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Lemon Popsicle

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Lemon Popsicle
Theatrical release poster
Hebrewאסקימו לימון
Directed byBoaz Davidson
Written by
  • Boaz Davidson
  • Eli Tavor
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAdam Greenberg
Edited byAlain Jakubowicz
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Noah Films (Israel)
  • Scotia International Filmverleih (West Germany)
Release dates
  • 11 February 1978 (1978-02-11) (Israel)
  • 21 April 1978 (1978-04-21) (West Germany)
Running time
95 minutes
Countries
  • Israel
  • West Germany
LanguageHebrew
BudgetIL3 million
Box officeIL12.5 million (Israel; 1978)

Lemon Popsicle (Hebrew: אסקימו לימון, romanized: Eskimo Limon) is a 1978 teen comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Boaz Davidson. It s the most commercially successful Israeli film of all time, which has led to the production of a series of sequels.[1] The cult film follows a group of three teenage boys in early-1960s Tel Aviv.

Plot

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The story begins in the summer of 1958. Benji (Bentzi in the Hebrew release, played by Yeftah Katzur), Bobby (Momoo in the Hebrew release, played by Jonathan Sagall) and Huey (Yodla in the Hebrew release, played by Zachi Noy) are three teenage boys in the city of Tel Aviv in the late 1950s who study at the Shalva Gymnasium high school and pass the time, among other things, at the Montana Ice Cream Shop .

The three's class is joined by a beautiful new girl named Niki (Nili in the Hebrew release, played by Anat Atzmon), who caught Benji's eye. At the Friday party at Huey's, Benji sees Niki dancing with Bobby and Huey tells him that if she is in Bobby's hands, he has no chance with her. Learning that Nili is a virgin, Bobby brags to his friends that he will seduce, then dump her, much to Benji's dismay. However, Benji is too dependent on his friends and too reluctant to ruin their friendship to warn Niki of Bobby's intentions, and must watch as Bobby and Niki begin dating.The frustrated Benji drinks an entire bottle of wine and gets drunk, and Huey has to take him home. The next day Benji goes to work selling ice, until a female customer calls out to the owner of the business from the window to send Benji to her with the ice. It turns out that the woman (Ophelia Strahl) is an older olah named Stella ("the ultimate Stella") and she tries to seduce Benji, but he tells her that he has to go back to work and that he will come visit her. Benji calls Bobby and Huey to come with him to the woman's house. There, after drinking whisky and dancing, they enter her room one by one and have sex with her. When it's Benji's, a friend of Stella's, Johnny the Sailor, enters the apartment. Bobby and Bentji manage to leave, but Huey, who tried to take his clothes, is beaten and finally flees the house in his underwear.

A few days later, Bobby asks Benji for the keys to his grandmother's apartment, so he can bring Niki there and Benji says he will get it for him. That evening, when the three meet at the ice cream shop, Benzi says that his mother hid the keys. Bobby gives up spending time with Niki and goes with the three to Ricki the whore (Denise Bozaglou). The next day, all three feel itching in the groin area and it turns out that they got pubic lice from Ricky. They go to the pharmacy and ask him for an ointment for this issue. A day later, Benji meets with Huey and a boy from their class named Froi'ka, who tells him that Bobby went with Niki to sail on the Yarakon river and they are about to have sex. Later in the evening, Bobby appears at the ice cream parlor and tells Benji about his time with Niki.

At the end of year school ceremony, Benji sees Niki arguing with Bobby and then sees her leaving the auditorium crying. Outside she tells him that she is pregnant. Benji comforts Niki and then bursts into the sports hall in a rage, and starts fighting with Bobby. Benji takes Niki to have an abortion and pays for it with his own money. He sells his bike, steals money from his mom, and takes out a loan from his boss, and ends up bringing her to live with him for a few days at his grandma's apartment, since they are supposed to be at summer camp with the whole class. Benji confesses his love to Niki and they kiss. She invites him to her birthday party next Monday and he confirms his arrival. Benji buys her a precious gold heart pendant with the words "To Niki with Love" engraved on it. When Benji arrives at the party, he looks for Niki and finds her in the kitchen - cuddling with Bobby. Niki and Bobby notice the shocked Benji, and he leaves the party heartbroken to the tune of the song "Mr. Lonely".

