PHOTOS
PHOTOS
Jeff Boam
For his Master’s in English thesis, this writer decided to adapt Jack Kerouac’s classic post-World War II novel On the Road into a screenplay and, through a critical apparatus, explain why all past script-to-screen attempts had failed. Many endless nights of research had uncovered several never-realized productions, including one discussed in a June 1958 issue of Billboard. A blurb reported that Marlon Brando was set to play Dean Moriarity and Theodore Bikel — then a well-known folk singer — was set to play either Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg.
Now, as the Second Northeastern Pennsylvania Jewish Film Festival (Oct. 24-25) prepares to fete Bikel, now an internationally renowned film, television and stage star, with its Lifetime Achievement Award, this columnist had the opportunity to fill in a missing puzzle piece from a thesis otherwise long completed.
“This is the first I’ve ever heard of this!” Bikel responded while preparing to leave for a stage production in Toronto. No wonder On the Road never made it past pre-production … even the actors were kept in the dark.
On being honored by the NEPAJFF, however, Bikel remarked: “I am delighted to have been asked to attend this film festival. Many years ago, I appeared in concert in Scranton and one of my good friends is from Scranton — Francesca Raskin of the duo Gene and Francesca.”
Indeed, old friends, special guests and an impressive slate of narrative and documentary films seem to be the order of the day for the festival’s weekend schedule. The success of 2007’s First Northeastern Pennsylvania Jewish Film Festival, a sold-out event that celebrated and hosted the likes of Hollywood legend Eli Wallach, begs the question: Why wait two years to do it all again?
“There is so much work involved in putting together this festival,” said Carol Nelson Dembert, Festival chairman. “And it’s done by volunteers.”
Having worked with many different personalities and a hectic schedule on film festival committees and sponsorship before, this writer wondered if a rabbi was ever called upon to help keep the peace.
“No, that has not been a problem at all; everyone has been so accommodating,” Dembert said. “We have just such incredible sponsorship, across-the-board sponsorship from our community sponsors.”
Choosing the films proved to comprise a large amount of volunteer hours. “Members of our film selection committee, Marilyn and Mel Wolk, they love films,” Dembert said. “And they themselves watched close to 200 films, if not more.”
One of these films, Oren Jacoby’s documentary Constantine’s Sword, will open the festival Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. at Lackawanna College’s Mellow Theater. Based on the book by James Carroll, the film explores why nations and humanity in general kill in the name of religion. The film’s local premiere will be followed by a discussion attended by Jacoby, Rev. John Palikowski and Rabbi Jan Katzew.
For Jacoby, it’s this unique presentation of his film — a discussion inviting dialogue from people of all faiths — that piqued his interest in attending.
“The reason I’m coming is that I’m a longtime admirer of John Palikowski,” Jacoby said. “(He is) the Christian member of the dialogue. … He has been at the forefront of Christian leaders trying to implement the kind of understanding that was warranted by the second Vatican Council, which tried to bridge the great divide between Christians and Jews.”
Palikowski appears in both Constantine’s Sword and Sister Rose’s Passion, the short film that garnered Jacoby an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary, Short Subjects in 2005.
“It’s one of those events that’s so deeply ingrained in everybody’s broader cultural consciousness that when you find yourself in it, it doesn’t quite seem real,” Jacoby recalled. “It was an odd Oscar because they asked all of the nominees to appear on stage, whether or not you won. I see there’s something in that because I think the nomination is the real honor in a way.”
Several screenings will take place on Sunday, but the festival will commence by honoring Bikel. His place in Kerouac history aside, the rest of Bikel’s career remains far from a puzzle. He originated the role of Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music on Broadway, garnered an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for The Defiant Ones, and played in so many productions of Fiddler on the Roof that “Tevye, the Milkman” inadvertently became a sort of signature role for the actor.
It was in The African Queen, however, that Bikel first cut his teeth in a Hollywood film. The 1951 film’s shoot remains the stuff of legends, both because the film has long been regarded as a classic (currently number 65 on The American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movies) and director John Huston was allegedly obsessed with bagging an elephant while on the Africa-based set (Clint Eastwood’s 1990 film White Hunter Black Heart is loosely based on these alleged events).
“My scenes were all shot on the back lot in London,” Bikel remembered. “(It was) lucky for me because had I been required to be in Africa, I could not have done this film. I was in a play at the time in the West End. The play, incidentally, was The Love of Four Colonels written by Peter Ustinov, who was also appearing in it.”
“It was certainly exhilarating to work in my first movie with such illustrious people … to play chess with Bogart, to sing for the cast, and to be served hot toddies by Kate Hepburn.”
The NEPAJFF will celebrate such career highs at their Closing Night Gala Dinner at the Scranton Cultural Center on Sunday at 6 p.m. After the dinner, the festivities will move back to The Mellow Theater where the award ceremony and a screening of star-studded (Bikel included) 1976 hijacking drama Victory at Entebbe will follow at 8. Plus, Dembert promises festivalgoers a “surprise guest from Los Angeles.”
“Our commitment is to make this an event for the whole community, the whole region,” she remarked. “You don’t need to be Jewish to enjoy The Northeastern Pennsylvania Jewish Film Festival.”
For more information, including a schedule and ticket prices, visit nepajff.org.