Yoram Globus Movies

Margo (Levana Finklstein) is a young woman saddled with the responsibility of caring for her siblings because of her absent mother and drunken father. With little time to think of her own feelings, she falls in love with a university professor and has her first love affair. Scenes of the Golan Heights are depicted, as are the Wailing Wall, the Mosque of Omar and the Christmas procession of the faithful Catholics. Arabs and Jews live side-by-side in this feature that reflects a hopeful situation for the future of Israel. After doing so much for others, Margo allows herself to experience the feelings of love, although the affair could lead to heartbreak for the young woman and unemployment for the unhappily married college professor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Yes, contrary to popular belief, Menahem Golan of the Golan-Globus production team can direct. Lupo is proof positive of this. The title character, played by Yehuda Barkan, is a happy-go-lucky Israeli cart driver. Before long, however, Lupo is neither happy nor lucky, nor can he "go." His horse is killed, his tiny hovel is threatened with demolition, and his daughter may leave him forever when she marries into wealth. He organizes a protest against the destruction of his home, but has to solve his other problems through wit and charm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Israeli romantic drama chronicles the love of Nissim for Rosa (Michel Bat-Adam), Nissim's widowed sister-in-law. Under (very old) Jewish religious law, Nissim has the duty and obligation to marry his brother's spouse on the death of his brother. Nissim (Gabi Oterman) is very fond of Rosa, and grows to love her. However, he is only eleven, and newly single Rosa is not interested in either child-rearing or remarriage, so she shoos him away. Quite a few years later, Nissim (Moshe Tal) comes back with marriage in mind. Their conflicts and growing love resolve in a satisfying conclusion. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

While Egyptian-born director Moshe Mizrahi is best known for such popular European films as Madame Rosa (1977), I Sent a Letter to My Love (1981), and La Vie Continue (1981), he scored his first cinematic successes in his adopted homeland of Israel. Mizrahi was 15 years old when he emigrated to a kibbutz in what was then known as Palestine. Likewise 15 years old is Sami, the young protagonist of Mizrahi's 1973 film The House on Chelouche Street, which takes place in 1946 Tel-Aviv. Sami's day-to-day efforts to provide for his family are placed in context with the ongoing struggle to establish the State of Israel. One of the most intensely personal of historical films, House on Chelouche Street was nominated for the "Best Foreign Picture" Academy Award. Its featured players include such Israeli film luminaries as Shai K. Ophir, Gila Almagor, and actress-director Michal Bat-Adams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tony Curtis stars as the feared leader of "Murder Incorporated" in this underworld drama based on the life of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. Lepke began his criminal career as a petty thief in his teens; a stretch in prison taught him the finer points of life on the wrong side of the law. After getting out of jail, Lepke and his pal Gurrah Shapiro (Warren Berlinger) join a gang who hire themselves out as strikebreakers, and the vicious but clever Lepke soon rises through the ranks. Lepke makes powerful friends with mob kingpins "Lucky" Luciano (Vic Tayback) and Albert Anastasia (Gianni Russo), and when high-ranking but deranged gangster "Dutch" Schultz (John Durren) announces he's going to kill District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey (Richard C. Adams), Lepke is chosen to rub "Dutch" out. Lepke handles the assignment well, and he's able to strike up a deal with the various Mafia families -- he'll form a separate organization to handle executions and assassinations, and he'll hire out his services to any mobsters who need it, provided the mob bosses approve the killings. Between "Murder Incorporated" and a drug ring operated with Luciano, Lepke has become a wealthy and important man in the underworld, but ironically he finds soon himself himself investigated by the man whose life he unwittingly saved -- Dewey. Lepke also features comedian and impressionist Vaughn Meader as the voice of Walter Winchell. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

TThough barely released to theaters, the tongue-in-cheek crime melodrama Four Deuces became a Late Late Show fixture in the '80s. Jack Palance plays Vic Morano, a high-ranking Prohibition-era mobster with a weakness for women. Vic's humanity begins surfacing when he falls for gorgeous blonde Wendy (Carol Lynley). The film's title refers to the name of his speakeasy, and to his gang, which consists of himself, Wendy, and a brace comic-relief hoodlums. The plot concerns Vic's ongoing war with rival hoodlum Chico Hamilton (Warren Berlinger). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of Cannon Films' two 1976 Italian-Israeli co-productions starring Lee Van Cleef and Leif Garrett (Gianfranco Parolini's Pistola di Dio was the other), this spaghetti western was actually shot in the Middle East by American director Joseph Manduke. Pop star Garrett plays Tom, a teenager who teams with a black gunfighter named Isaac (Jim Brown) to avenge his family. The culprit was McClain (Van Cleef), a sadistic outlaw who carried out the brutal rape-massacre, but his role is minor, as most of the film deals with Tom's maturation and coming to terms with his feelings. Omnipresent 1970s character actors Glynnis O'Connor and John Marley co-star. If there is anything remarkable about Kid Vengeance, it is Francesco Masi's fine musical score, but the film is otherwise anemic. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

This espionage thriller is set in some of Europe's most scenic locales and follows the exploits of an agent and soldier-of-fortune who must stop enemy agents from stealing a shipment of uranium. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Teens in 1950s Tel Aviv were just as enamored of popular music as their American counterparts -- often listening to the same songs. In this romantic comedy, three buddies are on the lookout for an opportunity to express their sexual maturity. Benjie is much too nice for some of their shenanigans, Huey is overweight and bashful, and Bobby is very much a ladies' man. Huey in particular gets caught in some ticklish situations, as when he has to hide under a bed when a couple comes in to use it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Critics hated the play this film was based upon and continued to hate the film itself. However, it was very popular with audiences. In the story, an Israeli post commander on the Suez receives a visit from his mother. She has all his leadership skills and more, and before long she is the true base commander. This results in military logic being contradicted, as mother's logic is different. Treaties require parity across the border with Egypt, and by the end of the film, the corresponding base in Egypt has recruited its own commanding mother. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Two unwed youths head for New York tenements with their child after they are driven from their homes. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this horrific slasher outing, a punk rock disc jockey has a really bad night when a nutcase begins calling her every hour on New Year's Eve to inform her of his latest murder victim. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide