Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen


            Tevye (Topol), the philosophical village milkman, explains the customs of the Jewish people and their lives in the Russian shtetl of Anatevka in 1905, where life is as precarious as the perch of a fiddler on a roof ("Tradition"). At Tevye's home, everyone is busy preparing for the Sabbath meal. His sharp-tongued wife, Golde (Norma Crane), orders their five daughters, Tzeitel (Rosalind Harris), Hodel (Michele Marsh), Chava (Neva Small), Shprintze (Elaine Edwards), and Bielke (Candy Bonstein), about their tasks.Yente (Molly Picon), the village matchmaker, arrives with news for Golde. Lazar Wolf (Paul Mann), the wealthy butcher, a widower of Tevye's age, wants to wed Tzeitel, their eldest daughter. Tevye must be persuaded to meet Lazar to arrange the marriage. The two middle daughters, Hodel and Chava, speculate excitedly about what their mother and the matchmaker were talking about, but Tzeitel warns them not be so hasty. They are poor, so their parents will have no choice but to take whatever husband Yente brings ("Matchmaker"). Tzeitel is not eager to have a match found for her, as she is already in love with the tailor, Motel Kamzoil (Leonard Frey), her friend since childhood.Tevye's horse is lame, and he must pull the milk cart himself. He asks God, who it would hurt "If I Were a Rich Man?" The men of the village confront Tevye, as he is late delivering their milk and cheese. Avram (Alfie Scopp), the bookseller, has news from the outside world about pogroms and expulsions. A student from Kiev, Perchik (Paul Michael Glaser), newly arrived in town, hears their conversation and scolds them for doing nothing more than talk. The men dismiss Perchik as a radical, but Tevye takes a liking to him and invites him home for the Sabbath meal, offering him room and board in exchange for tutoring his two youngest daughters. Golde tells Tevye to meet Lazar Wolf after the Sabbath but does not tell him why, knowing that Tevye does not like Lazar. Tzeitel is afraid that Yente will find her a husband before Motel asks Tevye for her hand. But Motel resists: he is shy and afraid of Tevye's temper, and tradition says that a matchmaker arranges marriages. Motel is also very poor and is saving up to buy a sewing machine before he approaches Tevye, to show that he can support a wife. The family gathers around for the "Sabbath Prayer."After the Sabbath, Tevye visits Lazar Wolf. Teyve assumes that Lazar wants to buy his milk cow. After the misunderstanding is cleared up, Tevye agrees to let Lazar marry Tzeitel. With a rich butcher, he knows that his daughter will never go hungry. The two go to Mordcha's inn to seal their agreement with a drink. Many of the villagers are there, including a group of non-Jews. All join in the celebration of Lazar's good fortune; even the Russian youths at the inn join in the celebration and show off their dancing skills ("To Life"). Outside the inn, Tevye bumps into the Russian Constable (Louis Zorich), who has jurisdiction over the Jews in the town. The Constable warns him that there is going to be a "demonstration" in the coming weeks (a euphemism for a minor pogrom). The Constable has sympathy for the Jewish community but is powerless to prevent the violence.The next morning, a hungover Tevye delivers the news to his family that he has agreed that Tzeitel will marry Lazar Wolf. Golde is overjoyed, but Tzeitel is horrified and pleads with Tevye to reconsider. Motel arrives and gathers the courage to tell Tevye that he and Tzeitel gave each other a pledge to marry. Tevye is outraged at this breach of tradition, but Motel argues that even a poor tailor is entitled to some happiness. Tevye is impressed when the once-timid young tailor stands up for himself and, moved by his daughter's earnestness, gives his assent ("Tevye's Monologue"); but he worries about how to break the news to Golde. An overjoyed Motel celebrates with Tzeitel ("Miracle of Miracles").That night in bed with