Lemon Popsicle

Lemon Popsicle (Israeli: Eskimo Limon, Hebrew: אסקימו לימון‎) is a 1978 West German-Israeli comedy drama film co-written and directed by Boaz Davidson. The success of the film led to a series of sequels.[1] The cult film follows a group of three teenage boys in the late 1950s Tel Aviv.

Lemon Popsicle / Hot Bubblegum / Eskimo Limon / Eis am Stiel
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBoaz Davidson
Produced byYoram Globus
Menahem Golan
Written byBoaz Davidson
Eli Tavor
StarringYftach Katzur
Zachi Noy
Jonathan Sagall
CinematographyAdam Greenberg
Edited byAlain Jakubowicz
Production
company
Noah Films
The Cannon Film Group
K.F Kinofilm Production (Israel)
SCO (West Germany)
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (current distribution)
Release date
  • 11 February 1978 (1978-02-11)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryIsrael
LanguageHebrew
BudgetI£3,000,000
Box officeI£12,500,000 (Israel; 1978)

Synopsis

Set in Israel in the 1950s, Nili (Niki in the English language release, played by Anat Atzmon), is the new girl at school. She meets a trio of friends: Benzi (Benji in the English release), Momo (Bobby in the English release) and Yudale (Huey in the English release). Benzi (played by Yftach Katzur), the typical "nice guy" of the group immediately falls in love with Nili. However, Nili prefers the more aggressive and experienced Momo (played by Jonathan Sagall). Learning that Nili is a virgin, Momo brags to his friends that he will seduce, then dump her, much to Benzi's dismay. However, Benzi is too dependent on his friends and too reluctant to ruin their friendship to warn Nili of Momo's intentions, and must watch as Momo and Nili begin dating. Momo finally takes Nili's virginity, leaving her pregnant. Benzi rushes in to emotionally console Nili and helps her to get an abortion, hoping that she will grow to love him for his support, only to be crushed when Nili and Momo reconcile and resume dating.

The film contains a scene with an older olah named Stella (Ophelia Shtruhl), enticing the three boys into having sex with her, earning the nickname "Stella HaMegameret" ("A-cumming Stella") after she screams "I'm a-cumming! I'm a-cumming!" (instead of "cumming") during sex because of her poor Hebrew.

Release and reception

Budget

The picture was produced at a budget of 3 million Israeli pound, of which a million was paid in royalties to the musicians (mostly American) whose songs were used in the soundtrack (such as Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry etc.).[2] Producer Menahem Golan claimed that the music rights cost more than that of producing the film itself.[3]

Box office

It became an immediate commercial success; by December 1978, Lemon Popsicle sold 1,268,000 tickets in its native country and grossed 12.5 million lira. It was circulated in 700 prints in Europe, where it earned $650,000 during the same period.[4] In total, it sold 1,350,000 tickets in the state, becoming the highest-grossing Israeli picture in history.[2] 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

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 (Sababa) (1984), Up Your Anchor (Harimu Ogen) (1985), Young Love (Ahava Tzeira) (1987) and Summertime Blues (Blues Ba-Kayitz) (1988). A reboot film, The Party Goes On (Hahagiga Nimshehet), followed in 2001. There's also a spin off movie, Private Manoeuvres (1983), featuring Zachi Noy.

Hot Bubblegum
Shifshuf Naim
Directed byBoaz Davidson
Produced byYoram Globus
Menahem Golan
Sam Waynberg
Danny Dimbort
Written byBoaz Davidson
Ingo Hermes
Eli Tavor
Sam Waynberg
CinematographyAmnon Salomon
Edited byJon Koslowsky
Release date
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

Three high school seniors preparing for final exams in the early 1960s have the normal teenage concerns about girls, sex and relationships. They try to find out if going steady with one girlfriend is better or if changing girlfriends all the time makes for too many complications. By the end of summer, all things get better.[9]

Cast

Remake

In 1982, Davidson wrote and directed an American remake, The Last American Virgin.[10]

See also

References
  1. New York Times
  2. Almog, O'z. Peridah mi-Śeruliḳ: shinui ʻarakhim ba-eliṭah ha-Yiśreʼelit. Zemorah-Bitan (2004). ISBN 9789653110519. p. 1156
  3. "Golan's Globus Production Slate Includes 4 In '78-'79 For $10-Mil". Variety. May 31, 1978. p. 59.
  4. סרט השנה: אסקימו לימון (Film of the Year: Lemon Popsicle). Maariv, 28 December 1978, p. 47.
  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. "Hot Bubblegum". israelfilmcenter.org. The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan.
  10. New York Times
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