Comedies involving Ephraim Kishon
The laughDB database is dedicated to the funniest comedy movies, stand-up comedy and TV series.
This section is for comedies involving Ephraim Kishon as an actor, director or writer. By default the movies are presented starting with those ranking highest on the laugh-o-meter, but you can also sort them by year, title or IMDB rating.
About Ephraim
( wikipedia | imdb )
I haven't yet written a blurb about Ephraim.
Ephraim Kishon is said to have been born on Saturday 23 August 1924 and to have died on Saturday 29 January 2005, at the age of 80 years, 5 months and 6 days.
Titles involving Ephraim Kishon sorted by Laugh-o-meter (descending)
Ephraim Kishon was credited as
writer and
director in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about
39 years old.
Sallah
(
סאלח שבתי / Sallah Shabati)
1964 |
Israel | Laughs: 7.5 (Laugh and Smile) |
imdb: 7.4
wikipedia |
who was involved?
I was a bit weary about watching this movie when I saw it was made in 1964 because most works that age (especially those shot in black-and-white) seem to have lost much of their comical power. It turned out to be the Israeli movie that had the most success (so far) in making me laugh.
A family of newcomers to the country is sent to a temporary camp. The accommodation is poor, so the head of the family schemes to obtain an apartment in the housing project under construction nearby. Meanwhile, one one of his sons and one of his daughters fall in love with members of the neighboring kibbutz.
Some of the themes are local—for instance, the culture gap between the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews—but the humor is universal. A delight.
(Last viewed: April 2014)
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Sallah:
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Sallah
Ephraim Kishon was credited as
writer and
director in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about
46 years old.
The Policeman
(
השוטר אזולאי / Ha-Shoter Azulai)
1971 |
Israel | Laughs: 7.0 (Laugh and Smile) |
imdb: 7.6
wikipedia |
who was involved?
This is a charming movie with a gentle and innocent humor much like French comedies of the same era. It comes from a time when Israel was still a true Middle Eastern melting pot. An incompetent but big-hearted policeman worries that his contract will not be renewed, which would leave him to survive on a small pension. While his superiors conspire to give him the boot, he keeps getting into situations that help delay the big conversation. The movie is very funny but also very humane, taking an interest in characters from all walks of life. It's well worth a watch, either just for the laughs, for cultural reasons or for both.
(Last viewed: March 2014)
More About
The Policeman:
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The Policeman
Ephraim Kishon was credited as
writer and
director in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about
42 years old.
Ervinka
(a.k.a
Arvinka)
1967 |
Israel | Laughs: 7.0 (Laugh and Smile) |
imdb: 6.8
wikipedia |
who was involved?
Sometimes, watching an old movie can feel like a job, and I end up watching the clock while eagerly waiting for the film to end. Not with this one. The movie follows a happy-go-lucky fellow as he seduces everyone around him and flutters effortlessly from one small scam to the next. Apart from the delightfully light plot (or lack of plot), one treat was to encounter once again the police officer from
The Big Dig (Shaike Ophir), who would become the lead character in
The Policeman four years later.
(Last viewed: July 2014)
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Ervinka:
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Ervinka
Ephraim Kishon was credited as
writer and
director in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about
44 years old.
The Big Dig
(a.k.a
Blaumilch Canal) (
תעלת בלאומילך / Te'alat Blaumilch)
1969 |
Israel | Laughs: 6.6 (Watch Once) |
imdb: 7.7
wikipedia |
who was involved?
One bright morning, an escapee from a lunatic asylum steals a compressor and starts digging up the road in the busiest part of Tel Aviv. Everyone naturally assumes that the digging is part of the city's public works, and through a series of misunderstandings the madman is soon joined by a team of workers and bulldozers.
The movie does a great job of showing the rivalries and inefficiencies of government offices. In many ways, it reminded me of contemporary movies by Blake Edwards, such as
The Party (1968). In fact one of the film's main characters looks a lot like Peter Sellers.
As with most movies whose formula is to steadily build up mayhem,
The Big Dig was a bit long—but it was quite funny and I found it to be good value. I enjoyed seeing Shaike Ophir as the policeman, a role he would bring to full fruition two years later in another movie by Ephraim Kishon,
The Policeman (after tuning it further in
Ervinka). It was also interesting to have a glimpse at Israeli society (and streetscape) of nearly fifty years ago.
Well worth a watch.
(Last viewed: April 2014)
More About
The Big Dig:
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The Big Dig
Ephraim Kishon was credited as
writer and
director in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about
53 years old.
The Fox in the Chicken Coop
(
'השועל בלול התרנגולות / Ha-Shu'al B'Lool Hatarnagalot)
1978 |
Israel | Laughs: 3.0 (Don't Bother) |
imdb: 7.5
wikipedia |
who was involved?
An ailing politician takes a vacation in a remote village whose inhabitants live a kind of primordial communistic life, unaware of the outside world and its social structures. Blind to the benefits of their simple lives, the politician decides to raise the villagers' political awareness—introducing positions of power, taxes, privileges, elections and corruption. I usually find political satires to be about twice as long as necessary—it doesn't take long to get the point—and this one is no exception. The movie is in many ways charming, and I certainly enjoyed seeing Shaike Ophir again (he also had the lead role in
The Policeman, also by Ephraim Kishon). But as light as the movie starts, its message is heavy, and the unfolding of the expected mayhem is tiresome to watch. In comparison,
The Policeman (which was filmed seven years earlier) has aged much better.
(Last viewed: April 2014)
More About
The Fox in the Chicken Coop:
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what people say on Amazon
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Review or Comments on
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The Fox in the Chicken Coop
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