Golde, Tevye has an inspiration: he tells Golde that he has had a nightmare ("Tevye's Dream"). She offers to interpret his dream, and Tevye "describes" it. Golde's grandmother Tzeitel (for whom their daughter is named) returned from the grave to bless the marriage of her namesake, but to Motel, not to Lazar Wolf. Lazar's formidable wife, Fruma Sarah, also rises from her grave to warn, in graphic terms, of severe retribution if Tzeitel marries Lazar. Tevye's superstitious wife is terrified, and she quickly agrees that Tzeitel must marry Motel, much to Tevye's secret relief.On the road outside of town, Tevye's middle daughter, the bookish Chava, is teased and intimidated by some Russian youths, but one of them, Fyedka (Ray Lovelock), protects her, dismissing the others. He offers Chava the loan of a book, and a secret relationship begins.The wedding day of Tzeitel and Motel arrives, and all the Jews join the ceremony ("Sunrise, Sunset") and the celebration ("The Wedding Dance"). Lazar gives a fine gift, but an argument arises with Tevye over the broken agreement. Perchik ends the tiff by breaking another tradition: he crosses the barrier between the men and women to dance with Tevye's daughter Hodel. The celebration ends abruptly when a group of Russians rides into the village to perform the "demonstration." They disrupt the party, damaging the wedding gifts and wounding Perchik, who attempts to fight back, and wreaking more destruction in the village. Ever practical, Tevye advises everyone to clean up the mess.Months later, Perchik tells Hodel he must return to Kiev to work for the revolution. He proposes marriage, admitting that he loves her, and says that he will send for her. She agrees ("Now I Have Everything"). They tell Tevye that they are engaged, and he is appalled that they are flouting tradition by making their own match, especially as Perchik is leaving. When he forbids the marriage, Perchik and Hodel inform him that they do not seek his permission, only his blessing. After some soul searching, Tevye finally relents; the world is changing, and he must change with it ("Tevye's Rebuttal").Tevye explains these events to an astonished Golde. "Love," he says, "it's the new style." Tevye asks Golde, "Do You Love Me?" She admits that after 25 years of living and struggling together and raising five daughters, she does. Other events are moving apace. Yente tells Tzeitel that she saw Chava with Fyedka. News spreads quickly in Anatevka ("The Rumor"). Perchik has been arrested and exiled to Siberia, and Hodel is determined to join him there. At the railway station, she explains to her father that her home is with her beloved wherever he may be, yet she will always love her family ("Far from the Home I Love").Weeks pass, and Chava finally gathers the courage to ask Tevye to allow her marriage to Fyedka. Again Tevye reaches deep into his soul, but marriage outside the Jewish faith is a line that he cannot cross. He forbids Chava ever to speak to Fyedka again. When Golde brings the news that Chava has eloped with Fyedka, Tevye wonders where he went wrong ("Chava Sequence"). Chava returns and tries to reason with him, but he refuses to speak to her and tells the rest of the family to consider her dead. Meanwhile, rumors are spreading of the Russians forcing Jewish villagers to leave their villages. While the villagers are gathered, the Constable arrives to tell everyone that they have three days to pack up and leave the town. In shock, they reminisce about the miserable town, and how hard it will be to leave what has for so long been their home ("Anatevka").As the Jews leave Anatevka, Chava and Fyedka stop to tell her family that they too are leaving. Her mother and sisters are afraid to talk to her with Tevye present. Although Tevye does not speak directly to Chava, he mutters, "God be with you." As Tevye and his family leave the village for America, the fiddler begins to play. Tevye beckons with a nod, and the fiddler follows them out of the village.
