Serial Number: 19690
Title: Hero, The (1970)
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Country of Origin: ITALY
Genre: Private Gallery - The 70's
Subject: Judaica
Size: LOCANDINA 12x28
Condition: EX
Card Number: N/A
Price: $NOT FOR SALE
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| Actors/Actresses: Richard Harris, Romy Schneider |
| Notes: Director: Richard Harris; Richard Harris, over his long and distinguished career, took part in a few less than stellar movies. This Israeli-British co-production, is certainly one of those. The movie tells a story of an aging, yet immature Israeli soccer star, who was once idolized by everyone but is now in a downward spiral in both his personal life and his career. To one young boy from the boonies he’s still The Hero, and they strike up a friendship. The producers must have thought that they’re getting the big name movie star they wanted who is, on the face of it, also very physical and athletic. I guess nobody told them, that once given a ball, Harris could never pass for a soccer player. He tries his best to portray an over the hill looser, and is good in scenes that require pathos, but in the soccer action scenes his lack of basic skills is very evident. Speaking of soccer action, it’s quite obvious that no real players were used in the film. To compensate for that, most of the camera shots give us close ups of galloping feet and legs in simple and staged moves, that end up looking very phoney. Such amateurish treatment is simply unacceptable in a movie where one of the central themes is a ball game. Harris was at the time at the peak of his career, and playing the part of a soccer superstar must’ve appealed to his vanity. To sweeten the pot, he was also given the directorial duties, all of which he must’ve found hard to resist. This was his first and last effort as director. When you add to this, supporting roles that are cardboard cutouts, and a cliché’ ridden script, it is hard end up with anything to recommend. Israeli semi-iconic actor/director Uri Zohar was initially slated for the co-director’s job, but he quit one week into the shooting, leaving Harris to his own devices. Zohar eventually “found religion” in real life, and went on to become an ultra-religious rabbi… Gorgeous Romy Schneider was cast as the eye-candy, but even she can’t help this picture. The soundtrack includes the song “The Loner”, which was co-written and sung by Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees fame! Original title of the movie was Bloomfield, which is the name of the fabled soccer stadium in Tel Aviv. It was demolished and a new one is slated to open in 2019. It is home to three of the Tel Aviv soccer clubs, Hapoel, Maccabi, and Bnei Yehuda, who all lay claim to the stadium as being “theirs”, however this movie shows a Hebrew sign inside the stadium that clearly states that Bloomfield is “Home of the Hapoel Tel Aviv club”. That was obviously the case in 1970. Sorry Maccabi… |
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