Cast

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Release and reception

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Budget

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The picture was produced at a budget of IL3 million, of which a million was paid in royalties to the musicians (mostly American) whose songs were used in the soundtrack (such as Bill Haley, Paul Anka, Little Richard, Frankie Laine, the Chordettes and Bobby Vinton). Producer Menahem Golan claimed that the music rights cost more than the production of the film itself.[2]

Box office

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Lemon Popsicle became an immediate commercial success; by December 1978, the film had sold 1,268,000 tickets in its native country and grossed IL12.5 million. It was circulated in 700 prints in Europe, where it earned $650,000 during the same period.[3] In total, it sold 1,350,000 tickets in the state, becoming the highest-grossing Israeli picture in history.[4] In West Germany, it reached the 11th place at the 1978 box office, with 2.7 million tickets sold.[5] Lemon Popsicle also gained considerable popularity in the rest of Europe and in Japan.[6] It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in the 36th Golden Globe Awards, losing to Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata.[7] The film was also selected as the Israeli entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[8]

Sequels

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The series became a success in Germany under the name Eis am Stiel. Most of the films were also dubbed into English and were released in both the United States and United Kingdom. Since the release of Lemon Popsicle, seven official sequels have been made. These were Going Steady (Yotzim Kavua) (1979), Hot Bubblegum (Shifshuf Naim) (1981), Private Popsicle (Sapiches) (1982), Baby Love (Roman Za'ir) (1984), Up Your Anchor (Harimu Ogen) (1985), Young Love (Ahava Tzeira) (1987) and Summertime Blues (Blues La-Kayitz) (1988). A spin-off film, Private Manoeuvres (Sababa), starring Zachi Noy as Yudale, appeared in 1983, and a reboot film, The Party Goes On (Hahagiga Nimshehet), which featured Noy as a restaurant owner, was released in 2001.

Hot Bubblegum

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Shifshuf Naim
Directed byBoaz Davidson
Written byBoaz Davidson
Ingo Hermes
Eli Tavor
Sam Waynberg
Produced byYoram Globus
Menahem Golan
Sam Waynberg
Danny Dimbort
CinematographyAmnon Salomon
Edited byJon Koslowsky
Release date
  • 1981 (1981)
CountryIsrael
LanguageHebrew

Hot Bubblegum (Hebrew: Shifshuf Naim) is the third film in the Lemon Popsicle series, set in Tel Aviv and released in 1981.[9]

Synopsis

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Benzi now has a girlfriend named Doris, but his feelings are put to the test when an old flame, Nikki comes back into his life. Unknown to Doris and despite the advice of his friends concerning Nikki's flirtiness, Benzi and Nikki begin dating, but eventually Doris catches them together. Meanwhile, Benzi's sexy cousin Frieda visits from Germany, and Yudale and Momo, as well as Benzi's father, end up lusting over her.[9]

Cast

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Remake

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In 1982, Davidson wrote and directed an American remake, The Last American Virgin, starring Lawrence Monoson and Diane Franklin.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ New York Times
  2. ^ "Golan's Globus Production Slate Includes 4 In '78–'79 For $10-Mil". Variety. May 31, 1978. p. 59.
  3. ^ "סרט השנה: אסקימו לימון" [Film of the Year: Lemon Popsicle]. Maariv (in Hebrew). 28 December 1978. p. 47.
  4. ^ Almog, O'z. Peridah mi-Śeruliḳ: shinui ʻarakhim ba-eliṭah ha-Yiśreʼelit. Zemorah-Bitan (2004). ISBN 9789653110519. p. 1156
  5. ^ Top 50 Deutschland 1978. insidekino.com.
  6. ^ Vasudev, Aruna. Being and Becoming: the Cinemas of Asia. MacMillan (2002). ISBN 9780333938201. p. 222.
  7. ^ 36th Golden Globe Awards Archived 2013-04-14 at archive.today. goldenglobes.org.
  8. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  9. ^ a b "Hot Bubblegum". israelfilmcenter.org. The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. Archived from the original on 2017-05-05. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  10. ^ New York Times
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