    

Fiddler on the Roof


            
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The Public Eye


            While visiting the grave of his deceased wife, Tracy (whom was killed in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service), James Bond (Roger Moore) is called back to MI6 headquarters. A helicopter arrives to transport him. During the flight the pilot is killed by electricity that surges through his headset and a familiar voice begins to taunt Bond over the chopper's loudspeaker; it is that of Blofeld, Bond's deadliest villain. As Bond struggles to gain control of the chopper, he notices a man in a motorized wheelchair nearby. Bond manages to reach the pilot's seat but cannot operate the chopper. Blofeld, controlling the chopper with a small console, flies it into a giant foundry building, with the intention of letting it crash. Bond sees that a set of cables have been wired to the chopper and he rips them out, regaining control of it. He flies after Blofeld and hooks his wheelchair on the end of the chopper's landing skid. Though Blofeld pleads for his life, Bond vengefully drops him down a nearby smokestack.In the Adriatic Sea, a fishing ship, the St. Georges, trawls off the coast of Albania. Inside is a hidden control room for British defense. The spy ship is equipped with ATAC (Automatic Targeting and Attack Communicator), a valuable defensive and offensive device that the Soviet Union would like to obtain. When the ship's decoy fishing crew hauls in a net, it brings with it an old anti-warship mine which explodes, sinking the St. Georges. At MI6, M's temporary replacement, Bill Tanner (James Villiers), is informed of the incident. When he asks how deep the water is off the coast of Albania, he is gravely told it isn't "deep enough." Hoping to find the St. Georges and the ATAC discreetly, Tanner orders a British underwater archaeologist, Timothy Havelock (Jack Hedley), to find the sunken ship. Meanwhile, Tanner's KGB counterpart, General Anatole Gogol (Walter Gotell), is told that the ATAC is in play, and instructs an unknown contact to procure it for him.Havelock's daughter, Melina (Carole Bouquet), arrives by plane at her father's yacht near the site of the St. Georges' sinking after taking a vacation in France. While she reunites with her parents, the plane she arrived in suddenly strafes the yacht with a burst of machine-gun fire. Both Havelock and his wife are killed, however, Melina is unharmed, a look of despair and rage on her face.In London, James Bond is called into M's office to meet with Tanner and Minister of Defense, Frederick Gray (Geoffrey Keen). He is ordered to find the ATAC, his first lead being the man, Hector Gonzales (Stefan Kalipha), a pilot and Cuban national who killed the Havelocks. Tanner orders Bond to find Gonzales near Madrid and interrogate him for information.Bond goes to Gonzales' home where he's throwing a party. Bond observes that Gonzales is meeting with a mysterious man (Michael Gothard) in an elegant suit and octagonal wire-framed glasses, and deduces that he is paying Gonzales for the assassination he performed. Bond is captured by a security guard and brought to Gonzales who identifies him immediately as British Secret Service and orders him taken away. As he dives into his pool, Gonzales is struck and killed by a crossbow arrow fired by an unseen assassin. The distraction allows Bond to escape. The man with the glasses does not intervene and instead leaves with the money that he intended to pay Gonzales with. As Bond makes his escape, one of the security guards chasing him is also killed by a crossbow bolt. The shooter is revealed to be Melina Havelock, who has been seeking revenge for the deaths of her parents and had hired a private detective to find Gonzales. Before they can escape in Bond's Lotus Esprit, it explodes when a guard tries to break one of its windows. Bond and Melina use her car, a small, clunky Citroen, in a furious chase where they evade Gonzales' men in a wild chase through a small town and through an olive orchard.Back in London, Bond reports back to MI6, where the upset Tanner reprimands him for failing to obtain any information from Gonzales. However, Bond, with Q's assistance, uses a highly sophisticated database called an Identigraph, to identify and locate the mysterious payoff man. The man is revealed to be Emile Leopold Locque, a Belgian assassin who has worked as an enforcer for numerous crime syndicates. The most recent intel suggests he is operating in Cortina d'Ampezzo in Northern Italy.Bond travels to Cortina and meets Luigi Ferrara (John Moreno), an Italian Secret Service agent who tells him that Locque may be associated with an organization called