THE HOLLYWOOD PORTRAYALS OF JEWS IN THE CENTURY'S LAST QUARTER

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THE HOLLYWOOD PORTRAYALS OF JEWS IN THE CENTURY'S LAST QUARTER

by John W. Cones

For purposes of analysis and presentation, the material covered in this chapter has been organized along topical lines as opposed to purely chronologically as in the previouis two chapters. Such a presenation makes it clear that some of the previously established patterns relating to how the Hollywood control group portrays its fellow Jews continues through the century's last quarter.
Also, most of such portrayals are favorable. By far the most popular setting for feature films portraying Jewish characters is the entertainment industry. Approximately 30 of the 186 films (16%) of this group focused on the entertainment industry. The next largest sub-category tends to be so-called relationship films of one sort of another. There were 23 of such films during the last quarter of the century through the early '90s. Following close behind were the films dealing with the Holocaust and in a related area, films dealing with various forms of prejudice, including intolerance, race relations and anti-Semitism. Another grouping involved films portraying Jewish females. Then another category sometimes overlapping the prejudice and relationship categories dealt with cultural conflict. There were 12 films presenting those sorts of situations in this group. Beyond that, the films of the last quarter of century included 9 about Jewish gangster/hoodlums, 8 presenting various aspects of Mid-East politics, 6 highlighting immigrant stories, 6 featuring Jewish scientists or other bright individuals including an electronics genius, 5 films about Jewish youth, another 5 focused on religious themes and 4 autobiographical films. Other categories include films about Jewish attorneys (3), detective/investigators (2), police (3), vampires (2), Western characters (2), wealthy Jews (2) and World War II events, other than the Holocaust (2). Although not treated as a separate

category of films for purposes of this analyis, another common thread running through these movies is the portrayal of the Jewish character as an outsider.

With respect to geograhical settings, New York, Europe and the Mid-East came in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, among these films, far outpacing any other locales. Based on the information provided in these reviews, it appears that one movie each, in this group of the last quarter century, were set in Africa, Canada, New England and South America. Although, 3 of these movies were set in the American South, these films portrayed most white Southerners in a negative or stereotypical manner (see "Hollywood's Rape of the South" in Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content).

Specifically, with reference to the film's of the '80s decade, Lester Friedman makes the statement that the " . . . films of the eighties have . . . been filled with portraits of Jews. Sadly, (according to Friedman) most of these Jewish characters have been negative . . . ."[1230]

On the other hand, this study reveals that the accuracy of Friedman's observation is dubious, at best, although it may be true that most portrayals of Hollywood studio executives appear to be somewhat negative. On the other hand, if actually compared with the real-life behavior of this particular group, the movie portrayals may actually be positive. Also, admittedly, a portrayal of a Jewish person may not appear negative to a non-Jewish person but may be considered negative to a Jewish person. The same is true with respect to the film portrayals of members of any other religious, ethnic, racial, cultural or religious group. The differences lie in the degree of negativity, whether the negative portrayal is set within the context of a comedy, who is responsible for the portrayal and whether the portrayal is part of a larger pattern of bias.

In other words, some negative portrayals in film are vicious, (e.g., the comment by Robert Duvall in Geronimo that "Texans are the lowest form of human life.") That comment was not made within the context of a comedy. If the screenplay was written by a non-Texan, the film was directed by a non-Texan and most of the people who had any authority to include or exclude such a statement were non-Texans, then such a statement is even less acceptable. Such a statement becomes even more offensive when it appears to be a part of a much larger pattern of bias in films against Texans or people from the South, in general, and that does, in fact, appear to be the case.

If the roles were reversed, and a film was produced and released by a major studio/distributor which was predominantly owned and controlled by Texans (and none are), and the film included a comment by a non-Jewish character who said "Jews are the lowest form of human life . . . " such a statement would not only be unacceptable, it would be considered outrageous by most fair-minded people in the world today. If then it is outrageous to make such a statement about Jewish people, it should also be outrageous to make such a statement about African-Americans, Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans, women, gay/lesbians, Christians, Arabs, Asians, people from the South and Texans, particularly, if these groups seem to have been the targets of the film industry's negative portrayals over the years and the film industry is controlled by a small group of Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious, and who also seem to favor the hiring of Jewish producers, directors, writers, actors and actresses, particularly for projects relating to Jewish concerns. Besides, if Lester Friedman wants to see some really negative and stereotypical portrayals of a human population, he only has to review the chapter referred to above dealing with Hollywood's many decades of treatment of people, places and things from the American South in this book's companion volume, Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content.

Entertainment--Within the broader category of entertainment industry films from this last quarter century 13 of these films were about the movie industry, 7 focused on Broadway, 5 dealt with television, 3 featured vaudeville performers, and one each presented rock singers and a stand-up comic.

The 1975 release Hearts of the West told the story of " . . . an aspiring young writer from Iowa in the early (1920's) . . . who heads for Titan, Nevada, and winds up in Hollywood."[ii][1231] As Patricia Erens reports, the film was " . . . about the early days of movie production on Poverty Row . . . " and portrays " . . . two idiosyncratic Jewish characters: Kessler (played by Jewish actor Alan Arkin),[iii][1232] a low-budget film producer, and A.J. Nietz (Donald Pleasence), a mogul who has made his fortune from publishing pulp fiction . . . " Erens also states that there was " . . . a whole array of Jewish types (floating in and out of the movie) in the capacity of executives, technicians, costumers, and party guests . . . " and that " . . . the Jews came off as exploiters . . . "[iv][1233] Film critic Richard Goldstein, of the Village Voice, described the film as " . . . a win-some little comedy, in which venal Jews oppress innocent Christians, while in the background romance and ambience keep us from taking it to heart."[v][1234] Jewish director Howard Zieff[vi][1235] directed. The film also starred Jeff Bridges, Blythe Danner and Andy Griffith.

In the 1975 MGM release, The Sunshine Boys two veteran vaudevillians who have shared a hate-love relationship for decades come together for a television spot, and ruin it.[vii][1236] As Patricia Erens points out, the film possesses " . . . a Jewish aura although the milieu is left rather vague."[viii][1237] The script was written by Jewish writer Neil Simon.[ix][1238] Jewish director Herbert Ross

• [1239] directed for producer Ray Stark. The film starred Jewish actor Walter Matthau,[xi][1240] Jewish performer George Burns (Nathan Birnbaum),[xii][1241] Jewish actor Richard Benjamin[xiii][1242] and Carol Arthur.

The 1976 Universal release Gable and Lombard was set following " . . . Carole Lombard's death in a 1942 air crash . . . " and the film portrays Clark Gable recalling " . . . their years together."[xiv][1243] The film also presents the character of Jewish studio boss Louis B. Mayer[xv][1244] (played by Allen Garfield, originally Goorwitz)[xvi][1245] " . . . one of the obstacles to their marriage." According to Patricia Erens, Mayer also " . . . emerges as a disingenuous personality, more concerned with selling films, making money, and preserving his personal power than with the welfare of his 'family'."[xvii][1246] Jewish writer Barry Sandler[xviii][1247] wrote the script. Sidney J. Furie directed for producer Harry Korshak. The film's other stars were James Brolin, Jewish actress Jill Clayburgh,[xix][1248] Jewish actor Red Buttons[xx][1249] and Joanne Linville.

In another film about a "Jewish son" the 1976 Columbia release The Front focuses on " . . . the blacklisting of television personalities during the 1950s. Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy) attempts to use his old high school chum, Howard Prince (a small-time Jewish bookie, played by Jewish actor Woody Allen),[xxi][1250] as a front for several unemployed writers." As Patricia Erens reports, "[l]ittle is made of the ethnic elements in The Front although the cast and characters are overwhelmingly Jewish."[xxii][1251] Jewish writer Walter Bernstein[xxiii][1252] wrote the script. Jewish producer/director Martin Ritt[xxiv][1253] directed and produced with Charles H. Joffe. The film also starred Jewish actors Zero Mostel and Herschel Bernardi,[xxv][1254] along with Andrea Marcovicci and Lloyd Gough.

In the 1976 Paramount release Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood Art Carney and (Jewish actor) Phil Silvers[xxvi][1255] " . . . play J.J. and Murray Fromberg, a low-budget studio chief near bankruptcy, and his brother-in-law." According to Patricia Erens, J.J. and Murray are composite figures probably modeled on the (Jewish) Warner Brothers, who, according to some film historians, were saved from bankruptcy by the success of the Rin Tin Tin films." Erens says that "[t]ogether they offer another portrayal of the Jewish mogul as nasty exploiter."[xxvii][1256] Arnold Schulman and Cy Howard wrote the script. Michael Winner directed for Jewish producer David V. Picker,[xxviii][1257] who produced with Schulman and Winner. The film also starred Jewish actress Madeline Kahn,[xxix][1258] Bruce Dern, Jewish actor Ron Leibman,[xxx][1259] Dennis Morgan, William Demarest, Virginia Mayo and Jewish performer George Jessel.[xxxi][1260]

In another 1976 Paramount release The Last Tycoon the " . . . lead character, movie producer Monroe Stahr, is clearly identified as Jewish." When the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel on which the film is based " . . . was published, most people recognized Stahr as a thinly veiled portrait of Irving J. Thalberg."[xxxii][1261] Jewish writer Harold Pinter[xxxiii][1262] wrote the script. Elia Kazan directed for Jewish producer Sam Spiegel (son of Russian Jew Simon Spiegel).[xxxiv][1263] Robert de Niro (of Italian-Jewish heritage)[xxxv][1264] starred with Robert Mitchum, Jewish actor Tony Curtis,[xxxvi][1265] Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Boulting, Donald Pleasance, Ray Milland, Dana Andrews and John Carradine.

In the 1976 20th Century-Fox release Silent Movie, an " . . . alcoholic producer gets the idea that a silent movie would be a great novelty, and tries to get stars to take part."[xxxvii][1266] Jewish filmmaker/actor Mel Brooks[xxxviii][1267] and Jewish comedian Sid Caesar[xxxix][1268] " . . . play ethnic studio types."[xl][1269] Brooks directed and wrote the script with Ron Clark, Rudy de Luca and Barry Levinson. The film also starred Jewish actor Marty Feldman,[xli][1270] Dom de Luise, Bernadette Peters, Harold Gould, Fritz Feld, Jewish comedian Harry Ritz (son of Max Joachim of Austria)[xlii][1271] and Jewish comedian Henny Youngman.[xliii][1272]

The 1976 Warner Bros. release A Star is Born was a remake of earlier versions appearing in 1937 and 1954. Jewish actress Barbra Streisand[xliv][1273] starred as Esther Hoffman and Kris Kristofferson as John Norman Howard. Both are rock singers. As Patricia Erens points out, "[l]ittle in the film deals with ethnicity, but it is of interest that Streisand, who produced (with Jon Peters) and therefore had control over the script, found it important to portray herself as Jewish."[xlv][1274] Credit for writing the script went to John Gregory Dunne, Joan Didion and Frank Pierson (who also directed). Others featured included Jewish filmmaker Paul Mazursky[xlvi][1275] and Gary Busey.

According to Patricia Erens, the 1977 Columbia Pictures release You Light Up My Life was "[a]nother film which features the Jewish milieu of Hollywood . . . " The film told the story of a " . . . child veteran of the vaudeville circuit, Laurie Robinson (who) aspires to be a singer, despite her father Si's (Joe Silver) encouragement to remain a comedian. Several of the minor characters flesh out the ethnic background, including Laurie's friend Annie (Melanie Mayron), Richard, the director, and Mr. Nussbaum (Marty Zagon), the wedding

director."[xlvii][1276] Joseph Brooks wrote, produced and directed. The film also starred Didi Conn, Michael Zaslow, Stephan Nathan, Melanie Mayron, Amy Letterman and Jerry Keller.

In the 1977 UA release Valentino reporters " . . . quiz celebrities at a star's funeral and his eccentric life unfolds."[xlviii][1277] The film includes appearances of characters representing both Jewish producer Jesse Lasky[xlix][1278] (played by Huntz Hall) and Jewish actress Nazimova[l][1279] (played by Leslie Caron) . . . Like most of the other moguls portrayed, (Lasky's) . . . first concern is for the studio. Likewise, he has a tendency to treat his stars as innocent children."[li][1280] Ken Russell directed and wrote the script with Mardik Martin. Harry Benn produced. The film also starred Rudolf Nureyev, Michelle Phillips, Jewish actress Carol Kane,[lii][1281] Felicity Kendal, David de Keyser, Alfred Marks, Anton Diffring, Jennie Linden and John Justin.

The 1978 Warner Bros. release Hooper was about " . . . an aging stunt man (who) decides on one last sensational stunt before retiring."[liii][1282] The film included a sendup of Jewish director Peter Bogdanovich[liv][1283] (played by Jewish actor Robert Klein).[lv][1284] Bogdonovich was portrayed as a "petulant", "arrogant", "pretentious auteur", although " . . . famous for his single takes . . . "[lvi][1285] The film starred Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Brian Kieth, Jan-Michael Vincent, John Marley, James Best and Adam West. Hal Needham directed the script written by Thomas Rickman and Bill Kerby for producers Lawrence Gordon and Hank Moonjean.

The 1978 Paramount release The One and Only features " . . . Henry Winkler (of Jewish origins)[lvii][1286] as Andy Schmidt, a starry-eyed kid who wants to make it on the Great White Way. Instead, he is promoted as a boxer by a jaded (Jewish) entrepreneur, Sidney Seltzer (Gene Saks). Despite Sidney's disreputable business practices, he emerges as a warm-hearted human being with a real concern for the boy."[lviii][1287] Steve Gordon wrote the script and produced with Jewish producer David V. Picker.[lix][1288] Jewish director Carl Reiner[lx][1289] directed. The film also starred Kim Darby, William Daniels, Polly Holiday, Herve Villechaize, Harold Gould and Richard Lane.

The 1980 movie Those Lips, Those Eyes feature Jewish characters in central roles. The film is " . . . a comedy about a third-rank vaudeville actor, Harry Chrystal (Frank Langella), stuck in a small town for the season. Here he meets Artie Shoemaker (Thomas Hulce), a stagestruck kid who wants to be a big star . . . The film also includes the cynical Broadway agent Mickey Bellinger (Kevin McCarthy)."[lxi][1290] Michael Pressman directed.

As noted earlier, The Jazz Singer was remade in 1980, starring Jewish performer Neil Diamond.[lxii][1291] Friedman states that the message of this modern version " . . . is that American success and Judaism are not mutually exclusive . . . "[lxiii][1292] Richard Fleischer (the son of Jewish producer Max Fleischer)[lxiv][1293] directed for producer Jerry Leider. In this version " . . . the story concerns a contemporary (Jewish) family who have immigrated to the United States after the Holocaust."[lxv][1294]

The MGM release Fame (1980) included the portrayal of " . . . a Jewish girl, Dores Feinsecker (Maureen Teefy), who tries to make it in show business."[lxvi][1295] Alan Parker directed for producers David de Silva and Alan Marshall. The film also starred Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Laura Dean, Paul McCrane, Barry Miller and Gene Anthony Ray.

In addition, Jewish actor Alan King[lxvii][1296] played " . . . an egotistical Jewish tycoon (Hollywood mogul) . . . " in the Warner Bros. release Just Tell Me What You Want (1980).[lxviii][1297] Jewish producer/director Sidney Lumet[lxix][1298] (the son of Yiddish stage actors)[lxx][1299] directed and co-

produced with Jay Presson Allen. As Erens points out, the film " . . . goes out of its way to announce its Jewishness and to insert ethnic material tangential to the plot."[lxxi][1300]

The 1981 Paramount release Mommie Dearest provided an account of the private life of Joan Crawford, from the biography by her adopted daughter Christina, who claimed spectacular ill-treatment."[lxxii][1301] The film also included a portrayal of Jewish studio executive Louis B. Mayer, who Crawford (played by Faye Dunaway) discovers is " . . . the one person she can't manipulate . . . Despite his cordiality and paternalism, he is all business, and once he decides to drop Crawford's contract, no amount of persuasion will change his mind." According to Patricia Erens, the movie makes it " . . . clear that the real power in Hollywood resides with the producers . . . " (i.e., the studio executive)."[lxxiii][1302] The film was written and produced by the Jewish writer/producer/studio executive Frank Yablans.[lxxiv][1303] Frank Perry (husband of Jewish writer Eleanor Perry)[lxxv][1304] directed. Other stars included Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, and Jewish actor Howard da Silva[lxxvi][1305] (as Mayer).

Also, in 1981, Soup for One follows " . . . the ups and downs of Allan Martin (played by Saul Rubinek), a (Jewish) television writer who dreams of the perfect women." Marcia Strassman plays the " . . . Italian free spirit . . . " that Allan eventually marries.[lxxvii][1306] Jonathan Kaufer directed. The film also starred Gerrit Graham.

Also, in 1981, Ragtime (1981) contains a " . . . portrait of a Jewish immigrant turned filmmaker . . . "[lxxviii][1307] "Tateh (Mandy Patinkin) " . . . ekes out a living creating silhouettes . . . " but " . . . eventually . . . recognizes the future of moving pictures and rises to fame as Baron Ashkenazi (a spoof on Jewish directors like Erich von Stroheim, who hid his Jewish origins and adopted noble European airs)."[lxxix][1308] Czechoslovakia-born Milos Foreman (" . . . son of a Jewish professor of education and (a) . . . Protestant . . . " mother)[lxxx][1309] directed for producer Dino de Laurentiis. The script was adapted from Jewish writer E.L. Doctorow's[lxxxi][1310] novel. The film also starred James Olson, Mary Steenburgen, James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Elizabeth McGovern and Moses Gunn.

The 1982 MGM/UA release My Favorite Year was directed by Jewish director Richard Benjamin.[lxxxii][1311] The film " . . . focuses on the aspiring young Jewish comedy writer Benjy Stone (played by Mark Linn-Baker) during the hectic years of early television."[lxxxiii][1312] The script was written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo for producer Michael Gruskoff. The film also starred Peter O'Toole, Jessica Harper, Joseph Balogna, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Jewish actor Lou Jacobi[lxxxiv][1313] and Cameron Mitchell.

The 1982 EMI/Brooksfilm release Frances portrayed the " . . . downhill career of 30s actress Frances Farmer."[lxxxv][1314] It also included a negative portrayal of a Paramount studio executive named "B.B." "Condescending and insulting, he cautions Frances Farmer (Jessica Lange) about stepping out of line and sets about to ruin her when she does not take orders from the studio like other starlets." As discussed in Motion Picture Biographies, the film also " . . . contains an unflattering depiction of (Jewish writer) Clifford Odets."[lxxxvi][1315] The script was written by Eric Bergre, Christopher Devore and Nicholas Kazan. Graeme Clifford directed for producer Jonathan Sanger. Kim Stanley, Sam Shepard, Bart Burns and Jeffrey de Munn also starred.

In the 1982 Columbia release Tootsie, about " . . . an out-of-work actor (who) pretends to be a woman in order to get a job in a soap opera . . . "[lxxxvii][1316] Jewish filmmaker " . . . Sydney Pollack[lxxxviii][1317] takes the role of a Jewish talent agent . . . "[lxxxix][1318] Pollack also produced and directed. The script was written by Jewish writer Larry Gelbart and Murray Shisgal. The film also starred Jewish actor Dustin Hoffman,[xc][1319] along with Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning and George Gaynes.

The 1982 Warner Bros. release Best Friends was about [t]wo writers who have enjoyed a peaceful professional relationship (but) find problems when they get married and visit their respective families."[xci][1320] The film includes a negative portrayal of a Jewish film producer by a Jewish actor " . . . Ron Silver[xcii][1321] (who) impersonates an aggressive, manipulative Hollywood movie man (Jerry) who hides behind his young son for excuses. Deferring to his secretary, he spends most of the day sporting tennis attire and leaving the work to others."[xciii][1322] The script was written by Valerie Curtin and Jewish writer/director Barry Levinson.[xciv][1323] Norman Jewison directed and produced with Joe Wizan.

The 1982 Columbia Pictures release Tempest (produced, written and directed by Jewish filmmaker Paul Mazursky)[xcv][1324] featured several Jewish characters, " . . . Mr. and Mrs. Bloomfield, a Broadway producer and his wife, played by . . . Mazursky and his wife . . . " along with Henry Gondorff (Jerry Hardin), a Jewish comedian . . . "[xcvi][1325] The film starred John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandan and Paul Stewart.

The 1982 20th Century-Fox release Author, Author! was about a " . . . Broadway playwright (who) has worries about his wife's fidelity."[xcvii][1326] Jewish actor " . . . Alan King[xcviii][1327] takes the role of Kreplich, a bearded Jewish producer. Also in the cast is the Jewish theatrical director, Morris Feinstein."[xcix][1328] The script was written by Israel Horovitz. Arthur Hiller directed for Jewish producer Irwin Winkler.[c][1329] The film also starred Al Pacino, Jewish actress Dyan Cannon,[ci][1330] Tuesday Weld, Bob Dishy and Bob Elliott.

The 1983 20th Century-Fox release The King of Comedy starred Robert De Niro (of Italian-Jewish heritage)[cii][1331] as Rupert Pupkin, " . . . an aspiring television comedian, (Jewish performer) Jerry Lewis[ciii][1332] as Jerry Langford, a successful television host, and Sandra Bernhard as Masha, a wealthy groupie." As Patricia Erens reports, "[a]ll three are quirky individuals, who are difficult to like; (and) all three are Jewish." Erens raises the question as to why director Martin Scorsese (of Sicilian-American parents)[civ][1333] whose " . . . works have been steeped in Roman Catholic anguish and guilt . . . would suddenly choose a Jewish milieu . . . " for this film. She answers by suggesting that one " . . . possibility is the obvious fact that Jews are dominant in the entertainment business . . . especially in the world of film and television comedy."[cv][1334] The script for the film was written by Paul D. Zimmermann for Israeli-born producer Arnon Milchan.[cvi][1335]

The 1983 film The First Time is described by Patricia Erens as a " . . . genial tale of Jewish involvement with entertainment. It is " . . . a story of the education of Charlie Lichtenstein (Tim Choate) . . . " who aspires " . . . to become the great American director

. . . "[cvii][1336] As directed by Charlie Loventhal, the film also serves as a comment on " . . . the pretentiousness of film schools . . . "[cviii][1337] Others featured in this film include Krista Erickson, Marshall Efron and Wallace Shawn.

In 1984, the Orion release Broadway Danny Rose, featured a Jewish theatrical agent and former comic who runs afoul of the Mafia while promoting a client.[cix][1338] The agent " . . . represents some of the worst talent ever assembled . . . "[cx][1339] Jewish filmmaker Woody Allen[cxi][1340] wrote and directed for producer Robert Greenhut. Allen also starred with Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Crag Vandenbergh and Herb Reynolds.

In 1992, Jewish performer Billy Crystal's[cxii][1341] Mr. Saturday Night was " . . . about a stand-up comedian who doesn't have a good feel for his room . . . " He " . . . gives his best

performance at his mother's funeral . . . when . . . the rabbi says, "if anyone has a few words

. . . '"[cxiii][1342] Crystal's character has " . . . a mysterious and relentless craving in the pit of his Brooklyn-Jewish soul that forces him to turn his parents and relatives into a captive but convulsed audience."[cxiv][1343] "Buddy's jokes emerge from both his Jewish-family background and his own screwy, neurotic personality . . . "[cxv][1344] The film is actually a tribute to and " . . . a synthesis of all the famous Jewish comics who flourished between the decline of vaudeville and the explosion of the pop '60s."[cxvi][1345] Crystal wrote the script with Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. Crystal also directed. Other stars included David Paymer, Julie Warner, Helen Hunt and Ron Silver.

Finally, in 1994, the Miramax release Bullets Over Broadway, told the story of a Jewish writer/director on Broadway (played by John Cusack) who obtained financing for his third play by promising an important part to a gangster's girlfriend. Jewish writer/director Woody Allen[cxvii][1346] wrote and directed. The film also starred Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Tilly, Jewish actor Harvey Fierstein,[cxviii][1347] Chazz Palminteri, Rob Reiner (the son of Jewish director Carl Reiner),[cxix][1348] Jim Broadbent, Tracey Ullman, Joe Viterelli, Jack Warden and Mary-Louise Parker.

Relationships--Of course a great many films feature portrayals of relationships, and within the category of Hollywood feature films of the last quarter century, portraying Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues, a significant portion focus on relationships (23 out of 186 or nearly 12.3%).

In the 1975 Columbia release Shampoo the wife of " . . . a hard-nosed (Jewish) businessman, Lester Karp (played by Jack Warden) . . . sleeps with her beautician, George (Warren Beatty)." The angry daughter " . . . spends her time on the family tennis court (and) . . . can think of little beyond stealing (her mother's) . . . lover ."[cxx][1349] Robert Towne wrote the script with Beatty, who also produced. Hal Ashby directed. The film also starred Julie Christie, Jay Robinson, Tony Bill and Jewish actresses Lee Grant,[cxxi][1350] and Goldie Hawn.[cxxii][1351]

The 1977 20th Century-Fox release Fire Sale focused on the "[m]isadventures of a frantic, eccentric New York-Jewish family who own a department store."[cxxiii][1352] The film was considered derogatory to Jews and received very limited distribution.[cxxiv][1353] Robert Klane wrote the script. Jewish actor/director Alan Arkin[cxxv][1354] starred and directed for producer Marvin Worth. Other stars included Rob Reiner, (the son of Jewish director Carl Reiner)[cxxvi][1355] Vincent Gardenia, Anajanette Comer, Kay Medford, Jewish comedian Sid Caesar[cxxvii][1356] and Alex Rocco.

The 1977 Warner Bros. release The Goodbye Girl was a " . . . romantic comedy set in New York." Marsha Mason starred as " . . . a Broadway chorine whose lover skipped town and sold his apartment lease to . . . (a Jewish) . . . stage actor from Chicago (played by Jewish actor Richard Dreyfuss)[cxxviii][1357] trying to make it in the big city." The trouble is, Mason and her worldly ten-year-daughter . . . are still in the apartment."[cxxix][1358] Erens calls the film " . . . another Jew and Shiksa story . . . "[cxxx][1359] Jewish writer Neil Simon[cxxxi][1360] wrote the script. Jewish director Herbert Ross[cxxxii][1361] directed for producer Ray Stark. The film also starred Quinn Cummings, Paul Benedict and Barbara Rhoades.

In the 1977 UA release Annie Hall, Jewish writer/director Woody Allen[cxxxiii][1362] played a self-conscious, liberal, intellectual New York Jewish comedian who has an affair with a midwestern girl (Diane Keaton). According to Roger Ebert the movie is saying that " . . . enduring relationships are very likely impossible . . . (but) . . . that life without the search for relationships is unthinkable."[cxxxiv][1363] As Patricia Erens points out the film's " . . . Jewish/Gentile relations serve as the work's theme, the reason for the couple's attraction and the cause of their ultimate parting."[cxxxv][1364] Allen wrote the script (with Jewish writer Marshall Brickman)[cxxxvi][1365] and directed for producers Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe and Fred T. Gallo. The film also starred Tony Roberts, Jewish actress Carol Kane,[cxxxvii][1366] Jewish singer/actor Paul Simon[cxxxviii][1367] and Shelly Duvall.

The 1977 release Fingers was about the " . . . child of an emotionally disturbed Jewish mother, who wants him to follow in her footsteps as a concert pianist, and an Italian father, who involves him in the shady world of the loan shark."[cxxxix][1368] Jewish writer James Toback[cxl][1369] wrote and directed for producer George Barrie. The film starred Jewish actor Harvey Keitel,[cxli][1370] Tisa Farrow, Jim Brown, Marian Seldes and Danny Aiello.

In the 1978 Avco release A Different Story a lesbian character (Stella, played by Meg Foster) " . . . finds happiness in the arms of a gay lover. As her girlfriend, Phyllis Pearlman (Valerie Curtin) is naturally jealous. Desperate for attention and love, Phyllis locks herself in the bathroom, threatens suicide, and emerges only when Stella threatens to call her mother." Patricia Erens states that "[l]ike other Jewish women, Phyllis retains a symbiotic relationship with her mother . . . " Also, "[r]iddled with guilt about her sexual tendencies, she cannot face her mother, who is still trying to find her a 'nice Jewish boy'."[cxlii][1371] Henry Olck wrote the script. Paul Aaron directed. The film also starred Perry King and Peter Donat.

That same year (1978), The Summer of My German Soldier, a so-called made for TV movie, starred Kristy McNichol in the story of " . . . the relationship between a Jewish teenager, luminously played by McNichol, and an escaping anti-Nazi German POW . . . " As noted earlier, the film is " . . . set in a small town in the deep South during WWII (and) . . . deals with the hatred of the townsfolk for the German POW's interned in their midst, and the bonds of friendship that develop between the girl, rejected by her father, and the young man."[cxliii][1372] Michael Tuchner directed.

Another script by Jewish writer Neil Simon[cxliv][1373] with a Jewish character was the 1978 Columbia release California Suite. The film was about the "[m]isadventures of four groups of guests at the Beverly Hills Hotel."[cxlv][1374] According to Patricia Erens the film " . . . makes ethnicity unmistakable . . . In one episode Marvin Michaels (played by Jewish actor Walter Matthau)[cxlvi][1375] comes west for his nephew's Bar Mitzvah. Arriving one day ahead of his wife, Millie (played by the Jewish actress Elaine May),[cxlvii][1376] he is met at the airport by his brother Harry (played by Jewish actor Herbert Edelman).[cxlviii][1377] Harry, like many Jewish middle-aged men in the films of the 1970s, still ogles the girls . . . Intent upon showing Marvin the joys of extramarital sex, Harry sends a girl to Marvin's room . . . " and the trouble begins.[cxlix][1378] Jewish director Herbert Ross[cl][1379] directed for producer Ray Stark. Other stars included Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Alan Alda, Jane Fonda, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby.

In the 1978 20th Century-Fox release An Unmarried Woman a " . . . sophisticated New York woman (played by Jewish actress Jill Clayburgh)[cli][1380] is deserted by her husband, fights with her daughter, and takes up with two men."[clii][1381] " . . . Alan Bates plays Saul Kaplan, a British Jew and abstract painter." As Patricia Erens reports, "[l]ittle is made of Kaplan's Jewish background. He is a likeable character, a latter-day Prince Charming . . . "[cliii][1382] Jewish filmmaker Paul Mazursky[cliv][1383] wrote, directed and produced (with Tony Ray). The film also starred Michael Murphy, Cliff Gorman, Pat Quinn and Kelly Bishop.

In the 1978 Universal release House Calls, a " . . . middle-aged doctor (played by Jewish actor Walter Matthau)[clv][1384] finds himself widowed and seeks a new mate."[clvi][1385] A younger Jewish physician " . . . Norman Solomon (played by Jewish actor Richard Benjamin)[clvii][1386] seems obsessed with his sexual activities for which he has an endless stream of Yiddishisms . . . "[clviii][1387] Max Shulman, Julius J. Epstein, Alan Mandel and Charles Shyer wrote the script. Jewish director Howard Zieff[clix][1388] directed for Jewish producer Jennings Lang,[clx][1389] Alex Winitsky and Arlene Sellers. The film also starred Glenda Jackson, Art Carney, Candice Azzara, Thayer David and Dick O'Neill.

The 1978 release Girlfriends was about " . . . a Jewish girl photographer in New York (who) is ditched by her girlfriend and considers men."[clxi][1390] The heroine is Susan Weinblatt, played by Melanie Mayron. Her roommate is blond-haired WASP Anne Munroe (Anita Skinner).[clxii][1391] Vicki Polan wrote the script for Jewish director Claudia Weill (cousin of Jewish composer Kurt Weill)[clxiii][1392] who produced with Jan Saunders. The film also starred Jewish actor Eli Wallach[clxiv][1393] and Bob Balaban.

In the 1979 Warner Bros. release The Main Event Jewish actress Barbra Streisand[clxv][1394] starred as " . . . a cosmetics exec down to her last tube of lipstick, and turns to a prizefighter she owns (a tax exemption) to bail her out."[clxvi][1395] The film is one of several described by Patricia Erens as possessing " . . . a Jewish aura although the milieu is left rather vague."[clxvii][1396] Friedman cites the film as an example of " . . . a turnabout on the traditional Jewish boy/Irish girl setup so predominant in Jewish-American films . . . "[clxviii][1397] Gail Parent and Andrew Smith wrote the script for Jewish director Howard Zieff.[clxix][1398] Streisand and Jon Peters produced. The other stars were Ryan O'Neal, Paul Sand, Whitman Mayo and James Gregory.

In the 1979 UA release, Manhattan (1979) Jewish actor Woody Allen[clxx][1399] " . . . played the Jewish intellectual nebbish bewildered by relationships with attractive shiksas and confounded by his own anxieties and neuroses."[clxxi][1400] Allen wrote, directed and starred for producers Jack Rollins and Charles H. Joffe. Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Mariel Hemingway and Michael Murphy also starred.

The 1980 Columbia release It's My Turn focused " . . . on the romance between Kate Gunsinger and Ben Lewin . . . " both Jewish characters played by Jewish actress Jill Clayburgh and Jewish actor Michael Douglas[clxxii][1401] Jewish director Claudia Weill[clxxiii][1402] directed for Jewish producer Martin Elfand.[clxxiv][1403] The script was written by Eleanor Bergstein. Charles Groden, Beverly Garland and Jewish actor Steven Hill[clxxv][1404] also starred.

As Lester Friedman reports, Jews figured even more prominently on celluloid during the decade of the '80s.[clxxvi][1405] One of the first Jewish films that year " . . . was written and directed by Jewish women. Jewish director Lee Grant's[clxxvii][1406] Tell Me a Riddle, (1980) from a novella by Tilie Olsen, focuses on an elderly couple--David (played by Jewish actor Melvyn Douglas)[clxxviii][1407] and Eva (Lila Kedrova). As Patricia Erens points out, " . . . all of the characters (in this film) are Jewish . . . " although " . . . little is made of this point."[clxxix][1408]

Also in 1980 Steven Paul produced the low-budget film Falling in Love Again dealing " . . . with the mid-life crisis of Harry Lewis (played by Jewish actor Elliott Gould, originally Goldstein),[clxxx][1409] a product of the East Bronx, who now runs a clothing store in Beverly Hills." As Erens reports, the film " . . . presents a picture of growing up Jewish during the 1940s."[clxxxi][1410] Paul also wrote the script (with Ted Allan and Susannah York), directed and appeared in the film (as the young Harry), along with Susannah York and Kaye Ballard.

