Peter Frye Movies
Director Bruce Beresford has safely stayed within the domain of the Bible and not strayed into patches of Hollywood fiction in this routine version of the story of David (Richard Gere). For that reason, anyone unfamiliar with Biblical history might be puzzled by the episodic presentation of David's life. In the opening scenes, Samuel condemns Saul and anoints the young David as his heir, and in fairly quick succession David slays Goliath, incurs Saul's jealous wrath, leaves, and, much later, comes back to rule after Saul has died. Once David is on the throne, Bathsheba and then Absalom enter into the picture. Interspersed are brutal scenes of fighting, but not much in the way of motivation for David's complex behavior. Gaps in the narration or unclear motivation may be the result of trying to cover too many events in a 114-minute running time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Alice Krige, (more)
- 1984
Directed by British filmmaker Michael Radford, Nineteen Eighty-Four is the second film adaptation of the George Orwell novel. The film is set during April of 1984 in post-atomic war London, the capital city of the repressive totalitarian state of Oceania. Winston Smith (John Hurt) is a government bureaucrat whose job is rewriting history and erasing people from existence. While his co-worker Parsons (Gregor Fisher) seems content to follow the state's laws, Winston starts to write in a secret diary despite the fact the "Big Brother" is watching everyone at all times by way of monitors. He silently suffers and tries to comprehend his oppression, which forbids individual human behaviors such as free thinking and sex. He meets Julia (Suzanna Hamilton), who works for the Ministry of Truth, and they engage in a stoic love affair. They are soon found out, and Winston is interrogated and tortured by his former friend O'Brien (Richard Burton in his final film appearance). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Richard Burton, (more)
- 1979
- G
Though filmed in Israel using a predominantly Israeli cast, this portrait of the life and times of Christ is not among the best. Much of the dialogue was derived from the Good News Bible. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Deacon, Rivka Noiman, (more)
In this action-packed spy drama, a retired CIA agent reluctantly returns to espionage at the request of his treacherous student, who messed up and went to the Soviet side. Now the agent wants out, causing both the US and the USSR to send out their best hit men to get him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Oliver Reed, (more)
- 1972
The plot in this improbable Israeli romance revolves around a sperm donor and his later "emergency" vasectomy. Dan (Yuda Barkin) is a college student. His lady-love is Hurit (Mona Silberstein), but though he wants to marry her, they face some strong parental opposition. For some time, Dan has raised some extra cash by acting as a sperm donor. This becomes important because he is subjected to a vasectomy as part of his treatment for injuries he suffers during a plane crash. When he and Hurit marry, they have fights and arguments over their childless state. Dan pursues a pregnant woman whom he thinks may have received his sperm donation, and he begins to fall in love with her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1968
This Eastern European Yiddish play concerns two children who are promised to each other in marriage before they are born. The two grow into young adulthood, and the young man meets his fiancee years later when he goes to study in her village. Her father prefers she marry a wealthy man and reneges on his promise to the young man's family. The young man becomes depressed and kills himself over the loss of the woman he has grown to love. On the wedding night, the ghost of the lovesick man possesses the body of the young girl, and a rabbi has to exorcise his spirit from the girl. This feature is a collaboration between German and Israeli acting troops. The next proposed project should find Dracula in charge of the local bloodbank. This feature marks the 50th anniversary of the Habimah Theatre, a Yiddish acting troupe founded in 1918 in Moscow. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Opatoshu, Peter Frye, (more)
- 1961
This uneven romantic drama directed by Peter Frye, is about the son of a millionaire Jewish family living in Texas who travels to Israel. On his way to the hotel in Tel Aviv after landing at the airport, the son Mike (Seymour Gitin) gets invited to spend some time with the cab driver's family. Before he has time to experience jet lag, the unwanted attentions of a female in the hotel send Mike packing. He ends up with the cabbie's family, a mixed group presided over by an authoritative matriarch (Batya Lancet). She sees no reason why one of her marriageable daughters should not hook up with this millionaire Mike, but Mike has already lost his heart to a model on a magazine cover -- quite a sticky wicket. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gideon Singer, Ze'ev Berlinsky, (more)
- 1955
The first Israeli film to enjoy success outside its borders, Hill 24 Doesn't Answer is set during the war of 1948. As the Arabs endeavor to gain control of the Holy Land, we concentrate on four people who've cast their lot with the Jews: Irishman Edward Mulhare, American Michael Wager, Palestinian Arieh Lavi and Yemenite girl Margalet Ovid. As the foursome holds tenuously onto the militarily crucial Hill 24, the film flashes back to show why and how these disparate souls have come together for this undertaking. Haya Harareet, who later co-starred with Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur, plays the underground worker who galvanizes Mulhare into joining the Israelis. While each actor speaks his or her native language, Hill 24 Doesn't Answer is generally shown on TV in an English-dubbed version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Wager, Arieh Lavi, (more)
- 1943
This unique wartime propaganda drama is a film within a film; one of those films is Russian-director Sergei Eisenstein's silent masterpiece Potemkin. The other film provides a loose framework for the other and represents a Russian freedom fighter's attempts to inspire his dispirited, flagging troops by telling an exciting tale of his stint on the great Russian vessel during the revolution. As he tells his story, Eisenstein's film, with the addition of dubbed dialog and sound effects is shown. The enthralled troops find the freedom fighter's tale such an inspiration that they resume their plans to free their home village from the Nazis with renewed vigor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Hull, Aline MacMahon, (more)