the White Dove (indicated by the pin Locque and it's members wear). He directs Bond to his most reliable contact in the Greek Underworld, Aris Kristatos (Julian Glover). Kristatos identifies the White Dove's leader as Milos Columbo (Topol), the kingpin of Greece's heroin trade. Kristatos asks Bond to be an escort for his young skating protege, Bibi Dahl (Lynn-Holly Johnson), while she watches the biathlon. Bibi tries to seduce Bond in his hotel room, but Bond refuses her advances due to her young age.At the biathlon, Bibi points out a friend of hers, Eric Kriegler (John Wyman), a competitor in the event. Bond bids Bibi farewell and leaves the event; as he skis away, he is attacked by a small group of thugs on winterized motorcycles. One of them is Kriegler himself, who tries to kill Bond with his sniper's rifle, another is Locque. Bond is able to escape his attackers, killing several of them in the process.Bond meets Bibi later at the Olympic skating rink where Bibi is practicing. He asks her about Eric and finds out that he is an East German defector. After Bibi leaves, he is again attacked, this time by three hulking hockey players. Bond beats them all and returns to his car. There he finds that Ferrara has been killed. In Ferrara's dead hand is a White Dove pin.Bond goes to the business section of Cortina the next day and spots Melina buying a crossbow. As he approaches her, they are both attacked by men on motorcycles. Bond kills both attackers and orders Melina to leave Cortina. He also tells her that her need for revenge may get her killed too. She agrees to return to her father's yacht and wait for word from Bond.Bond travels to Greece to continue his investigation of Columbo. At a nightclub, he meets with Kristatos and asks how to meet Columbo, not knowing that Columbo's men are secretly recording their conversation. Columbo is at the same club and is sitting with a woman, Lisl von Schlaf (Cassandra Harris), a countess. She becomes openly insulted by one of Columbo's comments and proceeds to leave. Seeing an opportunity to learn more about Columbo, Bond approaches Lisl and offers to have Kristatos' valet, Apostis (Jack Klaff), drive her back to her hotel. After Apostis leaves, Bond and Lisl spend the night together. Lisl confesses that Columbo knows that Bond is a secret agent, and has asked her to learn more about him. Unbeknownst to either of them, Apostis is secretly listening in on their conversation.In the morning, the two walk on the beach and are attacked by Locque and another White Dove member, Claus (Charles Dance). Locque kills Lisl by running her down in his dune buggy, and he and Claus capture Bond. Claus is suddenly shot by a harpoon and several men wearing the White Dove emblem appear out of the surf and capture Bond.Bond is taken to Columbo himself on a yacht, who tries to convince the spy that Kristatos is actually the real villain and the one behind the search for the ATAC. As a means to prove it, he invites Bond to accompany his men to Albania, where Kristatos is using a shipping warehouse to process heroin. Bond reluctantly agrees, and they find Locque overseeing a shipment of raw opium smuggled in enormous rolls of newsprint. They also discover some old naval mines, implying that the sinking of the St. Georges was no accident. As his men provide cover, Locque wires explosives to one of the mines, taking the detonator with him to a nearby escape car. Locque detonates the explosives to cover his escape, but Columbo's raiding party are able to flee the warehouse before it explodes. Using an underground tunnel, Bond is able to get to the shipyard's entrance before Locque does. He opens fire on Locque's car, hitting the assassin in the shoulder and causing him to lose control of the vehicle, which careens off the road. As Locque's car precariously teeters on the precipice of a cliff, Bond shows him the dove pin he'd gotten from Ferrara, throws it to Locque; the tiny shift in weight causes the car to slide off the cliff. Bond gives the car a hard kick and it plummets, killing Locque.Bond travels to the Havelock's yacht and finds Melina. Bond asks Melina if her father possibly left behind any information about his work for the British government. Melina shows Bond her father's journal and they discover that her father had been diving in an unusual underwater location.The two go there in her father's mini-submarine and find the St. Georges. The enter the wreck and find the ATAC attached to an explosive charge which had failed to be activated. Bond disarms the bomb and takes the ATAC when the two are attacked by a diver in a JIM suit. Bond manages to escape the killer and attaches the ATAC bomb to the JIM suit, destroying it. Nearly