Gorp (1980) was about the " . . . shenanigans at a Jewish summer camp in the Catskills."[clxxxii][1411] Joseph Ruben directed. The film starred Michael Lembeck, Dennis Quaid, Philip Casnoff, Fran Descher and David Huddleston.

The 1981 release Modern Romance was directed by Albert Brooks (born Albert Einstein, son of comedian Harry Einstein).[clxxxiii][1412] The film " . . . chronicles the stormy relationship between Robert Cole (played by Albert Brooks), a film editor, and Mary Harvard (Kathryn Harrold), a bank official." Patricia Erens observes that "[a]lthough nothing is mentioned about Robert's religion, Brook's persona plus Robert's neuroses and telephone relationship with his mother (derived from Jewish comic routines) all suggest his ethnic background."[clxxxiv][1413] The film also starred Bruno Kirby and James L. Brooks.

Subsequently, in 1983, "Dudley Moore is a Jewish psychiatrist involved with his patient in Lovesick . . . "[clxxxv][1414] The film " . . . chronicles an entirely Jewish milieu without ever using the word. As Saul Benjamin, Moore plays a New York psychoanalyst who falls in love with his young patient, Chloe Allen (Elizabeth McGovern). As Erens points out, "[a]part from Chloe, the Gentile girl who serves as the traditional object of Jewish male desire, almost all of the characters are Jewish."[clxxxvi][1415] The Warner release was written and directed by Jewish writer/director Marshall Brickman[clxxxvii][1416] for producer Charles Okun. Also appearing in the film were Alec Guinness (as the Jewish psychoanalyst Freud), John Huston, Larry Rivers, Gene

Saks, Jewish actress Renee Taylor (Wexler)[clxxxviii][1417] and Jewish actor Alan King (originally Irwin Alan Kiniberg).[clxxxix][1418]

The 1983 Columbia Pictures release The Big Chill (about university contemporaries trying to comfort each other after the death of a friend)[cxc][1419] includes the Jewish character Michael (played by Jeff Goldblum) . . . " who " . . . functions as the class comedian."[cxci][1420] The script was written by Barbara Benedek and Lawrence Kasdan, who also directed for producer Michael Shamberg. The film also starred Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, William Hurt, Kevin Kline (Jewish father),[cxcii][1421] Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, JoBeth Williams and Don Galloway.

In 1986, Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry starred Katharine Hepburn, Harold Gould, Bibi Besch in a " . . . romance about Kate finding love lovelier the second time around with a Jewish gent, much to the disgruntlement of her veddy proper family."[cxciii][1422] George Schaefer directed. In terms of messages, this film is promoting Jewish men as better husbands.

The 1986 Orion release Hannah and Her Sisters presented the relationships of a " . . . New York family over a two-year period between Thanksgiving dinners."[cxciv][1423] Jewish filmmaker/actor Woody Allen[cxcv][1424] played the Jewish character, Hannah's ex-husband, Mickey Sachs, a death-obsessed character who wanders the streets claiming life has no meaning as he continues to search for it.[cxcvi][1425] Allen wrote and directed for producers Charles R. Joffe, Jack Rollins and Robert Greenhut. The film also starred Mia Farrow, Dianne Weist, Michael Caine, Carrie Fisher, Barbara Hershey (Herzstein),[cxcvii][1426] Maureen O'Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Max von Sydow, Daniel Stern, Sam Waterston and Tony Roberts.

The 1992 20th Century-Fox release Used People cinematically revealed what happens when " . . . [a]fter 23 years of carrying the torch for her, (a) romantic, light-headed Italian widower (played by Marcello Mastroianni) asks (a) cranky old (Jewish widow played by Shirley MacLaine) for a date on the very day of her husband's funeral . . . "[cxcviii][1427] MacLaine, Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates " . . . played Jewish matriarchs . . . " in the film[cxcix][1428] Todd

Graff wrote the script. Beeban Kidron directed for producer Peggy Rajski. Other stars included Bob Dishy, Marcia Gay Harden, Lee Wallace and Louis Guss.

Holocaust Films--Next in terms of shear numbers among the Hollywood feature films portraying Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues are the so-called Holocaust films, which, as used here, means films that either focus primarily on events associated with the Holocaust or films that contain significant portrayals of such events. Some 21 of the 186 films included in this study (11.2%) fall into this category, ranking it only behind films about the entertainment industry and relationship films as the third most popular category of Hollywood films in this group.

At the start of the century's final quarter, the 1975 film The Hiding Place was based

" . . . on a true life traumatic tale of two sisters sent to a concentration camp for aiding the Jews."[cc][1429] Patricia Erens reports that the film had " . . . special independent financing . . . " (the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), which means that the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry did not put up production financing for this film that " . . . .chronicles the contribution of non-Jews to the fight against Nazism. The story, based on the memoirs of Corrie Ten Boom, records how her family hid Jews, and documents their later incarceration at Ravenstrueck concentration camp . . . When the Gestapo finally break into the Ten Boom household all are arrested. The house is sealed, although unbeknown to the Nazis, many Jews remain inside in their hiding place."[cci][1430] James F. Collier directed. The film starred Julie Harris, Arthur O'Connell, Eileen Heckart and Jeanette Clift. According to Patricia Erens, this film also received "special showcasing" which means it was not distributed through normal channels.

The hero of the 1975 film The Man in the Glass Booth was " . . . Arthur Goldman (played by Maximilian Schell), a wealthy New York Jew of German origin." His father " . . . died in Auschwitz, murdered by an S.S. officer, Colonel Dorff." As Patricia Erens explains the story, "Goldman talks about the camps with personal insight, commenting on the way the Jews were even forced to confront their own evil, their own inner nature. Without warning Goldman is taken into custody by Israeli agents who unmask him as Dorff." At his trial, "Goldman is put in a glass booth for protection and to facilitate translation." Eventually,

" . . . doctors reveal that the witness is not Dorff, but the Jew, Arthur Goldman, who has paid to have Dorff's X-rays destroyed. The judge attempts to question him. But Goldman doesn't answer. Now catatonic, he utters one word 'Justice', slowly undresses and dies, his arms outstretched like Christ on the Cross. Again the Jewish Victim, the Jewish Martyr. Goldman bears witness to the atrocities perpetrated against the Jews. He gives Israel a German victim to alleviate their suffering."[ccii][1431] Arthur Hiller directed. The film also starred Lois Nettleton, Jewish actor Luther Adler[cciii][1432] and Lawrence Pressman.

In Paramount's Marathon Man (1976) Sir Laurence Olivier played " . . . a monster, a Nazi dentist who had drilled gold out of Jewish prisoners' teeth before their trip to the furnace and was now forced to leave his hideaway in the Uruguay jungles and chance a trip to New York to retrieve his hidden wealth of diamonds."[cciv][1433] Olivier " . . . tortures a Jewish graduate student (played by Jewish actor Dustin Hoffman)[ccv][1434] to obtain information the boy does not have."'[ccvi][1435] Jewish producer Robert Evans (Shapera)[ccvii][1436] admits that the " . . . role called for a twenty-four-year-old . . . ", but Evans " . . . insisted Dustin Hoffman play the Marathon Man."[ccviii][1437] John Schlesinger (the " . . . son of a Jewish pediatrician . . . ")[ccix][1438] directed the script by Jewish novelist/screenwriter William Goldman[ccx][1439] for producers Evans and Sidney Beckerman. In other words, for The Marathon Man, a Jewish producer insisted that a Jewish actor (who was not actually right for the role, although he did a marvelous job) perform in the film version of a Jewish story based on a script written by a Jewish writer, directed by a Jewish director. How common was it for African-Americans or Latinos to perform in such key roles on the same Hollywood motion picture during the '70s (or now for that matter)? Is anyone in this country so naive as to believe that this combination of Jewish elements came about by coincidence or historical accident, or would it be more reasonable to assume that a significant amount of employment discrimination was involved in packaging this film project?

The 1976 film Voyage of the Damned, was a " . . . British production released in the States . . . " It dealt " . . . with events preceding the Holocaust . . . " and " . . . chronicles a true event, the crossing of the St. Louis in the spring of 1939 from Hamburg, Germany, to Havana, Cuba. On board are 937 Jews, refugees from Hitler's Germany, seeking sanctuary in America."[ccxi][1440] Steve Shagan and David Butler wrote the script. Stuart Rosenberg directed for producer Robert Fryer. The film starred Faye Dunaway, Max von Sydow, Oskar Werner, Malcolm McDowell, James Mason, Orson Welles, Katharine Ross, Ben Gazzara, Jewish actress Lee Grant[ccxii][1441] and Sam Wannamaker.

The 1978 release The Boys from Brazil focuses on the activities of " . . . Ezra Lieberman (played by Laurence Olivier), a one-man enterprise dedicated to the capture of Nazi criminals." Lieberman's character was modeled on the famous Nazi hunter and "Czech Jew" Simon Wiesenthal.[ccxiii][1442] In this film he struggles with a " . . . renegade Nazi in hiding (who) has a sinister plot to reconquer the world."[ccxiv][1443] Heywood Gould wrote the script. Franklin Schaffner (of Christian heritage)[ccxv][1444] directed for producers Martin Richards and Stanley O'Toole. The film starred Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason, Jewish actress Lilli Palmer,[ccxvi][1445] Uta Hagen, Steven Guttenberg and Denholm Elliott.

Playing for Time (1980) starred Vanessa Redgrave, Shirley Knight, Maud Adams and Jane Alexander in a film " . . . about life in the Auschwitz death camp, one of the Nazis' most murderous camps for European Jewry."[ccxvii][1446] Daniel Mann (Chugerman) directed.

In the 1982 release, Remembrance of Love a father (played by Jewish actor Kirk Douglas, who was born Issur Danielovitch of Russian immigrant parents)[ccxviii][1447] and daughter (Pam Dawber) " . . . show up in Tel Aviv for the 1981 World Gathering of Holocaust Survivors . . . " The Dawber character " . . . meets a handsome security officer and her recently widowed and depressed Dad comes alive after being reunited with his long lost love from World War II."[ccxix][1448] Jack Smight directed.

Genocide (1982) is described by Steven Scheuer as a "[p]owerful, shattering restatement of the atrocities inflicted upon the Jews under the Nazis." The film is narrated by Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor, (who converted to Judaism)[ccxx][1449] with a vivid collection of film clips, photographs and letters from the victims."[ccxxi][1450] Arnold Schwartzman directed.

The Wall (1982) was a so-called made-for-TV-movie starring Lisa Eichhorn, Tom Conti, Jewish actor Eli Wallach,[ccxxii][1451] Gerald Hiken, Rachel Roberts and Phillip Sterling. The script was based on John Hersey's novel " . . . about the valiant resistance staged by a small group of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto against their Nazi oppressors during WWII . . . "[ccxxiii][1452] Robert Markowitz directed.

Also, in 1982, part of what Sophie's Choice (Universal) demonstrated is how indiscriminate the Nazis were in their drive to exterminate people whom they considered undesirable. The Sophie character (played by Meryl Streep) was a Polish Catholic who was sent to Auschwitz (along with the many Jewish prisoners) for the attempted smuggling of a ham, even though she was the daughter of an academic father who had written some of the earliest anti-Semitic pamphlets circulated in Poland. The father was killed by the Nazis (in spite of his pro-Nazi leanings) simply because he was an intellectual. The film also makes the point that the Nazi movement split families apart along political lines. In addition, one of the featured relationships in the film was between a Jewish man (played by Kevin Kline) and Sophie. The Kline character was obsessed with the idea that Nazis might escape punishment for what they did to the Jews. (Kline's father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic.)[ccxxiv][1453]

Alan J. Pakula (born in New York "of Polish-Jewish parents")[ccxxv][1454] wrote and directed Sophie's Choice for producer Keith Barish.

In the 1983 20th Century-Fox release To Be Or Not To Be Jewish oppression by the Nazis is treated[ccxxvi][1455] as actors in Warsaw, Poland " . . . get involved in an underground plot and an impersonation of invading Nazis, including Hitler."[ccxxvii][1456] The script was written by Thomas Meehan and Ronnie Graham. Alan Johnson directed for Jewish producer Mel Brooks,[ccxxviii][1457] who starred with Anne Bancroft, Tim Matheson, Charles Durning, Jose Ferrer, George Gaynes, Christopher Lloyd and James Haake.

Then in 1985, a portion of the movie-within-the-movie in Kiss of the Spider Woman, was a scene depicting the murder of Jewish smugglers by Nazis who were occupying France during World War II. Other parts of the film included discussion of what Nazis did to Jews and others during that period. Leonard Schrader wrote the script. Hector Babenco (born in Buenos Aires to Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia)[ccxxix][1458] directed for producer David Weisman. The film starred William Hurt and Raul Julia.

The combination of elements for Kiss of the Spider Woman reveals that in one of the very rare contemporary instances of a director from South America being allowed to direct a U.S. film, the storyline of the movie contained significant Jewish elements and the director himself also had a Jewish heritage. This instance taken in combination with the rarity of the appearance of South American film professionals in conjunction with U.S. films suggests that those South American film professionals who do not have a Jewish heritage and/or are not able to attach themselves to film projects with significant Jewish elements do not have much of a chance of working on American films or breaking into the American film industry. The record thus far established with respect to the participation of South American film professionals in American film projects, provides little evidence to contradict this observation. Wallenberg: A Hero's Story (1985) was a so-called made-for-TV-movie starring Richard Chamberlain, Alice Krige, Bibi Anderson and Melanie Mayron. Chamberlain starred as " . . . Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish aristocrat who saved many Budapest Jews from Nazi Colonel Adolph Eichmann at the tail end of World War II."[ccxxx][1459] Lamont Johnson directed.

Finally, in 1985, War and Love starred Sebastian Keneas, Kyra Sedgwich, David Spielberg, Cheryl Gianini, Eda Reiss-Merin in the film " . . . about a young man who lived to write about the horrendous suffering he and others endured in the Warsaw Ghetto and concentration camps . . . " Moshe Mizrahi directed. The film was based on producer Jack Eisner's own experiences, chronicled in the book The Survivor.[ccxxxi][1460]

In We Were So Beloved (1986) "[q]uestions of conscience generated by the Holocaust are examined from a unique angle in a series of interviews with German Jewish immigrants, or the children of these immigrants, who left Nazi Germany just prior to the start of World War II."[ccxxxii][1461] Manfred Kirchheimer directed.

Also, in 1986, Partisans of Vilna pays " . . . tribute to a group of heroes, the Jewish resistance fighters of Vilna, Lithuania, who battled the Nazis and survived the Holocaust."[ccxxxiii][1462] Jack Waletzky directed.

Columbia Pictures subsidiary Triumph Releasing (in 1989) offered up Triumph of the Spirit, described by its producer Arnold Kopelson as a "Holocaust project" and based on a true life story about a Greek/Jewish boxer, who survived a Nazi concentration camp.[ccxxxiv][1463] The film was directed by Robert M. Young for producers Kopelson and Shimon Arama. Performers included Willem Dafoe, Edward James Olmos, Robert Loggia, Wendy Gazelle, Kelly Wolf, Costas Mandylor, Kario Salem, Edward Zentara and Hartmut Becker.

The 1989 20th Century-Fox release Enemies, a Love Story was the story of Polish Jew who escaped from the Nazis in World War II, who was told his wife died in the Nazi death camps, who remarries and moves to New York, where he takes on a mistress only to be surprised by his first wife who shows up in New York alive. The movie makes the point that " . . . people, having been delivered more or less miraculously from death, are nevertheless left with the same character flaws and weaknesses they would have possessed if there had been no Nazis . . . (in other words) . . . ecause a person has survived a great evil does not make a great person--only a lucky one."[ccxxxv][1464] The script was written by Roger L. Simon and Jewish writer/director/producer Paul Mazursky[ccxxxvi][1465] (based on Jewish author Isaac Bashevis Singer's[ccxxxvii][1466] novel). Mazursky also produced and directed. The film starred Anjelica Huston, Jewish actor Ron Silver,[ccxxxviii][1467] Lena Olin, Margaret Sophie Stein, Judith Malina, Jewish actor Alan King,[ccxxxix][1468] Rita Karin and Phil Leeds. As noted above, the script for this film was written by a Jewish screenwriter and was based on the writing of a Jewish novelist. The film was also directed and produced by a Jewish producer/director and featured at least two Jewish actors.

In 1992, Entertainment Weekly reports that A Day in October (Academy) portrayed

" . . . a young resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Denmark who, after being taken in by a young Jewish woman . . . gets her apathetic family involved in helping Jews escape."[ccxl][1469]

The following year, in 1993, Jewish director Steven Spielberg's[ccxli][1470] Schindler's List (Universal) was another attempt to tell the true story of the Jewish Holocaust, or at least another aspect of the tragedy.[ccxlii][1471] The film told the story of the Nazi industrialist (Schindler) who saved some 1,100 Jews from certain death in the concentration camps . . . "[ccxliii][1472] Spielberg (who produced and directed the film) said that " . . . the chance to recount the tragedy of the Holocaust was irresistible . . . "[ccxliv][1473] Even though Schindler's List was generally considered a great movie, the choice of this topic once again suggests that the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry would not be as likely to produce and distribute so many films about the Holocaust (and other Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues) if the industry was not dominated by Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious. In other words, if there were more blacks at the highest levels in the film industry, we would be more likely to see a greater number of movies about the horrors of the slave trade, slavery and continued discrimination against African-Americans in this country. Just, as if there were more native Americans at the upper levels of the U.S. film industry we would be more likely to see more movies about their experiences and more positive portrayals at an earlier time. The same is also true of most other groups in U.S. society. Once again, movies mirror the values, interests, cultural perspectives and prejudices of their makers.

Also, in the film, the song Jerusalem of Gold which was not written until 1967, was used as the theme music. In an interview with Tom Tugend, Contributing Editor of The Jewish Journal, Spielberg (who produced and directed) said: "There is no thematic or even symbolic meaning to that except it was the most familiar piece of Jewish music that I was raised with. I had a dozen themes I could have used but that was the one that I remembered my grandfather would play and my mother would play on the piano. And I heard it over and over again and just had to use it. It was a personal choice . . . just always sung in my house."[ccxlv][1474] This again supports the contention that many of the creative decisions made by persons in the film industry are based on their own personal feelings, experiences and belief systems; thus, all the more reason why there must be more diversity among those who have the decision-making power in the film community.[ccxlvi][1475] Steven Zaillian wrote the screenplay for Schindler's List. The film starred Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagalle and Embeth Davidtz.

Also, in 1993, the MGM release Six Degrees of Separation focused on the experience of " . . . the Kittredges (Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland), chic Fifth Avenue folk who deal and speculate in high-society art . . . " with " . . . a young black man who arrived at their doorstep late one evening bleeding from a knife wound and claiming to have been a mugging victim . . . " as well as " . . . a friend and classmate of their children at Harvard

. . . "[ccxlvii][1476] The film gratuitously inserts a Jewish character, a Dr. Fine, who states that his parents were killed by the Nazis. The inclusion of this character and his family history was gratuitous in the sense that his Jewishness and the fact that his parents were killed by the Nazis, was not essential to the rest of the story. It did however, further illustrate the main theme of the movie (i.e., that each human being on earth is connected to each other human being on earth, by no more than their relationships with six other people and that we should be our brother's keeper). In effect, the inclusion of the Jewish doctor's character and statement about his parents being killed by the Nazis changes the message of the movie from the mere thought that, "Each human is connected to others by no more than their relationships with six other people;" to something more like: "Since we are so interrelated and are our brother's keeper, people should not have stood around and allowed the Nazis to commit such atrocities prior to and during World War II." Fred Schepisis directed and produced with Israeli-born producer Arnon Milchan.[ccxlviii][1477] John Guare wrote the screenplay. Other stars included Will Smith, Ian McKellen, Mary Beth Hurt, Bruce Davison and Richard Masur (as Dr. Fine).

Prejudice--Films about prejudice also form another popular category of films among Hollywood filmmakers who have created movies about Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues. Prejudice is also closely related to the immediatly preceding analytical category (the Holocaust films) in the sense that we may assume that the Holocaust itself came about partly as a result of an extreme form of predjudice. Some 14 films about prejudice are included here including 8 focusing (or touching) on anti-Semitism specifically.

In the Universal release, The Seven Per Cent Solution (1976) "Dr. Watson lures Sherlock Holmes to Vienna so that (the Jewish psychiatrist) Professor Freud can cure him of persecution complex and cocaine addiction."[ccxlix][1478] Freud is played by Jewish actor Alan Arkin,[ccl][1479] and as Patricia Erens that " . . . there is an unescapable aura of Jewishness in his personality. Not much is actually made of this fact . . . " but as Erens points out, in one scene Freud is " . . . the recipient of anti-Semitic slurs . . . " and he " . . . takes on the challenge of duelling with a Baron. Given his choice of weapons, he chooses tennis racquets . . . " representing, again, according to Erens, " . . . the Jews' attitude toward violence and chilvary."[ccli][1480] The script was written by Nicholas Mayer. New York-born Jewish producer/director Herbert Ross[cclii][1481] produced and directed. The film also starred Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Vanessa Redgrave, Laurence Olivier, Jeremy Kemp and Jewish actor Joel Grey.[ccliii][1482]

According to Patricia Erens, a " . . . rather different Jewish hero appears in Love in a Taxi (1979). In this low-budget film, " . . . Sam Jacobson (played by James H. Jacobs) drives a cab, plays basketball, and lusts after women. After many colorful and dangerous events, he takes responsibility for a six-year-old Black boy and his mother."[ccliv][1483]

Boardwalk (1979) featured " . . . an elderly Jewish couple . . . who are about to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The wife is dying of cancer, their grown children have problems, and their life is being threatened by a street gang, in this Coney Island setting."[cclv][1484]

Jewish actress Lillian Roth (Rutstein) played " . . . a lonely Jewish widow in the movie

. . . "[cclvi][1485] As Patricia Erens reports, some of the " . . . critics saw the movie as racist with good Jews on one side and malevolent minority figures (Blacks and Hispanics) on the other."[cclvii][1486] Stephen Verona directed for producer Gerald T. Herrod. The film starred Ruth Gordon, the Hungarian-born Jewish actor/teacher Lee Strasberg,[cclviii][1487] Janet Leigh, Joe Silver and Eddie Barth.

The Long Days of Summer (1980) starred Dean Jones as " . . . an up-and-coming Jewish attorney who has to fight prejudice at every turn."[cclix][1488] Dan Curtis directed. Other stars included Joan Hackett and Ronnie Scribner.

The Hemdale/RKO release Carbon Copy (1981) was a " . . . comedy about a Jewish businessman who is at the peak of his life when a son turns up--the son is black . . . "[cclx][1489] Michael Schultz directed for producers Stanley Shapiro and Carter de Haven. Shapiro also wrote the script. The film starred Jewish actor George Segal,[cclxi][1490] Susan Saint James, Jack Warden, Dick Martin, Denzel Washington and Paul Winfield.

One of the Angel Beach boys in the Porky film series (1982, 1984, 1985) was Brian (Scott Colomby) a " . . . clever Jewish highschooler (who) . . . is first a victim of anti-Semitism but later proves his manhood and is accepted in the gang."[cclxii][1491] Bob Clark wrote, directed and produced (with Don Carmody). The films starred Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson, Kim Cattrall, Art Hindle, Wayne Maunder, Alex Karras and Nancy Parsons.

Also, in 1991, Taxi Blues was a Russian film which provided an " . . . interesting view of daily life in today's Moscow." The film told the story of a taxi driver's efforts to collect a fare from a musician. "The musician is Jewish, and the taxi driver is casually anti-Semitic, although open-minded enough to be surprised about some of the things he learns about Jews."

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Next in order of preference, in terms of numbers, among the Hollywood films of the last quarter century portraying Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues, came movies presenting female characters. Thirteen of such films are in this body of movies.

In 1975, Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York starred Jewish actress Jeannie Berlin,[cclxxxvii][1516] Jewish actor Roy Scheider[cclxxxviii][1517] and Rebecca Dianna Smith in the " . . . story of a spoiled Jewish girl from the suburbs who comes to New York in search of a husband and self-identity."[cclxxxix][1518] Sidney J. Furie directed. If you were a struggling filmmaker of African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, Italian-American, Irish-American, Arab-American or Southern heritage, you might have been asking yourself about this time: "What in the world is Hollywood doing making these kinds of movies while practically ignoring our respective cultural heritage?"

The underlying story in the 1977 New World release I Never Promised You a Rose Garden concerns " . . . a young Jewish psychotic and her road back to health." However, as Patricia Erens points out, " . . . all Jewish references are excised." Erens further states that such " . . . changes not only serve to suppress Jewish identity, but also eliminate the cause of the psychosis, which in the novel (written by Joanne Greenberg using the pseudonym of Hannah Green) results from anti-Semitic hostility."[ccxc][1519] Gavin Lambert and Lewis John Carlino wrote the script. Anthony Page directed for producer Roger Corman. The film starred

Kathleen Quinlan, Bibi Andersson, Jewish actress Sylvia Sidney (born Sophie Josow),[ccxci][1520] Ben Piazza, Lorraine Gary, Reni Santoni and Signe Hasso.

The 1979 UA release Last Embrace is referred to by Patricia Erens as " . . . a Jewish suspense thriller. Not only are both protagonists Jewish, but the motivation and means of murder are grounded in Jewish history and ritual. The plot concerns an international agent, Harry Hannan (played by Jewish actor Roy Scheider),[ccxcii][1521] who suffered a mental breakdown after his wife's accidental death. Now recovered, he wants to return to the force, but fears that his former employers are trying to murder him." As Erens further points out, Last Embrace was the " . . . first film with a Jewish villainess . . . " and it " . . . provides a decidedly new view of ghetto life, one filled with corruption and prostitution . . . "[ccxciii][1522] In other words, it took the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry some 67 years to portray a Jewish woman as the villain in a film, and the same number of years to portray the ghetto in a more accurate manner. Of course, neither of such portrayals have been repeated that often. David Shaber wrote the script for Last Embrace. Jonathan Demme directed for producers Michael Taylor and Dan Wigutow. The film also starred Jewish actress Janet Margolin,[ccxciv][1523] Jewish actor Sam Levene,[ccxcv][1524] John Glover, Charles Napier, Christopher Walken and Jacqueline Brookes.

The 1980, Columbia release It's My Turn presented " . . . a (Jewish) female protagonist, Kathy Gunsinger (Jewish actress Jill Clayburgh),[ccxcvi][1525] who tries to assert herself in her professional and personal life . . . "[ccxcvii][1526] Jewish director Claudia Weill[ccxcviii][1527] directed the film for Jewish producer Martin Elfand.[ccxcix][1528] Michael Douglas (son of Jewish actor Kirk Douglas),[ccc][1529] Charles Grodin and Beverly Garland also starred.

Also, that year, the Warner Bros. release Private Benjamin (1980) starred Goldie Hawn (born in D.C. to " . . . a Jewish mother and Protestant father . . . ")[ccci][1530] as Judy Benjamin, a Jewish-American princess . . . (whose new husband) dies in the throes of passion on his wedding night . . . " While still in mourning she is talked into joining the army (by Army recruiter Harry Dean Stanton) and the balance of the movie attempts to generate comedy out of this situation.[cccii][1531] Erens called it " . . . the quintessential Jewish film of 1980 . . . "[ccciii][1532] Jewish director Howard Zieff [ccciv][1533] directed.

The 1982 20th Century-Fox release I Ought To Be In Pictures is about a nineteen year-old Jewish girl named Libby (played by Jewish actress Dinah Manoff)[cccv][1534] who " . . . sets out from Brooklyn to meet the father she hasn't seen in seventeen years . . . Through perseverance she wins her father's (played by Jewish actor Walter Matthau)[cccvi][1535] love and returns east with a new sense of fulfillment."[cccvii][1536] Jewish director Herbert Ross[cccviii][1537] directed the script by Jewish writer Neil Simon.[cccix][1538] They both served as producers. The film also starred Ann-Margret, Lance Guest and Lewis Smith.

The 1983 release Baby, It's You (Paramount) was referred to by Patricia Erens as

" . . . one of the major films to treat contemporary Jewish women. Significantly . . . " she says, " . . . it was written and directed by a non-Jew, John Sayles (German-Irish Roman Catholic parentage).[cccx][1539] The film tells the story of " . . . an intelligent, self-assured (Jewish) high school senior (girl, played by Rosanna Arquette, born to a Russian-French-Jewish show-business family)[cccxi][1540] . . . who finds herself fascinated by a cocky working-class Italian . . . " boy (played by Vincent Spano). Sayles wrote and directed for producers Griffin Dunne and

Andy Robinson. Joanna Merlin, Jack Davison, Nick Ferrari and Leora Dana were also featured.

In 1984, Anne Bancroft appeared in Garbo Talks as " . . . an eccentric Jewish mother

. . . "[cccxii][1541] who is " . . . an outspoken crusader against the small injustices in the world. But she has her fantasies, too, and enlists the aid of her son (Zimelman played by Jewish actor Ron Silver)[cccxiii][1542] in finding Greta Garbo, who at age 79 can occasionally be spotted walking about New York."[cccxiv][1543] The MGM/UA release was directed by Jewish director Sidney Lumet[cccxv][1544] for Jewish producer Elliott Kastner[cccxvi][1545] and Burtt Harris. Also appearing in the film were Carrie Fisher (daughter of the Jewish singer/actor Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds),[cccxvii][1546] Catherine Hicks, Jewish actors Harvey Fierstein,[cccxviii][1547] Steven Hill[cccxix][1548] and Howard da Silva,[cccxx][1549] Dorothy Loudon and Jewish actress Hermione Gingold.[cccxxi][1550] The script was written by Larry Grusin. Once again, this movie was about Jewish characters, directed by a Jewish director, with at least one Jewish producer, four Jewish actors and a Jewish actress. Such dominance of the elements of a motion picture by persons with similar cultural backgrounds simply does not occur as often for other racial, ethnic, cultural, religious or regional populations in the U.S. (see Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content).

Subsequently in 1988, Amy Irving starred as " . . . a liberated Lower East Side Jewish intellectual in Crossing Delancey . . . "[cccxxii][1551] The Warner Bros. release was directed by Joan Micklin Silver for producer Michael Nozik. Silver returned to the scene of her earlier Hester Street (1975) " . . . this time in a modern setting . . . " (As noted earlier, Ms. Silver is the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants.)[cccxxiii][1552] The film told " . . . the story of Isabella (Amy Irving), a Jewish girl from New York in her early thirties, who works for a literary bookstore (and whose) grandmother . . . concerned for her welfare . . . engages the services of a

matchmaker . . . "[cccxxiv][1553] Also appearing in the film were Peter Reigart, Reizl Bozyk, Jeroen Krabbe, Jewish actress Sylvia Miles,[cccxxv][1554] George Martin, and John Bedford Lloyd.

Another 1989 release, Warner Bros.' Driving Miss Daisy was described by Henry Sheehan as a story about " . . . a . . . 72-year old Southern Jewish dowager . . . "[cccxxvi][1555] As Nicholas Kent explains, the film revolved around the " . . . twenty-year relationship between a black chauffeur and his Jewish employer."[cccxxvii][1556] As the Halliwell's Film Guide described the film, it was about an " . . . elderly rich Jewish widow (who) at first resists, and then succumbs to, the obsequious attentions of her black chauffeur."[cccxxviii][1557] The sub-text of the film points out ". . . . the connections between such things as an attack on (Daisy's) . . . local synagogue and the Klan's attacks on black churches." The film ultimately attempts to say that ". . . race relations in the South . . . have not changed all that much . . . "[cccxxix][1558] and that both African-Americans and Jews have been victimized by the white majority of the American South. The film is thus, both a favorable portrayal of a person of Jewish heritage and a negative portrayal of Southerners (see "Hollywood's Rape of the South" in Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content"). Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman starred in Driving Miss Daisy with Dan Aykroyd and Patti Lupone. The film was directed by Australian Bruce Beresford for producers Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck.

Finally, the 1991 Columbia release Prince of Tides provided a positive portrayal of a Jewish women in Dr. Lowenstein, the New York psychiatrist treating Nick Nolte's sister. The character is portrayed as bright and sensitive. The role of Lowenstein was played by Jewish actress Barbra Streisand.[cccxxx][1559]

The Cemetery Club (1992) was the story of three Jewish friends who are widows in their sixties, who live in a middle-class Jewish Community and share their hopes and fears."[cccxxxi][1560]

The following year (1994), Sony Pictures Classics released a documentary entitled Martha & Ethel on the rare subject of " . . . nannies and their long-lasting influence on the children they raise." One of the two nannies portrayed, Martha, was "orn in Germany in 1902 . . . " where she " . . . trained as a baby nurse and worked as a nanny for a Jewish family. In 1936, she escaped Nazi Germany and emigrated to the U.S."[cccxxxii][1561]

Cultural Conflict--Another category that is closely related to the films dealing with various forms of prejudice are those portraying cultural conflict. Twelve (12) of the Hollywood films of the last quarter century, that portrayed Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues focused in these sorts of situations. Most of these films present the Jewish character in conflict with someone of Protestant, Gentile, Angl-Saxon or Christian background.

In the 1975 " . . . low-budget, independent production . . . " The Devil and Sam Silverstein, the Devil " . . . sets his sights on Sam Silverstein (played by Allen Pinsker), a sexually frustrated sixty-five-year-old, whom he selects as an easy mark." According to Patricia Erens, the film delivers " . . . one overriding message. Unlike their Christian neighbors, the Jews are incorruptible and unconvertible. Thus, despite the temptation, the Jew manages to beat the devil . . . "[cccxxxiii][1562]

The 1978 UA release Interiors " . . . is about a Gentile family and one Jew, who enters the picture as Arthur's (E.G. Marshall) second wife, Pearl (played by Maureen Stapleton). As a second wife Pearl is indeed an outsider."[cccxxxiv][1563] Otherwise, [e]verybody in (this) . . . well-heeled American family has problems."[cccxxxv][1564] Jewish filmmaker Woody Allen[cccxxxvi][1565] wrote and directed for producer Charles H. Joffe. The film also starred Kristin Griffith, Marybeth Hurt, Richard Jordan, Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page and Sam Waterston.

The following year, in 1979, the Robert Markowitz directed film, Voices (written by John Herzfeld) " . . . deals with three generations of Jewish males and a love relationship between one of the younger members and a White, Anglo-Saxon girl."[cccxxxvii][1566] The film starred Amy Irving, Michael Ontkean, Viveca Lindfors and Herbert Berghof.

The 1980 20th Century-Fox release Willie and Phil was written and directed by Jewish filmmaker Paul Mazursky.[cccxxxviii][1567] It's about the friendship between a " . . . Jewish high school teacher (Willie) . . . " and "Phil, an Italian-American photographer . . . " As Erens points out, the film " . . . becomes a commentary on changing lifestyles in the era between 1970 and 1980 . . . " as well as an observation " . . . of the ethnic differences that separate the Jews from Protestant America."[cccxxxix][1568] The film starred Michael Ontkean, Margot Kidder and Ray Sharkey. Mazursky also produced with Tony Ray.

In Paramount's Ordinary People (1980) Jewish actor Judd Hirsch[cccxl][1569] played the Jewish psychiatrist who " . . . ministers to an ailing WASP family . . . "[cccxli][1570] Robert Redford directed for producer Ronald L. Schwary. Alvin Sargent wrote the script. Other stars included Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth McGovern and M. Emmet Walsh.

The 1981 20th Century-Fox release, Chariots of Fire was a British production (released in the U.S.) " . . . based on a true story of two members of Britain's 1924 Olympic team. Harold Abrahams, a Jew running to prove himself in the face of the subtle hostility he found in his British environment, and Eric Liddell, a deeply religious man who refused to run on the Sabbath."[cccxlii][1571] The movie " . . . contains sharp jabs at the British class system, which made the Jewish Abrahams feel like an outsider who (supposedly) could sometimes feel the lack of sincerity in a handshake . . . "[cccxliii][1572] The film also includes the comment by one of the University professors who showed an interest in young Abraham's athletic development "Perhaps they really are God's chosen people".[cccxliv][1573] Hugh Hudson directed for the so-called "half-Jewish" producer David Puttnam.[cccxlv][1574]

In 1985, Joshua Then and Now was about a " . . . Jewish boy with aspirations (who) meets a Protestant Princess with connections, and the two marry despite divergent backgrounds (which will later tear them apart)."[cccxlvi][1575] Ted Kotcheff directed. Performers in the film include James Woods, Gabrielle Lazure, Jewish actor Alan Arkin,[cccxlvii][1576] Michael Sarrazin, Linda Sorensen, Alan Scarfe and Alexander Knox.

The 1986 Warner Bros. release Little Shop of Horrors gave the off-Broadway musical inspired by the 1960 Roger Corman horror flick (about a Jewish flower shop assistant and a man-eating plant) a major release. As noted with respect to the earlier version of this movie, the underlying tension of the movie can be viewed as representative of the conflict " . . . between WASP society and the archetypical unassimilated Jewish schlemiel."[cccxlviii][1577] Howard Ashman wrote the script (based on his own play). Frank Oz directed for producer David

Geffen. This version starred Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia and Steve Martin.

The next year, in 1987, Vestron's Dirty Dancing was interpreted by movie critic Roger Ebert as a " . . . relentlessly predictable story of love between kids from different backgrounds." He says that " . . . the movie itself never . . . uses the word "Jewish" or says out loud what obviously is the main point of the plot: the family's opposition to (the character played by Jewish actress Jennifer Grey's)[cccxlix][1578] . . . gentile boyfriend of low social status." Ebert goes on to say that he guesses " . . . people who care about such things are supposed to be able to read between the lines, and the great unwashed masses of American moviegoers are condemned to think the old man doesn't like (Patrick) Swayze's dirty dancing."[cccl][1579] Of course, a great many of the issues and portrayals in the movies in this study also appear to be designed to go over the heads of "the great unwashed masses", while appealing to a more narrow interest group. Emile Ardolino directed Dirty Dancing from the script by Elanor Bergstein for producer Linda Gottlieb. Jennifer Grey is the daughter of Jewish activist, actor and master of ceremonies Joel Grey (originally Joel Katz).[cccli][1580] The film also starred Jerry Auerbach, Cynthia Rhodes and Jack Weston (Weinstein).[ccclii][1581]

In 1990, White Palace was a film " . . . on the subject of appropriateness . . . " the appropriateness of " . . . a young ad executive (played by James Spader) falling for an older woman who's a waitress (Susan Sarandon) down at the local hamburger joint." The Spader character feels it is " . . . necessary to hide her from his upper-middle-class Jewish circle of family and friends." The movie raises questions " . . . about those romances that fall outside of socially approved formulas."[cccliii][1582] In that manner, the film serves to criticize society's narrow conventions. Ted Tally and Alvin Sargent wrote the script. Lis Mondoki directed. The film

also starred Jason Alexander, Kathy Bates, Eileen Breennan, Jewish actor Steven Hill[cccliv][1583] and Rachel Levin.

Also, in 1990, The Two Jakes, the sequel to Chinatown, was, according to Jewish producer Robert Evans,[ccclv][1584] " . . . set post-war, 1947, when real estate and oil were competing like two fighters in the ring for the control of the city's future." Evans says, it " . . . was really Christian vs. Jew--oil being the Christian, real estate being the Jew . . . " One of the Jakes " . . . the heavy of the piece . . . was a combination of Lou Towne, Mark Taper, and every other entrepreneurial Jew responsible for changing the face of the City of Angels to that of a thriving metropolis."[ccclvi][1585] Robert Towne wrote the script. Jack Nicholson starred and directed. The film also featured Jewish actor Harvey Keitel,[ccclvii][1586] Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe, Jewish actor Eli Wallach,[ccclviii][1587] Ruben Blades, Frederic Forrest, David Keith and Richard Farnsworth.

Book of Days (The Stutz Co.--1991) told the story of a " . . . medieval town (where)

. . . a large, white-clad Christian population and a smaller but equally vigorous Jewish community, both groups living together in adjudicated harmony, though the threat of plague lingers on the horizon. A young Jewish girl forms the center of (the film's) . . . interests, though these expand to include her family . . . and various local notables, including a doctor . . . a monk . . . a soldier . . . and the local madwoman . . . who helps the girl interpret visions of the future." Eventually " . . . the comity of the town is rent asunder by the arrival of the plague, which leads the Christians to conduct a scapegoating pogrom."[ccclix][1588]

Gangster/Hoodlums--The next most popular category of films among Hollywood filmakers who have created movies featuring Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues during the last quarter century, were the gangster/hoodlum films. On the other hand, the number of these films falls below the 10 threshold with only 9 such films. In other words, the Jewish gangster/hoodlum category of films is surpassed in frequency by the entertainment, relationship, Holocaust, prejudice, Jewish female and cultural conflict movies. The other interesting characteristic of the Jewish gangster/hoodlum films is that most of these characters are portrayed in a relative sympathetic manner.

The 1976 Paramount release Mikey and Nicky focused on Jewish gangsters who were old friends. The " . . . neighborhood boss Dave Resnick (played by Sanford Meisner) puts out a contract on hero Nick Godolin (John Cassavetes), who is eventually saved with the help of Mike Mittner (played by Jewish actor Peter Falk)."[ccclx][1589] Jewish writer/director Elaine May[ccclxi][1590] wrote and directed for producer Michael Hausman. The film also starred Ned Beatty, Rose Arrick and Joyce Van Patten.

The 1981 Warner Bros. release So Fine (written and directed by Jewish writer/director Andrew Bergman)[ccclxii][1591] portrays a Jewish businessman who " . . . is on the verge of bankruptcy, and the mob is about to take over his business . . . Matters become more complex when (his son Bob, played by Ryan O'Neal) . . . falls in love with the wife of the gangster boss."[ccclxiii][1592] The film also starred Jack Warden, Mariangela Melato, Richard Kiel, Fred Gwynne and Mike Kellin. Mike Lobell produced.

The 1983 EMI release Bad Boys provides a " . . . vision of troubled youth . . . Chicago street hoods sworn to kill each other in prison."[ccclxiv][1593] The film " . . . contains an array of ethnic types . . . " including " . . . a psychopathic (Jewish) whiz kid . . . " named Horowitz (played by Eric Gurry) " . . . who knows how to make bombs."[ccclxv][1594] The script was written by Richard di Lello. Rick Rosenthal directed for producer Robert Solo. The film also starred Sean Penn, Reni Santoni, Jim Moody, Esai Morales and Ally Sheedy.

The 1984 Warner Bros. release Once Upon a Time in America traced " . . . the lives of some Lower East Side . . . " Jewish gangsters from 1923 through 1968. The film focused on the " . . . criminal careers of David 'Noodles' Aaronson (played by Robert De Niro who is of Italian-Jewish heritage)[ccclxvi][1595] a composite character based on Jewish gangsters Bugsy Siegal and Meyer Lansky, and Maximillian Bercovitz (James Woods), the brilliant and ruthless leader of 'the Company'."[ccclxvii][1596] As might be expected, Lester Friedman was very critical of the film, calling it among other things " . . . a sadly misguided effort . . . "[ccclxviii][1597] The film is one of those rare portrayals of Jewish criminals that actually identifies the cultural heritage of the characters, and the production of the film was primarily the effort of Italian filmmakers. Such a combination is ironic since most of the many films previously made about Italian mobsters were primarily produced by Jewish filmmakers and in most of those films, the Italian/Sicilian heritage of the characters was almost always included. The script for Once Upon a Time in America was written by Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero de Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Franco Arcalli, Franco Ferrini and Sergio Leone (Italian).[ccclxix][1598] Leone also directed for Israeli-born producer Arnon Milchan.[ccclxx][1599] Other stars included Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams, Tuesday Weld, Burt Young, Danny Aiello and William Forsythe. As Roger Ebert reports, the U.S. distributor of the film "chopped" it " . . . by ninety minutes for U.S. theatrical release into an incomprehensible mess . . . "[ccclxxi][1600]

The Cotton Club (1984) displayed " . . . a virtual compendium of ethnic groups battling for supremacy over New York City's crime world. Jews, Irishmen, Blacks, and Italians vie for power in the city's grimy backstreets and bustling nightclubs . . . " According to Lester Friedman, the " . . . most vicious portrait in the picture is of (Jewish gangster) Dutch Schultz[ccclxxii][1601] (played by James Remar) . . . Dutch's main hitman is (another Jewish character) Sol Weinstein, played by . . . Julian Beck . . . "[ccclxxiii][1602] William Kennedy and Francis Ford Coppola wrote the script. Coppola also directed for Jewish producer Robert Evans.[ccclxxiv][1603] The film starred Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, Nicolas Cage, Allen Garfield, Fred Gwynne and Gwen Verdon.

Also, in 1989, the TriStar release Family Business portrays, as part of the subtext of the story, Matthew Broderick as the " . . . half Jewish . . . " son of the Dustin Hoffman character who is " . . . a Westinghouse Scholar . . . "[ccclxxv][1604] On the other hand, three generations of this family, " . . . take part in a robbery."[ccclxxvi][1605] Even though some of the Jewish characters in many of these movies have flaws just like all other people or do bad things, as a general rule, they seem to be portrayed in Hollywood movies in a more sympathetic light than non-Jews. Jewish director Sidney Lumet[ccclxxvii][1606] directed for producer Lawrence Gordon. Starring with Broderick were Sean Connery and Jewish actor Dustin Hoffman.[ccclxxviii][1607]

In the Warner Bros. gangster movie Goodfellas (1990) the main character's attractive wife " . . . Karen (Lorraine Bracco) . . . is Jewish and comes from outside his world."[ccclxxix][1608] Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi wrote the script. Scorsese also directed. Other stars included Robert de Niro, (of Italian-Jewish heritage)[ccclxxx][1609] Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Paul Sorvino, Frank Sivero, Tony Darrow, Mike Starr, Frank Vincent and Chuck Low.

The updated version of Born Yesterday was also released in 1993. "The movie is a remake of a 1950 film based on a play by (Jewish writer)[ccclxxxi][1610] Garson Kanin, about a hard-boiled millionaire who hires a tutor for his brassy mistress, only to realize the girlfriend and the tutor have fallen in love. This version stars Melanie Griffith as the mistress, John Goodman as the millionaire, and Don Johnson as the tutor--a newspaper reporter who's after the real scoop on Goodman's wheeling, dealing, and bribery."[ccclxxxii][1611] There was no mention in the Ebert review of the Jewish origins of this film project (see earlier discussion of the 1950 version). This current version was directed by Luis Mandoki and producer D. Constantine.

Also, the 1994 Fine Features release Little Odessa, was " . . . set against the brooding backdrop of the Mafia-plagued Russian-Jewish emigre community in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach . . . " where " . . . Brooklyn-bred hit man Joshua Shapira (Tim Roth) returns reluctantly to the childhood neighborhood he abandoned years earlier to avoid Mafia score-settling from a previous job." In the meantime, he is [c]ontracted to erase an Iranian jeweler

. . . " and the " . . . Iranian contract is carried out . . . " In the meantime, "Joshua's protectiveness toward his brother (Rueban, played by Edward Furlong) takes an almost envious edge as he weighs notions of his own Russian-Jewish ethnicity against what he sees as Reuben's Americanness and, perhaps, redeemability." His immigrant parents are played by Maximillian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave. James Gray wrote and directed. The film was produced by Paul Webster.[ccclxxxiii][1612]

Mid-East Politics--Another favored subject matter for these Hollywood films portraying Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues relates to Mid-East politics. Eight ( of the films of this overall group released in the last quarter century focused on that topic. Those portraying Palestinians, also consistently presented them in a rather negative manner. Of course, the Israelis in this group of films are almost always portrayed favorably.

Rosebud (UA--1975) concerned " . . . the kidnapping of five wealthy American girls by Palestinian terrorists. One of the hostages, Sabine (Brigitte Ariel) is Jewish . . . " According to Patricia Erens, the " . . . film brims with anti-Jewish sentiments . . . " and " . . . implies that the Jews of America have more then their rightful influence over U.S. politics."[ccclxxxiv][1613] Erik Lee Preminger (son of the Jewish producer/director/actor Otto Preminger)[ccclxxxv][1614] wrote the script. Otto Preminger produced and directed. The film starred Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, Cliff Gorman, Claude Daupin, John V. Lindsay, Peter Lawford, Raf Vallone and Adrienne Corri.

The 1976 release The Next Man, is what John Simon calls " . . . a Jewish wish-fulfillment fantasy".[ccclxxxvi][1615] The film stars Sean Connery as Khalil Abdul-Muhsen, a Saudi Arabian minister of state . . . " The film deals with the " . . . efforts of this far-sighted humanist to achieve world peace through cooperation between Israel and the members of OPEC." In the process, " . . . Khalil delivers a 'world-shaking love Israel speech' . . . "[ccclxxxvii][1616] The rest of the film is about a " . . . female assassin (who) is hired to kill the Saudi Arabian Minister . . . "[ccclxxxviii][1617] The script was written by Mort Fine, Alan R. Trustman, David M. Wolf and Michael Chapman. Richard C. Sarafian directed for producer Martin Bregman. The film also starred Cornelia Sharpe, Albert Paulsen, Adolfo Celi and Charles Cioffi.

Raid on Entebbe (1976) was a " . . . dramatization of the heroic rescue at Entebbe by Israeli commandos." The film starts " . . . with the capture of a French plane by four terrorists and follows through to the rescue one week later."[ccclxxxix][1618] Irvin Kershner directed. Two other treatments of the same story were released within 12 months of each other, although not in the same year, Victory at Entebbe and Raid on Entebbe were both released in 1976. The question must be asked, are these movies examples of Hollywood making the films audiences want to see (as studio executives would have us believe), or a reflection of the particular interests of Hollywood filmmakers? The latter appears to be the more likely. An Israeli film about the incident, Operation Thunderbolt, according to Patrick Robertson " . . . the most accurate version of the events . . . " came out in 1977.[cccxc][1619]

As noted in the discussion contained in Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content and relating to the consistent negative portrayals of Arabs and Arab-Americans in U.S. films, the 1977 Paramount release Black Sunday, featured members of the Black September terrorist organization threatening to blow up a " . . . Goodyear blimp filled with thousands of darts . . . over the Superbowl while 80,000 American spectators watch." An Isareli agent, David Kabakov (played by Robert Shaw) " . . . exhibits extraordinary heroism, achieving the impossible." He dismantles the blimp and saves thousands.[cccxci][1620] Jewish writer Ernest Lehman,[cccxcii][1621] Kenneth Ross and Ivan Moffat wrote the script. John Frankenheimer (of Jewish-Irish heritage)[cccxciii][1622] directed for Jewish producer Robert Evans.[cccxciv][1623] The film also starred Marthe Keller, Bruce Dern, Fritz Weaver, Steven Keats, Bekim Fehmiu, Michael V. Gazzo, William Daniels and Walter Gotell.

The 1981 20th Century-Fox release Eye Witness featured Sigourney Weaver as the fiance of " . . . an Israeli agent (Christopher Plummer) who is involved in secret international negotiations to smuggle Jews out of the Soviet Union."[cccxcv][1624] The Plummer character was " . . . a suave diplomat who turns out to be a murderer." Friedman refers to him as the " . . . first negative depiction of an Israeli in Hollywood's history . . . "[cccxcvi][1625] In other words, it took the U.S. film industry some 33 years after creation of the new state to portray an Israeli in a negative manner, and once again, such portrayals continue to be rare. In addition, Friedman points out, the film " . . . reverses the typical Jewish male/Irish female romance by having a cultured, upper-class Jewish reporter (played by Weaver) become involved with a blond, working-class Irishman (William Hurt)."[cccxcvii][1626] Peter Yates produced and directed the Steve Tesich (born Stoyan Tesich in Yugoslavia) script. The film also starred William Hurt, Irene Worth, James Woods, Kenneth McMillan and Jewish actor Steven Hill.[cccxcviii][1627]

The following year, the 1982 release The Soldier provides " . . . yet another portrayal of the Israeli Agent . . . " and " . . . this time she's female. Alberta Watson as Susan Goodman functions primarily as the romantic interest for the American CIA agent, played by Ken Wahl."[cccxcix][1628] The film is a " . . . violent tale of a CIA agent who's fighting to smash a plot to destroy half the world's oil supply."[cd][1629] James Glickenhaus directed. William Prince and Klaus Kinski also starred.

In the 1984 Warner Bros. release, The Little Drummer Girl an " . . . American actress in Britain is persuaded by Israeli agents to lose her Arab sympathies and spy for them."[cdi][1630] According to Lester Friedman, the " . . . film sparked a great deal of Jewish ire because it showed Israelis sympathetically presenting the Palestinian position."[cdii][1631] Loring Mandel wrote the script (based on John le Carre's novel). George Roy Hill directed for producer Robert L. Crawford. The film starred Diane Keaton, Yorgo Voyagis, Klaus Kinski, Sami Frey, Michael Christofer, David Suchet, Eli Danker, Thorley Walters and Ana Massey.

The 1986 release The Sword of Gideon was another so-called made-for-TV-movie starring Steve Bauer, Michael York and Jewish actor Rod Steiger[cdiii][1632] in the " . . . story about

a trained commando group hired to avenge the deaths of athletes massacred at the Munich Olympics in 1972."[cdiv][1633] Michael Anderson directed.

Immigrants--Next in terms of priorities for the Hollywood filmmakers of the last quarter century in the area of movies featuring Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues, were the immigrant stories. At least six (6) of this overall group of films contained significant elements relating to immigrants. Once again, as a general rule, immigrants (particularly Jewish immigrants), are treated quite sympathetically in Hollywood films.

The 1975 release, Hester Street, is described by Steven Scheuer as " . . . a touching and memorable . . . film, recreating a moving story about the immigration of a Jewish family to the Lower East Side of New York during the turn of the century." Jewish actress Carol Kane[cdv][1634] " . . . received an Academy Award nomination for her luminous performance as Gitl, the Orthodox Jewish wife who has to shed her old ways and work toward coming an American."[cdvi][1635] As Patricia Erens points out, Hester Street portrays " . . . a totally Jewish world."[cdvii][1636] Joan Micklin Silver (born Joan Micklin, the " . . . daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants . . . "[cdviii][1637] directed for producer Raphael D. Silver. Other stars included Steven Keats, Mel Howard, Dorrie Kavanaugh and Doris Roberts.

In 1981, the Filmways release, Four Friends, (about four high school friends) featured Michael Huddleston as " . . . a sensitive Jewish youth . . . " David Levine.[cdix][1638] Mick Martin and Marsha Porter report the film is " . . . about America as seen through the eyes of a young immigrant . . . " According to Patricia Erens the film makes the point that " . . . Jewish chromosomes matter."[cdx][1639] Since chromosomes are considered the determining factor in the transmission of hereditary characteristics, is the point of this movie somewhat racist? Arthur Penn ("of Russian-Jewish descent")[cdxi][1640] directed from a Steve Tesich script. Penn also co-produced with Gene Lasso. Other stars included Crag Wasson, Jodi Thelen and Jim Metzler.

That same year (1981), Jewish animation film director Ralph Bakshi's[cdxii][1641] American Pop followed " . . . the saga of a (Jewish) family of Russian immigrants in the United States

. . . "[cdxiii][1642] while telling, " . . . through animation, the history of American popular songs, from the turn of the century to new wave rock . . . "[cdxiv][1643] As Erens points out, " . . . the film documents twentieth-century Jewish history--pogroms, immigration, poverty and tenement living, gangster connections, intermarriage, and entertainment activities."[cdxv][1644]

The first so-called " . . . Jewish Christmas movie, An American Tail (1986) . . . " follows the saga of a family of Russian immigrants to the United States.[cdxvi][1645] The Universal release was directed by Don Bluth who also co-produced with Steven Spielberg ("of Jewish descent"),[cdxvii][1646] John Pomeroy, and Gary Goldman.

As the '90s decade opened, Jewish writer/director Barry Levinson's[cdxviii][1647] Avalon (1990) focused on " . . . an immigrant family's legends and eccentricities . . . " As noted earlier, the movie was " . . . inspired by the experiences of (Levinson's) . . . own family. His grandparents came to America from Russia, part of a larger Jewish family that pooled its resources and brought over one relative after another until at last the five Krichensky brothers had all settled in Baltimore."[cdxix][1648] The film starred Armin Mueller-Stahl, Elizabeth Perkins,

Joan Plowright, Kevin Pollak, Aidan Quinn, Leo Fuchs, Eve Gordon and Jewish actor Lou Jacobi.[cdxx][1649]

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) continues " . . . the adventures of Fievel, the little mouse from Russia, who emigrated to America in the first movie (An American Tail) and is now living with his family in a tenement in nineteenth-century New York. In the earlier film, the story of a Jewish immigrant mouse " . . . Fievel's family home was burned by rampaging czarist cats . . . "[cdxxi][1650] Flint Dille wrote the script. Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells directed for producers Steven Spielberg (of Jewish descent)[cdxxii][1651] and Robert Watts. Scientists--One of the favored professions for Jewish characters appears to be scientist (or other especially bright individuals). There were 6 films in this last quarter century group feature such characters including an electronic genius. Note also, in the portrayal discussed earlier of the Jewish hoodlum in prison, he was also described as a "whiz kid" (Bad Boys--1983).

In 1980 " . . . the archetypal scientist from early serial days becomes a Jewish Dr. Hans Zarkov (played by the Jewish actor Topol)[cdxxiii][1652] in the campy, updated Flash Gordon (1980) . . . "[cdxxiv][1653] Michael Hodges directed the screenplay by Lorenzo Semple, Jr. Other stars included Sam Jones, Max von Sydow, Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed and Peter Wyngarde.

The 1980 Warner/Orion release Simon was about " . . . a junior college professor named Simon Mendelsohn (played by Jewish actor Alan Arkin) . . . "[cdxxv][1654] who " . . . dreams of making a big name in science." The " . . . plot focuses on a group of government 'think-tank' specialists who plan to promote Simon as an alien being. Simon willingly accepts this role, but eventually turns against his creators and declares himself a Messiah." As Patricia Erens points out, almost every major character in this film was Jewish.[cdxxvi][1655] Jewish writer Marshall Brickman[cdxxvii][1656] wrote and directed for producers Louis A. Stroller and Martin Bregman. The film also starred Jewish actress Madeline Kahn,[cdxxviii][1657] Austin Pendleton, Judy Graubert, William Finley and Fred Gwynne.

In the Warner/Orion release Sharkey's Machine (1981) Burt Reynolds " . . . is aided by his Jewish boyhood friend, an electronic genius . . . "[cdxxix][1658] Reynolds also directed for producer Hank Moonjean. Other actors include Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, Bernie Casey and Henry Silva.

In the 1981 Warner Bros. release, Altered States, Jewish scientist "Arthur Rosenberg (played by Robert Balaban) assists Dr. Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) with his religious hallucinatory experiments . . . "[cdxxx][1659] Jewish screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky[cdxxxi][1660] wrote the screenplay (adapted from his 1978 novel) although " . . . he asked that his name be removed from the credits . . . The script was attributed to Sidney Aaron, his first and Hebrew names."[cdxxxii][1661] Ken Russell directed for Jewish producer Daniel Melnick.[cdxxxiii][1662]

The 1982 Warner Bros. release Firefox starred Clint Eastwood as a Vietnam veteran whose new mission is to infiltrate " . . . the Soviet Union . . . and then steal . . . a top-secret Russian warplane . . . " Once in the Soviet Union, Eastwood makes contact with " . . . a confederation of spies and double agents who lead him to a Jewish dissident who (is portrayed as) . . . a brilliant scientist . . . (and who) . . . knows how Eastwood could steal the plane."[cdxxxiv][1663] The screenplay was written by Alex Lasker and Wendell Willman. Eastwood produced and directed.

The 1994 Paramount Pictures release I.Q. was a story about " . . . the world's most famous scientist, (Jewish physicist) Albert Einstein[cdxxxv][1664] (played by Jewish actor Walter Matthau),[cdxxxvi][1665] realizes that his egghead niece (played by Meg Ryan) is in need of some heart massaging . . . " so he and his professor friends " . . . create an elaborate ruse that extends to refashioning Ed (Tim Robbins) . . . " so he will be more attractive to her. Fred Schepisi directed and produced with Scott Rudin and Sandy Gallin. Andy Breckman and Michael Leeson wrote the screenplay. Other stars included Jewish actor Lou Jacobi,[cdxxxvii][1666] Gene Saks, Joseph Maher, Stephen Fry, Tony Shalhoub and Frank Whaley.[cdxxxviii][1667]

Jewish Youth--Some of these films also focused on Jewish youth. At least 5 of the films in this group featured such characters.

The 1982 release Porky's is described by Patricia Erens as " . . . a teen film with a well-developed Jewish subplot . . . One of the adolescents is Brian Schwartz (Scott Colomby) . . . the new boy in town . . . " who has to fight to gain " . . . acceptance into the group."[cdxxxix][1668] The film was written and directed by Bob Clark for producer Don Carmody. It also starred Dan Monaham, Mark Herrier, Wyatt Knight, Roger Wilson, Kim Cattrall, Art Hindle and Susan Clark (Nora Golding).[cdxl][1669]

Also, in 1982, MGM's Diner starred Steve Guttenberg as Eddie, " . . . a totally assimilated Jew of the early sixties and part of a gang of five Baltimore buddies."[cdxli][1670]

As Patricia Erens points out, " . . . it is not until the end that we realize that several of the characters are Jewish . . . " when Eddie and his friends wear Yarmulkas at a wedding.[cdxlii][1671] Jewish writer/director Barry Levinson[cdxliii][1672] wrote and directed for producer Jerry Weintraub.

The 1985 Warner Bros. release The Goonies includes " . . . Chunk (played by Jeff Cohen) as the Jewish representative in an ethnically mixed bunch of kids known as the Goonies."[cdxliv][1673] The kids " . . . discover a pirate map and set out on a fantasy treasure hunt."[cdxlv][1674] Chris Columbus wrote the script (based on the story by Jewish filmmaker Steven Spielberg).[cdxlvi][1675] Richard Donner directed and Spielberg also produced. The film also starred Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton and Ke Huy Kwan.

The 1986 Universal release Brighton Beach Memoirs was based on Jewish writer Neil Simon's autobiographical play of the same name.[cdxlvii][1676] The film was set in 1937 Brooklyn, and deals with the maturation of Eugene Morris Jerome (the Simon character), who is from a

" . . . lower middle class Jewish family."[cdxlviii][1677] Simon also wrote the script. Gene Saks directed for producer David Chasman. The film starred Blythe Danner, Bob Dishy, Brian Drillinger, Stacey Glick, Judith Ivey and Lisa Waltz.

Orion's Radio Days (1987) starred Mia Farrow and " . . . spotlights both the people whose lives revolved around their favorite radio programs (a colorful Jewish family living in Rockaway Beach) and the people who created those aural fantasies (exemplified by Farrow, a cigarette girl trying to hit the big time."[cdxlix][1678] "The hero of Radio Days . . . is an . . . adolescent Jewish kid who grows up in Brooklyn in a house full of relatives and listens passionately to the radio . . . (although) the movie is not simply his story. It is also the story of 1940s radio itself . . . "[cdl][1679] Woody Allen ("born of Orthodox Jewish parents")[cdli][1680] wrote and directed for producer Robert Greenhut. The film also starred Dianne Wiest, Seth Green, Julie Kavner, Josh Mostel, (son of Jewish actor Zero Mostel)[cdlii][1681] Michael Tucker and Wallace Shawn.

The Chosen (1981) was set in Brooklyn during World War II and " . . . focuses on the friendship of two teenagers, one a Hasidic youth isolated by the constraints placed upon him by his father, a rabbi, the other the son of a professor, journalist, and Zionist and part of the wider world denied his friend."[cdliii][1682] Lester Friedman, calls the film " . . . probably the most Jewish commercial movie ever made."[cdliv][1683] Edwin Gordon wrote the script based on Jewish author Chaim Potok's[cdlv][1684] novel. Jeremy Paul Kagan directed for producers Edie and Ely Landau. The film starred Maximilian Schell, Jewish actors Rod Steiger,[cdlvi][1685] and Robby Benson (Segal),[cdlvii][1686] along with Barry Miller, Hildy Brooks and Kaethe Fine.


http://hollywoodism.net/index.php?optio ... =en#_edn93

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Religious Themes--Other movies during the last quarter century that featured Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues fall into the category of religious themes. Four (4) of such films were released. They seem to consistently favor the Old Testament over the New.

In the 1977 Warner Bros. release Oh God! Jewish performer George Burns (Nathan Birnbaum),[cdlviii][1687] played the role of God, who " . . . visits earth to assure mankind that he is alive and well." Patricia Erens asserts that the Burns character represents, " . . . Jehovah, the Old Testament God of the Hebrews. When he first appears to grocery store manager Jerry Landers (John Denver), he is merely a voice on the intercom. When Jerry complains he can't see him God replies, 'You're not allowed to see me,' recalling the story of the burning bush. Later God tells Jerry that he doesn't belong to any 'church' (an insider's joke). References are made to Noah's Ark, Moses, the parting of the Red sea, and the creation of the earth. No references are made to Christian miracles or to the Christ story. Further (according to Erens) God seems to have a Jewish sense of humor. Not only does he use sarcasm . . . and immigrant grammar . . . but he evidences earthy pragmatism . . . Most prominent is the notion of a personal God. The conversations between Jerry and God . . . " Erens says, " . . . recall those between Tevye[cdlix][1688] and God."[cdlx][1689] The script was written by Jewish writer Larry Gelbart (based on Avery Corman's novel). Jewish director Carl Reiner[cdlxi][1690] directed for producer Jerry Weintraub. Other stars included Ralph Bellamy, Donald Pleasence, Teri Garr, William Daniels, Barnard Hughes, Paul Sorvino, Barry Sullivan, Dinah Shore, Jeff Corey and David Ogden Stiers.

In 1983, Jewish actress Barbara Streisand's[cdlxii][1691] Yentl was a " . . . period love story set in a small Jewish shtetl in Eastern Europe . . . "[cdlxiii][1692] The movie told the story of a " . . . teenage heroine who disguises herself as a young man in order to study at yeshiva . . . "[cdlxiv][1693] Jack Rosenthal wrote the script with Streisand (based on a short story by Jewish author Isaac Bashevis Singer).[cdlxv][1694] The MGM release was also directed and produced by Streisand who co-produced with Rusty Lemorande. Also, appearing in the film were Mandy Patinkin, Amy Irving and Jewish actors Nehemiah Persoff[cdlxvi][1695] and Steven Hill (originally Solomon Berg),[cdlxvii][1696] along with David de Keyser and Bernard Spear.

As pointed out by movie critic Roger Ebert "[t]here was speculation from Hollywood that Yentl would be 'too Jewish' for middle-American audiences." Ebert did not think so. He said "[l]ike all great fables, it grows out of a particular time and place, but it takes its strength from universal sorts of feelings. At one time or another, almost everyone has wanted to do something and been told they couldn't, and almost everyone has loved the wrong person for the right reason . . . " which is the "emotional ground . . . " this movie covers.[cdlxviii][1697] Although, the Roger Ebert statement about everybody wanting to do something they couldn't is true, as far as it goes, similar rationalizations support a lot of the movies designated in this book as "Jewish stories" (as defined earlier). The same could be said, however, for movies making similar general statements focusing on the lives of members of any other cultural group. Thus, the fact that more of such stories regarding other cultural groups have not been made into Hollywood movies leads us to the inescapable conclusion that control of Hollywood by a small group of Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious, results in a disproportionate number of films presenting concepts of particular interest to this Hollywood control group, including so-called Jewish stories, themes, sub-plots and characters.

The 1985 Paramount release King David retold the Old Testament " . . . biblical story of David's involvements with Saul, Goliath and Bathsheba."[cdlxix][1698] Lester Friedman states that

" . . . once David becomes King of Israel, the movie meanders aimlessly . . . "[cdlxx][1699] Andrew Birkin and James Costigan wrote the script. Bruce Beresford directed for Jewish producer Martin Elfand.[cdlxxi][1700] The film starred Richard Gere, Edward Woodward, Denis Quilley, Jack Klaff, Cherie Lunghi, Alice Krige, Hurd Hatfield, John Castle and Niall Buggy.

According to movie critic Roger Ebert, Jewish actor Woody Allen's[cdlxxii][1701] Crimes and Misdemeanors (Orion--1989) purports to answer " . . . the question . . . Could I live with the knowledge that I had murdered someone?" In the movie, "Allen uses flashbacks to establish the childhood of (two) . . . brothers, who grew up in a religious Jewish family with a father who solemnly promised them that God saw everything, and that, even if He didn't, a good man could not live happily with an evil deed on his conscience." According to Ebert the film argues that " . . . God has abandoned men, and that we live here below on a darkling plain, lost in violence, selfishness, and moral confusion."[cdlxxiii][1702] Allen wrote and directed for producer Robert Greenhut. Appearing in the film with Allen were Caroline Aaron, Alan Alda, Jewish

actress Claire Bloom,[cdlxxiv][1703] Mia Farrow, Joanna Gleason, Angelica Huston, Jewish actors Martin Landau,[cdlxxv][1704] and Jerry Auerbach,[cdlxxvi][1705] along with Jenny Nichols.

Autobiographical Material--Some Jewish filmmakers have had the opportunity to make films about their own lives. During the last quarter century, four (4) different auto-biographical movies focusing on Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues were released.

The 1975 20th Century-Fox release Next Stop, Greenwich Village was about a young Jewish man from the poor section of Brooklyn, who in 1953 is " . . . in his early twenties (and) determined to 'get ahead' . . . "[cdlxxvii][1706] Patricia Erens, calls it another " . . . insider's tale based on much autobiographical material by (Jewish) director/producer Paul Mazursky."[cdlxxviii][1707] Mazursky also produced with Tony Ray. The film starred Lenny Baker, Jewish actress Shelley Winters,[cdlxxix][1708] Ellen Greene, Lois Smith and Dore Brenner.

The 1979 Columbia release Chapter Two was based on a semi-autobiographical script by Jewish writer Neil Simon.[cdlxxx][1709] The story " . . . follows the romance and marriage of George Schneider (played by Jewish actor James Caan)[cdlxxxi][1710] and Jennie MacLaine (Marsha Mason). George, a middle-aged Jewish widower, is still mourning the death of his wife. Jennie, a Catholic divorcee, is adjusting to single life . . . the differences in background between the two lovers provide one of the conflicts in the story."[cdlxxxii][1711] Robert Moore directed for producer Margaret Booth. The film also starred Joseph Bologna, Valerie Harper and Alan Fudge.

Erens refers to Jewish filmmaker " . . . Woody Allen's[cdlxxxiii][1712] autobiographical Stardust Memories (1980) . . . " as an " . . . elucidation of Jewish male self-involvement . . . " Allen " . . . plays Sandy Bates, a successful comedy film director." Erens also points out that except for his present lover in the film " . . . and several previous lovers, all of whom are Gentile, the film is entirely peopled by Jewish characters, most of whom are played by Jewish actors." As Erens, states, the " . . . rolling credits probably contain the longest list of Jewish names in film history, apart from the Yiddish cinema of the 1930s."[cdlxxxiv][1713] Allen also wrote and directed for producers Jack Rollins and Charles H. Joffe. Other stars included Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault, Tony Roberts and Helen Hanft.

The 1988 Universal release Biloxi Blues was another of Jewish writer Neil Simon's autobiographical works.[cdlxxxv][1714] The film was a comedy " . . . about a conscript called up in 1945 when World War Two was ending."[cdlxxxvi][1715] Simon wrote the script based on his own novel. Jewish director Mike Nichols[cdlxxxvii][1716] directed for producer Ray Stark. The film starred Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Matt Mulhern and Corey Parker.

Professionals--In addition to scientist, Jewish characters are often portrayed as professionals (e.g., attorneys, physicians and psychiatrists). The Jewish psychiatrist portrayals of the last quarter century were all considered in other categories. The films include The Seven Per Cent Solution--1976, Ordinary People--1980, Lovesick--1983 and The Prince of Tides--1991.

One of the Jewish attorneys appeared in the 1978 UA release The End, in which a

" . . . selfish man (Burt Reynolds) finds he is dying and unsuccessfully tries to change what remains of his life."[cdlxxxviii][1717] Jewish actor David Steinberg[cdlxxxix][1718] plays Jewish attorney Marty Lieberman, a man who knows "all about suffering".[cdxc][1719] Jerry Belson wrote the script. Reynolds also directed for producers Lawrence Gordon and Hank Moonjean. The film also starred Dom de Luise, Sally Field, Strother Martin, Joanne Woodward, Norman Fell, Myrna Loy, Pat O'Brien, Jewish actor Robby Benson[cdxci][1720] and Jewish producer/performer Carl Reiner.[cdxcii][1721]

In the 1981 Lorimar release, S.O.B. Robert Preston (Meservey) played " . . . a hip, Beverly Hills (Jewish) physician . . . "[cdxciii][1722] by the name of Dr. Irving Feingarten. He was also into " . . . pills and vitamins."[cdxciv][1723] The film was written and directed by Blake Edwards who co-produced with Tony Adams. It also starred Julie Andrews and Richard Mulligan.

The 1981 Warner Bros. release Body Heat (written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan) includes the portrayal of a Jewish lawyer. " . . . Peter Lowenstein (played by Ted Danson) was a " . . . hard-working state's attorney with ambitions to become a deputy prosecutor . . . he befriends the hero (William Hurt) and warns him when 'the heat is on'."[cdxcv][1724] The film also starred Kathleen Turner and Richard Crenna. Fred T. Gallo produced.

In 1990, Jewish actor Ron Silver (Zimelman)[cdxcvi][1725] portrayed " . . . Claus von Bulow's defense attorney, Alan Dershowitz, in the film Reversal of Fortune (1990)."[cdxcvii][1726]

The Warner Bros. release was directed by Barbet Schroeder for Jewish producer Edward R. Pressman[cdxcviii][1727] and Oliver Stone.

Police Officers--Four (4) of this group of films released in the last quarter century portrayed policemen. In the 1981 Warner Bros./Orion release Prince of the City (directed by Jewish writer/director Sidney Lumet)[cdxcix][1728] " . . . a good Jew is played off against a bad one. The hero Daniel Cello (Treat Williams) is a police officer on the take. When pressure comes down from above, Cello struggles with the difficult question of naming names and where to draw the line. Having previously shielded one of his ex-partners, Gus Levy (played by Jewish actor Jerry Orbach),[d][1729] now a garment manufacturer, he eventually turns him in."[di][1730] The film's producer Jay Presson Allen wrote the script with Lumet. Others featured included Don Billet, Richard Faring, Carmine Caridi and Kenny Marino.

In Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981), Paul Newman (the son of a Jewish owner of a sporting goods store)[dii][1731] stars as " . . . a well-intentioned policeman on the beat in the squalid, largely devastated South Bronx of New York City . . ." The film "[f]ocuses on the way the police interact and respond to the civilian population and the inevitable process of both parties being brutalized and doing brutalizing things themselves."[diii][1732] Another character in the film,

" . . . an Orthodox Sargeant Applebaum (played by Irving Metzman) lectures the multi-ethnic cops of the beleaguered 41st precinct . . . "[div][1733] Daniel Petrie directed for Jewish producer David Susskind.[dv][1734] Ed Asner (son of Jewish Russian immigrants)[dvi][1735] also starred in the picture.

In the Columbia Pictures release Absence of Malice, (1981) " . . . the investigator Rosen (Bob Balaban) . . . " is "tereotyped as the cynical, conniving, neurotic Jew . . . " who " . . . devises the trap to catch hero Paul Newman (whose father, in real life, was Jewish)."[dvii][1736] The Newman character was later proved innocent."[dviii][1737] The script was written by Kurt Luedtke. Jewish producer/director Sydney Pollack[dix][1738] produced and directed. Other stars included Sally Field, Melinda Dillon, Jewish actor Luther Adler[dx][1739] and Barry Primus.

In 1991, the Warner Bros. film Homicide was released. The story revolves around

" . . . a secular New York cop (Bobby Gold) who, in the middle of a murder case, abruptly undergoes a Jewish identity crisis."[dxi][1740] The film told of an assimilated Jewish police detective (played by Joe Mantegna) " . . . who places his job first and his personal identity last. He does not think much about being Jewish . . . (or in other words, he) . . . is not in touch with his Jewishness . . . " On the other hand, when a crime occurs involving the family of a wealthy Jewish doctor, the doctor pulls strings to have the Jewish cop assigned to the case, thinking " . . . he'll really care . . . " The movie then partly involves a " . . . soul-searching conversion process . . . " for the police officer while suggesting that he will " . . . not be able to figure out who did anything until he decides who he is . . . "[dxii][1741]

It is, of course, sometimes revealing to compare two different reviews of the same movie. For example, Henry Sheehan in his review of Homicide appearing in The Hollywood Reporter states that "[e]thnic identity, rivalry and hatred run through the film, with the above-it-all cops seemingly the only ones who can pick their associations."[dxiii][1742] There is no mention in the film industry trade paper about Joe Mantegna's struggle with his Jewishness, which, as Ebert points out, is clearly what the film is about. In other words, the Hollywood Reporter review is quite misleading and illustrates a tendency for the movie trade press to downplay Jewish aspects of Hollywood films. Jewish writer/director David Mamet[dxiv][1743] wrote and directed Homicide for producers Michael Hausman and Jewish producer Edward R. Pressman.[dxv][1744] The film also starred William H. Macy, Natalija Nogulich, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Pidgeon, J.J. Johnston and Jack Wallace. The Hollywood Reporter did report, however, in its Monday, April 8, 1991 issue that "ix rather similar projects dealing predominantly with murder in the Orthodox Jewish community are in various stages of development around town."[dxvi][1745] Not all were expected to be produced and/or released.

Other categories of films involving Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues and released during the last quarter century time frame came in pairs, including vampires, Westerns, wealthy Jews and World War II pictures (other than the Holocaust films).

Vampires--In the 1979 release Love at First Bite George Hamilton played Dracula in New York where " . . . he meets the girl of his dreams, Cindy Sondheim (Susan Saint James). Cindy is the patient and lover of analyst Dr. Jeffrey Rosenberg (played by Jewish actor Richard Benjamin),[dxvii][1746] who soon recognizes the true identity of Vlad . . . " According to Patricia Erens, the " . . . voice of scientific reason is represented by (the) . . . Jewish psychoanalyst."[dxviii][1747] Robert Kaufman wrote the script. Stan Dragoti directed for producer Joel Freeman. Jewish actor Dick Shawn[dxix][1748] and Arte Johnson also starred.

In the 1981 release An American Werewolf in London, a " . . . .young American Jew (David Naughton) traveling in England gets bitten by a werewolf and turns into a savage beast . . . "[dxx][1749] Erens points out that "[t]hroughout the film there are Jewish jokes in the tradition of (Jewish filmmaker) Mel Brooks[dxxi][1750] and others."[dxxii][1751] John Landis wrote and directed for producers Peter Guber (born " . . . into an upper-middle-class Jewish family . . . ")[dxxiii][1752] and Jon Peters. The film starred David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne and John Woodvine.

Wealthy Jews--In 1981, Seymour Goldfarb, Jr., was the . . . playboy son of a wealthy Jewish girdle manufacturer and a competitor in The Cannonball Run . . . "[dxxiv][1753] Brock Yates wrote the script. Hal Needham directed for producer Albert S. Ruddy. The film starred Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Jewish convert Sammy

Davis, Jr.,[dxxv][1754] Adrienne Barbeau, Jack Elam, Bert Convy, Jamie Farr, Peter Fonda, Jewish actress Molly Picon[dxxvi][1755] and Blanca Jagger.

The 1986 Touchstone release Down and Out in Beverly Hills focused on a neurotic, but wealthy Jewish family in Beverly Hills (the Whitemans) who appear to get all the answers to their questions when the husband (played by Jewish actor Richard Dreyfuss)[dxxvii][1756] " . . . saves a down-and-out bum, Jerry Baskin (Nick Nolte), from drowning . . . " himself in the family pool.[dxxviii][1757] Jewish writer/director/producer Paul Mazursky,[dxxix][1758] wrote, directed and produced. The film also starred Jewish actress Bette Midler,[dxxx][1759] along with Little Richard, Tracy Nelson and Elizabeth Pena.

Westerns--The 1976 20th Century-Fox release, The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox starred Jewish actress Goldie Hawn[dxxxi][1760] and Jewish actor George Segal[dxxxii][1761] as " . . . two shady characters on the lam in the Old West who find themselves in the middle of an Orthodox wedding."[dxxxiii][1762] Jewish producer/director Melvin Frank[dxxxiv][1763] produced and directed. Frank also wrote the script with Jewish writer Barry Sandler.[dxxxv][1764] Other stars included Conrad Janis, Thayer David, Roy Jenson, Bob Hoy and Bennie Dobbins.

Three years later, the Warner Bros. release The Frisco Kid (1979) starred Jewish actor Gene Wilder[dxxxvi][1765] in the story of " . . . a rabbi making his way across the U.S. to join a congregation in San Francisco . . . "[dxxxvii][1766] Erens calls it a "Jewish Western".[dxxxviii][1767] Michael Elias and Frank Shaw wrote the script. Robert Aldrich directed for producer Samuel Bischoff. The film also starred Harrison Ford (Russian-Jewish mother),[dxxxix][1768] Ramon Bieri, Leo Fuchs and Penny Peyser.

World War II--In 1979, The Greatest Battle was set " . . . during the last North African campaign of WWII, with action centering on the German Panzer Corps in Tunisia. A sub-plot has (Stacy) Keach as a German major and (Samantha) Eggar as the half-Jewish wife with whom he must deal." Humphrey Longan directed.[dxl][1769]

The 1993 Columbia release of Remains of the Day provides an example of the manner in which certain issues of concern to some Jews are raised within the context of a movie ostensibly about something else. Remains of the Day primarily focused on the unrequited love between the butler and housekeeper in a mansion owned by a British Lord. On the other hand, the story occurs in a pre-World War II setting and the British Lord turns out to be a Nazi sympathizer. Conflict arises between the butler and housekeeper over the firing of two Jewish girls. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (of Polish-Jewish parents)[dxli][1770] wrote the script. James Ivory (of Irish-American parents)[dxlii][1771] directed for Jewish producer Mike Nichols,[dxliii][1772] along with Ishmail Merchant and John Calley. The film starred Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox, Christopher Reeve, Peter Vaughan, Hugh Grant, Michel Lonsdale, Tim Piggot-Smith and Patrick Godfrey.

Other Hollywood films of the last quarter century and involving Jewish stories, characters, themes, sub-plots or issues are of the singular variety. They portray a politically liberal investigator, the elderly, a bailbondsman, banker/adventurer, basketball coach, boxing trainer, gambler, labor organizer, Napoleonic soldier, Rabbi, secretary, European spies, Swiss manufacturing family and a liberal writer, dealing with, among other things, issues like acceptance, assimilation, life in a Canadian Jewish ghetto, history and international terrorism,

Gambler--The 1975 Paramount release The Gambler tells the story of a compulsive Jewish gambler who has a will to lose.[dxliv][1773] Jewish writer James Toback[dxlv][1774] wrote the script. Karel Reisz, (born in Czechoslovakia, the son of a Jewish lawyer) who works in England,[dxlvi][1775] directed for Jewish producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff.[dxlvii][1776] The film starred Jewish actors James Caan,[dxlviii][1777] and Morris Carnovsky,[dxlix][1778] along with Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton, Jacqueline Brookes and Burt Young. This is another example of a Hollywood movie being dominated by Jewish elements, in this case, the story revolves around a Jewish character, in addition, the film's scriptwriter, director, producers and two lead actors, all were Jewish. At no time in the history of the Hollywood-based U.S. film industry, has any other racial, ethnic, cultural, religious or regional population been able to dominate a given film in this manner. Canadian Ghetto--The 1975 Columbia Pictures release Lies My Father Told Me was, according to Patricia Erens, " . . . a homage to Montreal's Jewish ghetto in the 1920s."[dl][1779] The story revolved around the "[a]dventures of a poor Jewish boy and his grandfather . . . "[dli][1780] Ted Allan wrote the screenplay. Jewish filmmaker Jan Kadar (born in Budapest of Slovakian Jewish parents)[dlii][1781] directed for producers Anthony Bedrich and Harry Gulkin. The film starred Jewish actor Yossi Yadin,[dliii][1782] Len Birman, Marilyn Lightstone and Jeffrey Lynas.

Napoleonic Soldier--In the 1975 UA release Love and Death Jewish filmmaker/actor Woody Allen[dliv][1783] played " . . . a cowardly Jewish peasant forced to fight in the Napoleonic Wars in order to save his family's good name and to win the heart of his lovely cousin . . . " (played by Diane Keaton).[dlv][1784] Friedman calls it a " . . . visualization of a Russian novel through a comic, Jewish perspective."[dlvi][1785] Allen wrote and directed for producers Jack Rollins and Charles H. Joffe. The film also starred Georges Adel, Despo and Frank Adu.

Rabbi--The following year, 1976, Lanigan's Rabbi starred Art Carney " . . . as a sympathetic police chief who refuses to believe the town Rabbi (Stuart Margolin) is a real murder suspect."[dlvii][1786] Louis Antonio directed.

Liberal Investigator--In the 1978 Universal release The Big Fix (directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan) an " . . . ex-Berkeley radical named Moses Wine (played by Jewish actor Richard Dreyfuss)[dlviii][1787] is now a private eye." The fix " . . . concerns Wine's efforts to locate a 1960s leftist, Howard Eppis (F. Murray Abraham), now underground." Eppis, modeled on Abbie Hoffman, has been given the Yiddish name for 'truth'." Aside from Wine's former girlfriend Lila (a Shiksa) and a group of heavies, the film is populated entirely by Jews . . . "[dlix][1788] Friedman points out that the Dreyfuss character was Hollywood's " . . . first Jewish detective . . . "[dlx][1789] However, the movie is even more noteworthy for once again raising the question, just how many films by Universal or other Hollywood major studio/distributors have been almost entirely populated by any other racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, regional or other population in the U.S.? The answer is, of course, none, or very few, if any. Roger L. Simon wrote the script The Big Fix. Dreyfus and Carl Borack produced. The film also starred Susan Anspach, Bonnie Bedelia and John Lithgow.

Swiss Manufacturing Family--The 1979 Paramount release Bloodline was " . . . an action thriller involving the murder of a wealthy Swiss chemical manufacturer. The family is Jewish and when the company head Sam Roffe dies, he is succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth (Audrey Hepburn). Shortly after his death, she reads a journal written by her father, chronicling the family origins in the Cracow ghetto."[dlxi][1790] Laird Koenig wrote the script (based on a Sidney Sheldon novel). Terence Young directed for Jewish producer David V. Picker[dlxii][1791] and Sidney Beckerman. The film also starred Ben Gazzara, James Mason, Claudia Mori, Omar Sharif, Irene Papas, Maurice Ronet, Romy Schneider, Beatrice Straight, Gert Frobe and Micheline Phillips.

Labor Organizer--According to Patricia Erens, the 1979 20th Century-Fox release Norma Rae, (discussed in Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content) was " . . . loosely based on the effort of a fifty-five-year-old New York labor organizer, Eli Zivkovich, to unionize a textile mill in the deep South. Instrumental in achieving this victory was the aid of a female textile worker, Chrystal Lee. In the film version Crystal is called Norma Rae and played by Sally Field. The union organizer, named Reuben Warshovsky, is played by (Jewish actor Ron Leibman. . . "[dlxiii][1792] Erens refers to Warshovsky as one " . . . of the best developed Jewish characters in recent drama . . . "[dlxiv][1793] The script was written by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr. Jewish producer/director Martin Ritt[dlxv][1794] produced and directed. The film also starred Beau Bridges, Pat Hingle and Barbara Baxley.

Basketball Coach--The 1979 film Fast Break told the story of " . . . a college president's dream of winning a pennant for Cadwallader University (Nevada). To accomplish this, President Gutkas (John Chappell) hires a young New York coach, David Greene (played by Jewish actor Gabriel Kaplan)[dlxvi][1795] who gathers together a group of undisciplined Blacks and forges a first-rate team." According to Patricia Erens, " . . . Greene possesses typical urban Jewish characteristics . . . "[dlxvii][1796] Jack Smight directed. The film also featured Harold Sylvester, Mike Warren, Bernard King, Reb Brown, Mavis Washington and Bert Remsen.

Bailbondsman--In 1980, New York-born Jewish actor Eli Wallach[dlxviii][1797] starred as the Jewish character "Mr. Blumenthal . . . the cynical and tightfisted bailbondsman in The Hunter, (who) provides bounty hunter Ralph Thorsen (Steve McQueen) with most of his assignments."[dlxix][1798] The Paramount release was directed by Buzz Kulik for producer Mort Engleberg.

Banker/Adventurer--Also, in 1980's, Love and Money (Jewish writer James Toback's[dlxx][1799] independent production, released by Lorimar) Ray Sharkey stars as Byron Levin, a (Jewish) Harvard graduate now working as a banker . . . " who goes on an adventurous mission to a mythical Costa Salva. "Byron lives with his grandfather, Walter Klein (King Vidor), and a girlfriend." As Erens points out, "Grandpa speaks with a Jewish inflection . . . " and " . . . Jewishness permeates the characters . . . "[dlxxi][1800] The film also starred Ornella Muti, Klaus Kinski, Armand Assante and William Prince. Toback also directed.

Secretary--In the 1981 animated release Heavy Metal, (Columbia) a " . . . Jewish secretary is abducted by a lascivious robot . . . "[dlxxii][1801] Gerald Potterton directed for producers Ivan Reitman (the son of Holocaust-surviving refugee parents)[dlxxiii][1802] and Leonard Vogel. Dan Goldberg and Len Blum wrote the script.

Liberal Writer--The 1981 Paramount release Reds showed " . . . glimpses of the . . . Jewish radical Emma Goldman (played by Maureen Stapleton).[dlxxiv][1803] As Patricia Erens reports,

" . . . Goldman emerges as intelligent, courageous, warm, and pragmatic--in short, a concerned and discerning women."[dlxxv][1804] The film was written, directed and produced by its star Warren Beatty. The film's focus is the story of the " . . . last years of John Reed, an American writer who after stormy romantic vicissitudes goes with his wife to Russia and writes Ten Days That Shook the World."[dlxxvi][1805] Other actors included Diane Keaton, Edward Herman, Jerry Kosincki, Jack Nicholson and Paul Sorvino.

History--In the 1981 Brooksfilms release History of the World--Part I, Jewish writer, producer and director Mel Brooks[dlxxvii][1806] " . . . throws together a series of Jewish jokes about the Bible, ancient Rome, medieval Spain, and revolutionary France."[dlxxviii][1807] Brooks also starred with Dom de Luise, Jewish actress Madeline Kahn,[dlxxix][1808] Cloris Leachman, Jewish actors Harvey

Korman,[dlxxx][1809] and Jan Murray (Murray Janofsky),[dlxxxi][1810] Ron Carey, Jewish comedian Sid Caesar,[dlxxxii][1811] Pamela Stephenson and Jewish comedian Henny Youngman.[dlxxxiii][1812]

Boxing Trainer--In 1982, " . . . Rocky Balboa's seemingly Irish trainer and friend, Michey (Burgess Meredith), turns out to be Jewish in Rocky III."[dlxxxiv][1813] The United Artists release was written and directed by Sylvester Stallone for Jewish producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler,[dlxxxv][1814] along with James D. Brubaker.

Assimilation--The 1983 Orion release Zelig was a " . . . parody documentary tracing a chameleon-like nonentity (Leonard Zelig, played by Jewish actor Woody Allen)[dlxxxvi][1815] who contrives to have been associated with all the major events of the 20th century."[dlxxxvii][1816] According to Erens, " . . . the protagonist's Jewishness is a given . . . " He is " . . . the son of a Yiddish actor and one scene depicts young Zelig between two Hassids."[dlxxxviii][1817] Erens also reports that Jewish writer/literary critic Irving Howe,[dlxxxix][1818] author of World of Our Fathers asserts that " . . . Zelig represents the ultimate assimilated Jew."[dxc][1819] On the other hand, Friedman calls the film

" . . . the most devastating film about Jewish assimilation ever produced."[dxci][1820] In other words, the level of assimilation represented by Zelig in the film is not at all desirable in the minds of many in the Jewish community, thus the film provides a serious and critical commentary regarding an issue of importance to many Jews, (i.e., Jewish assimilation). Allen wrote and directed for producer Robert Greenhut. The film also starred Mia Farrow.

European Spies--Also, in 1983, Timothy Hutton was " . . . the son of Jewish radicals in Daniel . . . "[dxcii][1821] The film was " . . . based on the notorious Rosenberg case, in which Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of treason for alleged involvement with a Soviet spy ring." Film critic Steven Scheuer observed that the film " . . . idealiz[es] . . . the protagonists and the early radical Communist movement in America . . . "[dxciii][1822] According to Halliwell's the film actually told the story of the " . . . children of executed spies (who) are traumatized by the past." Halliwell's calls the film a "[p]atchwork vision of thirties America, with Jewishness thrown in for added weight."[dxciv][1823] Erens points out that " . . . all of the major characters are Jewish . . . " although " . . . the filmmakers have selectively chosen not to emphasize Jewish elements."[dxcv][1824] Film critic Tom Milne states that "

• nly with the last scene does one realize that it has collapsed into an empty liberal squeak".[dxcvi][1825] Jewish director Sidney Lumet[dxcvii][1826] directed for producer John Van Eyssen. Jewish writer E.L. Doctorow[dxcviii][1827] wrote the script. Other stars included Mandy Patinkin, Lindsay Crouse, Jewish actor Ed Asner,[dxcix][1828] Ellen Barkin and Jewish actress Tovah Feldshuh.[dc][1829] This film illustrates the fact that Jewish studio executives, directors, writers and actors sometimes have the opportunity to make elaborate film apologies and rationalizations for the behavior of their fellow Jews, whereas no other racial, ethnic, religious, cultural or regional group in America wields enough power within the Hollywood hierarchy to do the same for their fellows. Such an imbalance in creative control supports the view that Hollywood movies are often used for propagandistic purposes.

International Terrorism--The 1983 MGM/UA release Exposed starred " . . . Nastassia Kinski as a Vogue model, and Rudolph Nureyev as Daniel Jelline, an internationally known violinist, who leads a double life stalking Argentine terrorist, Rivas (played by Jewish actor Harvey Keitel).[dci][1830] Patricia Erens states that the hero of this film is " . . . undeniably Jewish." She points out, that although, " . . . we are never told that Daniel is Jewish . . . his father died at Auschwitz and . . . he seeks Rivas for the bombing of a restaurant . . . " undoubtedly, according to Erens " . . . a reference to the 1982 explosion in a Parisian Jewish restaurant". Erens also points out that all of the earlier work's of the film's Jewish writer/director/producer James Toback[dcii][1831] featured Jewish heroes. Other stars for this film included Ian McShane, Bibi Andersson, Ron Randell and Pierre Clementi.

Elderly--In the 20th Century-Fox release Cocoon (1985) Aliens from another galaxy leave pods in a swimming pool near a Florida retirement home, and the older bathers are rejuvenated.[dciii][1832] The Jewish character, Bernie Lefkowitz (played by Jewish actor Jack Gilford)[dciv][1833] " . . . refuses to believe . . . " his retired friends who discover the effects and chooses not " . . . to use the miraculous water to help his wife." Bernie also does not " . . . accompany his friends to the aliens' home planet . . . " a decision that, according to Lester Friedman, " . . . echoes many Jews over the centuries . . . " who accept what God has given them.[dcv][1834] Tom Benedek wrote the script (based on David Saperstein's novel). Ron Howard directed for producer Lili Zanuck. The film also starred Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy and Gwen Verdon.

This survey of Hollywood films depicting Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues (Chapters 4, 5 & 6) confirms that as a result of the control of the U.S. film industry exercised by that small group of Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious (see Who Really Controls Hollywood), a disproportionate number of such films are being presented through the medium of film, more stories are being told from or influenced by what might be termed a Jewish perspective and more positive portrayals of Jewish characters are being presented through film. Again, if the American motion picture industry was dominated by a different group of people, it is very likely that we would have been watching some very different movies over the years. Which is only to illustrate the point, that the American movie industry should not be dominated by any single or even a few racial, ethnic, religious or cultural groups. The medium should be open to all.

To continue the analysis relating to the background of directors begun with the films about the South (see Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content), of the 383 films noted above in which the directors are identified, at least 153 (or some 40%) have a Jewish heritage. In Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content, only 251 movies were identified as movies about people, places or things from the American South, and of those films, only 29 of them (12%) were directed by directors from the South. These figures show a clear bias not only in favor of films featuring Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots or issues, but a bias in favor of Jewish directors. In addition, however, some 61% (233) of the films in this Hollywood control group study featured actors or actresses with Jewish backgrounds, 25% (97) were produced by producers of Jewish heritage and 29% (112) of the scripts were written by screenwriters of Jewish ancestry.

And finally, the total number of films in the control group study with Jewish elements (i.e., either Jewish characters, stories, themes, sub-plots, issues, directors, producers, actors, actress or screenwriters) came to 301 of the 383 total, or nearly 80%. Of course, these calculations do not consider the number of such films that are based on novels, shorts stories and plays by Jewish authors or literary material controlled by Jewish-owned publishing companies. Nor does this study include the calculations relating to how many of the musical scores for such movies were contributed by composers of Jewish heritage. It also does not consider the facts relating to the extraordinary high percentage of major studio executives that have Jewish backgrounds (again, see Who Really Controls Hollywood). The inclusion of such additional factors would raise the total Jewish elements percentage in this body of work, to a figure much higher than the 80% reported above.[dcvi][1835]

It is also appropriate to specifically point out, that in a series of books that allege and provide persuasive evidence that Hollywood is controlled by a small group of Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious, and who have gained and maintain their control over the U.S. film business by unfair, unethical, anti-competitive, predatory, and, in some cases, illegal business practices, including rampant nepotism, favoritism, cronyism, blacklisting and other forms of discrimination, it is most relevant to then show that a disproportionate number of the producers, directors, writers, actors and actresses benefiting from that discrimination, also have a Jewish heritage. The above survey and this book's companion volumes Motion Picture Biographies and Patterns of Bias in Motion Picture Content do just that.

Again, the category of Jewish stories, as used in this book, does not mean that the stories told are exclusively Jewish by their nature. It means that the U.S. film industry has chosen to tell such stories through Jewish themes, characters, through a Jewish perspective or by bringing in concerns of interest to many person of Jewish heritage through sub-plots. The fact is that if a film industry controlled by Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious, consistently portrays some populations in a negative manner and their fellow Jews in a more positive manner, and this same film industry consistently tells more stories through film from a Jewish perspective, the effect is that the U.S. film industry becomes an instrument of propaganda for those Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious, and who are engaged in nothing more than blatant culture promotion, while, at the same time exhibiting culture contempt for non-Jewish cultures.

It would appear from this partial sampling of American films in recent years that the industry controlled and/or dominated by traditional Hollywood management has not hesitated to tell stories relating to the Jewish experience through this important cultural communications and entertainment medium, the feature film. It would also appear from this survey that a significant number of movies have presented issues of concern to many Jews and that the Jewish characters themselves were generally portrayed in those movies in a positive manner (at least in a more positive manner than most other populations); while at the same time the Hollywood decision-makers were also producing and releasing a significant number of movies about many non-Jews which portrayed such persons in a consistently negative or stereotypical manner. It is important to remember that to the extent the group in control of Hollywood is able to produce and release the movies it wants, those groups that do not control Hollywood are, in many instances, precluded from producing and releasing their movies.

As the book Who Really Controls Hollywood concluded, Hollywood still appears to be controlled by a small group of Jewish males of Eastern European heritage who are (generally speaking) politically liberal and not very religious (the traditional Hollywood management). This book confirms that such control is reflected in the kinds and content of the motion pictures produced and released. Thus, so-called mainstream American movies, do not appear to adequately reflect the nation's multi-cultural diversity, but instead appear to reflect a consistent pattern of bias in favor of those who control Hollywood and against those who do not control Hollywood.

If, on the other hand, Jewish males of European heritage who are politically liberal and not very religious choose to portray Jewish people in films in a somewhat negative manner, it may be fair to consider that an intra-cultural matter. But, if the people who control Hollywood (i.e., the Jewish males of European heritage who are politically liberal and not very religious) choose to portray non-Jews in their films, and such non-Jewish people are

consistently portrayed in a negative or stereotypical manner, this seems, on the whole, to be much more offensive.

It may also be fair to point out that the above described pattern of bias in American films in favor of Jewish stories, favorable Jewish character portrayals and the negative portrayals, suggests a strategy for desperate independent producers seeking to develop or produce films (i.e., that they may have more luck if they associate with a Jewish producer, hire a Jewish director, cast Jewish actors or actresses and/or tell a Jewish story or positively portray Jewish characters. There thus, seems to be some evidence, as set forth above, to suggest that such a phenomenon has in fact already occurred. On the other hand, this book may help to stimulate a needed adjustment in the marketplace with respect to who gets hired to work on films and the ideas turned into films.

In effect, what we currently have is a Hollywood-based U.S. film industry, whose major and most powerful entities (the major studio/distributors) are controlled by a small group-of Jewish males of European heritage, who are politically liberal and not very religious, and who commonly use other people's money, to hire a disproportionate number of Jewish producers, directors, screenwriters, actors and actresses (and often pay them excessive sums of money), to make films that tell a disproportionate number of Jewish stories and feature a disproportionate number of Jewish themes, sub-plots and/or characters; while at the same time, preventing other religious, ethnic, cultural or racial groups in the U.S. from hiring producers, directors, screenwriters, actors or actresses from such other groups and telling a reasonable number of their important stories through film or featuring a reasonable number of their themes, sub-plots and/or characters on the screen.

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