The Jerusalem File

The Jerusalem File
The Jerusalem File
Directed by	John Flynn
Written by	Troy Kennedy Martin
Produced by	Ram Ben Efraim
Starring	Bruce Davison; Nicol Williamson
Cinematography	Raoul Coutard
Edited by	Norman Wanstall
Music by	John Scott
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	1972;
Running time	96 min
Country	United States
Language	English

The Jerusalem File is a 1972 film directed by John Flynn. It stars Bruce Davison, Nicol Williamson, Daria Halprin, and Donald Pleasence.^[1]. The film only ever made it onto VHS in various dubbed or subtitled languages. It can be found on YouTube in English with Finnish subtitles.

Plot

American archaeology student David Armstrong (Bruce Davison) is studying at the University of Jerusalem. His old Arab friend from Yale University Rashid Rifaat (Zeev Revah) draws him into a power struggle between rival Arab terrorist groups. Both are nearly killed in an assassination attempt on Rifaat who then goes into hiding. Professor Lang (Nicol Williamson) at the University tries to protect Armstrong and get him back to America, but Major Samuels (Donald Pleasence) of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet wants to use Armstrong to learn more about the organisation and leadership of the Arab groups and identify Rifaat as the leader of the West Bank Resistance. Secret contacts are murdered to prevent Armstrong arranging any meetings between the various Arab groups, but he eventually succeeds and a meeting does take place in the desert, but with disastrous consequences. The story takes place after the 1967 Six Day War.

Cast

Bruce Davison as David Armstrong
Nicol Williamson as Professor Lang
Daria Halprin as Nurit
Donald Pleasence as Major Samuels
Ian Hendry as Mayers
Koya Yair Rubin as Barak
Zeev Revah as Raschid Rifaat
David Smader as Herzen
Jack Cohen as Altouli

Production

Director John Flynn later recalled the original script was bad but Troy Kennedy Martin rewrote it and Flynn loved the result. The movie was shot in Israel. Flynn:

I stayed at the American Colony Hotel in east Jerusalem, further refining the script while waiting for the production money to come in. All the foreign journalists congregated in the bar of that hotel. So I’d be sitting there in that cavern, as they called it, with all these gentlemen of the press, getting the inside dope on what was really happening in Israel... I never saw Ian Hendry sober, but he somehow managed to function. He’d start with a couple of shots in the morning, but it didn’t seem to affect him. He’d say his lines clearly. Hendry was a perfectly functioning alcoholic when I worked with him. Nicol Williamson (who played an archaeologist) was a wild man too. Very heavy drinker. Late one night, Nicol got quite loaded and threatened to throw Bob Dylan off a hotel balcony!^[2]

Reception

The Jerusalem File was met with mixed reception from critics. A. H. Weiler of The New York Times concluded his review stating, "The politics, the disparate motivations and the implicit drama of youth defeated by a world they don't want are only vaguely projected and are secondary to the chase and shoot-em-up action of The Jerusalem File."^[1]

Flynn said the film "didn’t do well at the box office and has all but disappeared."^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Weiler, A. H. (February 3, 1972). "'The Jerusalem File' Arrives". The New York Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Harvey F. Chartrand (2005). "Interview with John Flynn". Shock Cinema. pp. 26–29+46.

External links

The Jerusalem File at IMDb

[NY_Times-1] Weiler, A. H. (February 3, 1972). "'The Jerusalem File' Arrives". The New York Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021.

[john-2] Harvey F. Chartrand (2005). "Interview with John Flynn". Shock Cinema. pp. 26–29+46.

[1]

[2]