out of breathable air, he and Melina return to the mini-sub but are again attacked by another mini-sub. They are able to escape this man as well.They return to the surface to find that Kristatos, accompanied by Kriegler and Apostis, has seized the Havelock yacht and killed the crew. Kristatos takes the ATAC with the intention of selling it to the Soviet government; Kriegler is revealed to be his KGB contact. Using Melina and Bond as "bait" they tow them behind Kristatos' yacht hoping that sharks will eat them. Bond is able to snap the line binding them and they retreat to a SCUBA tank Melina left on the ocean floor. Kristatos, assuming Bond and Melina are both dead, leaves.The two make it back to their yacht and hear her father's parrot reveal the destination of the ATAC, a location only called "St. Cyril's." Q informs Bond that there are over 300 locations with the same name in all of Greece, however, Bond knows that Columbo will know where Kristatos has retreated to.The St. Cyril's that Columbo knows of is a monastery in the northern mountains of Greece (in reality, Meteora) and sits atop a series of sheer cliffs. It is only accessible from the ground by a cabled basket; Bond must scale the cliff to reach the hoist controlling the basket. As he climbs, he is found by Apostis, who tries to loosen the spikes and climbing rope Bond is using as a safety line. Bond is able to make it up the cliff far enough to throw a spike at Apostis and send him off the cliff. He makes it the basket house and lowers it for the rest of the crew to come up.General Gogol is on his way to the monastery to collect the ATAC. Kristatos attempts to flee with the ATAC, with Columbo and Melina in hot pursuit. Kriegler attacks Bond, nearly overpowering him due to his size, before Bond tosses him out a window and over the cliff and races after Columbo and Melina. Kristatos and Columbo fight. Kristatos knocks Columbo out, only to be cornered by Melina, who seeks to kill him to avenge her parents' death. While Bond and Melina argue over whether to execute Kristatos or simply arrest him, Kristatos pulls a switchblade out of his jacket. Before Kristatos can attack Melina or Bond, Columbo regains consciousness and kills him with a throwing knife. Gogol arrives and genially asks for the ATAC; Bond suddenly throws it over the side of the mountain where it shatters hundreds of feet below. Gogol is visibly shocked at first but Bond replies "Detente, Comrade! You don't have it, I don't have it." Gogol suddenly smiles and leaves, obviously humored.Melina and Bond share a romantic evening on board the Havelock yacht when a call arrives from MI6 on Bond's wristwatch. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher wishes to speak to Bond personally. Bond gives the watch to Melina's parrot and the PM is tricked into thinking she's still speaking to Bond, who has joined Melina for a nude moonlight swim.
    

For Your Eyes Only

Life After Flash

Galileo


            The story opens with Emperor Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow) declaring that he will first play with, and then destroy, the Earth, using seemingly natural disasters which include earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, and something called "hot hail".Sometime later on Earth, New York Jets football star "Flash" Gordon (Sam J. Jones) boards a small plane. Onboard, he meets travel journalist Dale Arden (Melody Anderson). Mid-flight, the cockpit is hit by a meteorite sent by Ming and the pilots are sucked out. Flash takes control, and manages to crash land the craft in a greenhouse owned by Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol). Zarkov, who believes the disasters are being caused by an unknown source in space which is sending the moon toward the Earth, has secretly constructed a rocket ship with which he intends to investigate. Zarkov's assistant refuses to help him, so he lures Flash and Dale inside the rocket. After a struggle, the rocket launches into orbit, taking the trio through a vortex to the planet Mongo. There, they are taken prisoner.Flash, Dale and Zarkov are brought to the palace before Ming. Ming orders Dale to be prepared for his pleasure. Flash attempts to resist but is overpowered by Ming's bodyguards. Ming orders Zarkov to be reconditioned and Flash executed by lethal gas. Ming's daughter, Princess Aura (Ornella Muti), manipulates Ming's Chief Surgeon into helping her save Flash, to whom she is attracted, by having him injected with an immunity serum helps him escape from the palace.Zarkov is seemingly brainwashed by Klytus (Peter Wyngarde), the golden-masked de facto regent of Mongo and Ming's right hand man. Meanwhile, Aura and Flash flee in a shuttle to