Draft:Norman Lourie

Norman Lourie (June 1, 1909 - March 27, 1978) was an Israeli film producer, born in South Africa, who founded "The Israel Film Company Ltd" and produced many films in the period before the establishment of the State of Israel and in its early days.

Early life

Luria was born into a Jewish-Zionist family of immigrants from Lithuania who settled in South Africa at the beginning of the twentieth century. His father, Harry Lurie, was a rich man who owned many lands in South Africa. On one of them, the "Fox" movie company asked to build a movie theater, and as part of the agreement with them, it was decided that Norman would manage the place, according to a franchise from the family company. This was Luria's first entry into the film business, and later he founded with a partner a company to produce commercial films called "Alexander Film".

Norman was married twice. From his first wife he had two children, a son David and a daughter. He had a child from his second wife.

In 2014 his son David established the prestigious Norman Hotel in Tel Aviv, which bears his father's name.

Luria sold his film business in 1950 and that year, with the help of his parents, he bought the Beit Dolphin hotel in Shevi Zion (near Nahariya). The hotel was renovated and became the first boutique hotel in the State of Israel. The hotel attracted the best of Israeli society, from the president of the country (Ben Zvi) to the wealthiest of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. The hotel was also frequented by well-known actors from Hollywood Danny Kay, Sophia Loren, Kirk Douglas and other famous people such as the author Leon Uris. The hotel was sold in the early 1960s of the last century (1964-1965) to hotelier Chaim Schiff.

His brother Arthur Luria was a diplomat, who served as consul Israel in New York (1948–1953; from 1949 additionally served as deputy head of the Israeli delegation to the UN), ambassador of Israel to Canada (1957–1960) and ambassador of Israel to [[Great Britain] ] (1960–1965).

Zionist activity

His interest in the Zionist enterprise was expressed in several ways. In 1941, excerpts from news diaries produced the film "The Land of Israel in Progress", about the development of the land and the Jewish settlement there. During World War II he decided to produce a film about soldiers from South Africa who participated in the fighting. To that end, he went to Cairo, but abandoned the original plan after meeting with Moshe Sharett, who told him about the Jewish Brigade - the unit in the British army made up of native Jews, which fought in various places in Europe. Luria himself joined this division. (He later produced a film called "This is where the day ends", about the contribution of South African soldiers to the war).

At the end of the war, following his trip with General Mark Clark, the military governor of Austria, he reported in an excited article in the Palestine Post newspaper (the former name of the Jerusalem Post) about finding Herzl's grave in Vienna. His Zionist upbringing at home and his experiences in the war motivated him to immigrate to Israel, despite the large amount of property he had at his disposal in South Africa. In June 1946 Norman Lurie and his wife were among the passengers on the maiden flight of a new company, which shortened the duration of the trip to Cairo to only two days. From there they advanced to Israel by train, but got stuck at the entrance due to the Night of the Bridges. In the end, Luria settled in Jerusalem, where he founded the Israel Society for Films. The company's work was conducted from a small barracks in the Talbia neighborhood of Jerusalem. In 1949 Luria moved the company to Tel Aviv, and changed its name to Israel Films.

Films produced by the Israel Film Society

Luria purchased equipment that was used in the production of the film Beit Avi (1947), invited the director Joseph Krumgold to Israel from the United States, and together within the company they produced diaries and documentaries for the national institutions. One of the best of them, "Desert House" (also known as "The Meadow House"), shows the struggle of pioneers to grow life out of the salty desert soil next to the Dead Sea. This film won prestigious awards at the Prague and Venice festivals.

During 1948, near the end of the British Mandate, the Israel Film Society produced the film "It's not a legend", which presents the story of a refugee arriving in Israel on an immigration ship. He has difficulty acclimatizing in the country, but manages to do so little by little thanks to the various enterprises of the General Workers' Union in the Land of Israel - from the treatment he receives at the health insurance fund to his membership in Kibbutz Degania. This film was among the first Hebrew-speaking feature films shown in the State of Israel. The film was originally made as a means of raising donations for the Histadrut's sweeper in America, but it was decided to show it in Israel commercially as well. It failed commercially, as did many locally produced films in the following years.

After the establishment of the state, several other prominent films were produced in the company. The film "48 hours a day" was commissioned by the Hadassa Zionist Organization, and it shows two days in the life of a nurse at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem during the War of Liberation. Another film, which was produced during the discussions on the status of Jerusalem as the capital of the country (contrary to the opinion of the international community, which wanted to establish an international regime in the city), is called "Urban Jerusalem". The film was produced in 1950, and it presents the life of the regenerating western city through the story of a young man who lost his eyesight during the war of liberation. The man, Haim Blank, was then a student at the Hebrew University, and later served as a professor of linguistics at the Hebrew University. The film is filled with propaganda and information, presenting the official Israeli position according to which Western Jerusalem should not be cut off from the rest of the country. Among the reasons are also suggested the struggle and sacrifice experienced by the defenders of the city and its surroundings during the war of liberation. In this context, harsh images of destruction and devastation in Kibbutz Ramat Rachel are shown, with the camera focusing especially on the destroyed piano standing in the center of the courtyard. Against this, the hero of the film is seen playing the piano on various occasions throughout the film, as if to say that the melody and life go on. The film was directed by the Jewish-French director Victor Vikas.

The film "The House on the Hill" was produced in 1950, for the Hebrew University in Jerusalem it presents the story of the university's standing during the War of Liberation, and how it functioned in the period after it, after it was forced to evacuate Mount Scopus. The hero of the film is a university lecturer, who adopts one student as his son. The lecturer's son, who resembles that student, was killed during the war. Among other things, the film shows a reconstruction of the attack on the convoy to Mount Scopus, in which some of the survivors of that incident participated.

Another film is "A Deed in the Village", and it focuses on a family of immigrants who come to Israel from Yugoslavia. The film does not spare the viewer the difficulties that the new immigrants encounter in the process of their assimilation in Israel - such as the inability of the father of the family to practice law due to not knowing the language, or the transition from a comfortable city life in exile to life in an abandoned Arab village in Israel. The solution to the hardships is found in the Wizo organization, which helps with absorption, and for which this film was produced. The last two films were directed by the Jewish director George Lloyd George.

Bibliography

Nathan and Yaakov Gross, "The Hebrew Film - Chapters in the History of Motion Picture and Cinema in Israel", Jerusalem 2012, pages 179-173.
Dr. Pedro Zuniga, "Who will host guests in the desert".
Keshet Rosenblum, Haaretz, 10.12.2013 (about the Dolphin Hotel)

External links

Media related to Norman Lourie at Wikimedia Commons

The Habonim Movement in South Africa

Movies produced by Norman Lurie from the Spielberg Archive website: