in what remains of the U.S.A. 900 years after a nuclear war. People have banded into clans, where women fight and win control over a region while men are held as slaves and divided into functional groups, such as laborers, servants, or those who father children. When the leader of the dominant female clan dies, there is a dispute over her vacated position; two sisters vie for the honor and are challenged by the leader of a another clan. Meanwhile, one of the men has found an old presidential bunker and a stash of weapons. His plan is to use his discovery to free the men at last. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chuck Wagner, Laurene Landon, (more)
The action in this routine adventure film would be modeled on the enormously successful Indiana Jones but it is too much, too fast, too deja vu. It all starts when Jessie Huston (Sharon Stone, before stardom) talks adventurer Allen Quatermain (Richard Chamberlain) into helping her find her father, an archaeologist. He has been kidnapped in Africa by a Turk (John Rhys-Davies) and a German colonel (Herbert Lom) who are determined to extract the secret location of King Solomon's mines from the stubborn man. As Jessie and Quatermain head off into the unknown, there are crocodiles, lions, and other human beasts to conquer before the father or the mines hove into view. A sequel was soon to follow. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, (more)
- 1979
This low-brow, over-acted, formula comedy by director Zeev Revach has some deja vu slapstick from the silents era that helps stretch out the storyline, making it even thinner. When two business partners arrive at a health resort the last thing they expect to see is the wife of one of them, along with one of her friends. After these two women show up, a series of misunderstandings occurs that eventually involves the agitated hotel manager, a woman of ample girth, and a dangerously jealous police inspector. None of this is terribly intelligible, though that may ultimately be irrelevant. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ze'ev Revach, Shai Ophir, (more)
- 1979
- R
This expensive production attempts to bring Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer's subtle philosophical novel The Magician of Lublin to the screen. In the story, Yasha Mazur (Alan Arkin) is a perfectionistic turn-of-the-century Jewish stage magician, con-man and mystic, who is touring through eastern Europe, at the same time managing to progressively sabotage his own career. In nearly every town Yasha has a girlfriend, from the youthful Zeftel (Valerie Perrine), to the feisty Elizabeta (Shelly Winters). His harassed manager/impressario Wolsky (Lou Jacobi) arranges for him to have one more chance at theatrical success, which requires that he pull off the trick of a lifetime in a Warsaw theater. Reviewers, fans of Singer's works, and ordinary filmgoers all expressed disappointment in this beautifully filmed and ambitious movie, which was a box-office failure. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Louise Fletcher, (more)
This thrill-packed fact-based action-adventure from Israel chronicles the daring rescue of 104 passengers from a hijacked plane in Entebbe, Uganda, on July 4, 1976. The film is also known as Entebbe: Operation Thunderbolt. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yehoram Gaon, Ori Levy, (more)
- 1974
- PG
Menahem Golan directed this low wattage heist movie enlivened by Robert Shaw in a dual role as twin brothers. Shaw plays a jaded British aristocrat who decides to become a jewel thief in order to get back at his brother (also played by Shaw), a security expert who has constructed an impregnable vault in Israel where a cache of diamonds are stashed. The tired plot concerns the intricate preparations for the diamond theft and the time-consuming task of cracking the safe. Shaw organizes a gang consisting of Richard Roundtree and Barbara Hershey. Shelley Winters is also on hand as an American widow who tries to seduce Shaw. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Richard Roundtree, (more)
- 1969
The main focus of this independent Israeli comedy is the soccer game that takes up the better part of the feature. It concerns an Oriental Jewish community in Jaffa and the lives of the people and the stories that have become part of the folk tales shared by the town. Other scenes include the pubs of Piraeus. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gadi Yagil
Blaumilch (Bomba Zur) is a patient in an asylum who manages to escape by sneaking onto a milk truck. He is dropped off in the middle of downtown Tel Aviv, where a road construction crew is busy making repairs. Blaumilch grabs a jackhammer and begins to dig a hole in the road. The police halt traffic, believing he is part of the road crew. The irate mayor demands an investigation and finds no one willing to admit that they were unaware of the hole-digging project. Through a series of bureaucratic bungles, departments clamor to receive credit for the unauthorized dig. Soon heavy equipment is called for to aid in the endeavor that everyone is afraid not to know about, as the hole becomes a canal that eventually reaches to the sea. When an official discovers the whole project is a mistake, he is hauled off to the asylum. Blaumilch, feeling his efforts have been overlooked, begins digging another hole in this satirical comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bomba Zur, Shraga Friedman, (more)
Erbinka (Haym Topol) is an Israeli drifter who dreams of winning the national lottery in this offbeat comedy. When he fails to win the coveted prize, he robs the lottery office by posing as a director making a film. Erbinka even recruits the police to help him in his efforts, completely fooling the officers. When he needs food, the enterprising Erbinka attends bar mitzvahs and has his fill before anyone realizes he is uninvited. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Topol, Gila Almagor, (more)
- 1965
Director Uri Zohar uses jump cuts and dissolves associated with New Wave cinema in this avant garde comedy in which he also performs. When two immigrants arrive in Israel, they each open lemonade stands on an isolated desert road. They hallucinate and believe they see a city springing up before their eyes as well as a Biblical figure who walks on water and spouts the "To be or not to be..." passage from Hamlet. The two amazed immigrants cavort on a donkey as they plan to make a film of their own. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arieh Lavi
- 1964
Veronique Vandell and Shai K. Ophir co-star in this musical comedy from Israel. Dalia is a beautiful Israeli woman whose family has moved to Canada. She stows away on a freighter in Montreal bound for the Middle East. The curvaceous, bikini-clad female endears herself to the crew, who do their best to hide her and provide her with food and comfort. The situation is fertile ground for comedic sight gags including the Captain's Ball when everyone dresses in drag so Dalia is lost in the crowd. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shai Ophir
- 1964
A group of Israeli children investigate a stranger who is camping out in the ruins that the kids consider their territory. Although the man claims to be an ornithologist, the children soon suspect him of clandestine operations. The children band together to uncover the mystery surrounding the stranger in this amusing comedy thriller with music. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shai Ophir
- 1963
When a man is framed for a crime he didn't commit, his socially intimidated lawyer is reluctant to take the case. The barrister finally agrees, but does nothing to help in his defense. Political pressure is exerted to find the man guilty, and the guilty man is blackmailed into really committing a crime when the punishment is of lesser consequence than the first offense with which he is charged. The accused becomes even more determined to prove his innocence and become an accepted member of the social elite. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gila Almagor, Topol, (more)
- 1959
Working the London beat, American reporter Raymond Houston (Barry Sullivan) is in danger of losing his job because of his chronic gambling. As a last-ditch effort to remain employed, Houston arranges to spend a night in a wax museum, then write an article about his nocturnal experiences in the museum's "Murderer's Den." As the evening drags on, Houston becomes more and more frightened, convinced that at least one of the waxwork murderers will come to life before the sun rises. This episode is based on a famous 1931 short story by eminent suspense writer A.M. Burrage (and appropriately enough, the "A" stands for "Alfred"). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1958
The second edition of the famous fairy tale anthology Shirley Temple's Storybook (and the second to be telecast live), was this semi-musical version of the Grimm brothers' "Rumpelstiltskin." Because miller Hanz Franz (Kurt Kasznar) has bragged to one and all that his daughter, Elsa (Phyllis Love), can spin straw into gold, the poor girl is spirited away by royal tax collector Lord Karsch (a decidedly pre-Lost in Space Jonathan Harris) and locked in a room in the palace of the king (John Raitt). Here, Elsa is given an ultimatum: spin gold and win the king's hand in marriage, or suffer a terrible fate. Coming to the girl's rescue is an odd little man from the Black Forest named Rumpelstiltskin, who offers his magical assistance -- but his price is Elsa's first-born child. The title character is played by celebrated Israeli pantomimist Shai K. Ophir, an ironic bit of casting in that the Grimms' original Rumpelstiltskin was obviously intended as an anti-Semitic stereotype (though not, of course, in this production). John Raitt sings "A Lonely Heart and a Friendly Face"," specially written for this program by veteran Hollywood tunesmiths Mack David and Jerry Livingston. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Raitt, Phyllis Love, (more)
- 1957
American documentary filmmaker Larry Frisch put up his own money to coproduce, write and direct the Israeli comedy Tel Aviv Taxi. The titular vehicle breaks down, stranding its five passengers. To pass the time before help arrives, the fivesome begins reminiscing on the past. Most of the film is consumed by flashbacks, which for the most part are only as interesting as the person flashing back. Tel Aviv Taxi was filmed twice, once in English and once in Hebrew; try finding either version these days. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rafael Klatchkin