Arboria, the kingdom of Prince Barin (Timothy Dalton), Aura's lover. En route to Arboria, Aura reluctantly teaches Flash to use a telepathic communicator to contact Dale. He uses it let her know he is still alive. Dale informs Flash that she is locked in Ming's bedchamber. Encouraged by Flash, Dale escapes. Klytus dispatches Zarkov to intercept Dale, who informs Zarkov and a listening Klytus that Flash is alive. The two then escape, as Zarkov reveals he was able to resist the brainwashing process. But after fleeing the city, Dale and Zarkov are captured by Prince Vultan's (Brian Blessed) Hawkmen and taken to his kingdom, Sky City.Aura and Flash arrive at the forest moon Arboria. Aura asks Prince Barin to keep Flash safe. A distrustful Barin, who is in love with Aura, agrees not to kill Flash, but then contrives to force him to take part in a deadly ritual. Barin and Flash take turns sticking their hands into a hollow stump with a poisonous creature inside. When Barin compels Flash to take an extra turn, he pretends to be stung by the creature and begs for a quick death, using this as an opportunity to escape. Barin follows, but they are both captured by Prince Vultan's Hawkmen.Back in Mingo City, Klytus informs Ming that Flash is alive and gains Ming's authority to discover the person responsible. Aura returns alone to Mingo City only to be taken prisoner and tortured by Klytus and General Kala (Mariangela Melato), the head of Ming's secret police. They force Aura to confess to helping Flash escape, and Ming orders her to be banished to the ice moon Frigia after his wedding.Meanwhile, Flash and Barin are taken to Sky City, where Flash and Dale are briefly reunited. Flash is forced to fight Barin to the death, but Barin joins forces with Flash when he saves his life. Klytus arrives and threatens Vultan as well as everyone else for their insolence. Flash and Barin double-team up to overpower Klytus and kill him. Knowing that this will bring retribution on the Hawkmen, Vultan orders them to evacuate Sky City, leaving Barin, Flash, Dale and Zarkov behind. Ming's ship arrives shortly afterwards and he orders Barin, Zarkov and Dale to be taken aboard. Ming finds himself impressed with Flash, and offers him lordship over a subjugated Earth in exchange for fealty, as an alternative to death, which Flash refuses. Ming returns to his ship and gives the order to destroy Vultan's kingdom with Flash still on it. Flash cheats death by finding a rocket cycle in the city and escaping before Sky City is destroyed.Flash contacts Vultan, whose people have found refuge on Arboria, and they plot an attack on Mingo City. Flash pretends to attack Mingo City alone on his rocket cycle. General Kala dispatches the war rocket Ajax to bring back Flash's body, but the Hawkmen army intercepts and Flash and the Hawkmen seize control of the rocket after a fierce battle.In Mingo City, Princess Aura overpowers her guard and frees Barin and Zarkov from the execution chamber. Flash and the Hawkmen attack Mingo City in Ajax and Kala activates the city's defenses, as Ming and Dale's wedding starts. Mingo City's lightning field shield protecting the city can only be penetrated in time to save Earth by flying Ajax in to it in a suicide run. Flash volunteers to stay at the helm to ensure it is successful and allow the Hawkmen to invade the city.Just before the rocket hits, Barin manages to kill Kala then then sabotage the lightning field generators and Ajax plummets into the city's great hall where the wedding is taking place; the ship's bow impales Ming. Ming falls off the rocket nose, seriously wounded, and Flash offers to spare his life if he will stop the attack on Earth, but Ming refuses to submit. Ming attempts to use his power ring on Flash but his power falters and nothing happens. He then aims the ring at himself and is seemingly vaporized by its remaining power seconds before the counter to the destruction of the Earth reaches zero.A huge victory celebration ensues with planet Earth apparently saved and Barin is proclaimed the new ruler of Mongo. Vultan is named general of all of Mongo's armies including the Hawkmen. Thus Mongo's population can live in peace. Aura chooses to marry Barin and stand alongside him. Flash, Dale and Zarkov are asked to stay on Mongo for the time being since the vortex to Earth has been severed with Ming's demise. They all agree to stay, while Zarkov will plan on a way to get the three of them back to Earth somehow.The final shot focuses on Ming's empty power ring, as an unidentified individual picks it up. The words "The End?" fade onto the screen, followed by an echo of Ming's evil laughter.
    

Topol

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