CAST: Bruce Davison (David Armstrong), Nicol Williamson (Professor Lang), Daria Halprin (Nurit), Donald Pleasence (Major Samuels), Ian Hendry (General Mayer), Yair Rubin (Barak), Ze’ev Revach (Rashid), David Semadar (Herzen), Jack Cohen (Altouli), Yitzhak Ne’eman (Yussof), Ori Levy (Captain Ori). Directed by John Flynn.
SYNOPSIS: David Armstrong is an American student studying archaeology in Jerusalem, and while visiting Rashid Rifaat, his friend and fellow student from Yale, David becomes the victim of a drive-by shooting but survives. Major Samuels (Donald Pleasence) then becomes very interested in David because he knows Rashid is a terrorist who is rumored to be taking over in his organization. Refusing to turn in his friend, David leaves the hospital after Professor Lang pulls strings to get him released. In return, Samuels takes away David’s passport and decides to follow him, hoping to locate Rashid. Once back at the dig site, David meets up with Nurit, a student he has a crush on, and her friend Barak. David gets to know Barak who expresses an interest in meeting Rashid with a few fellow students. In the meantime, Samuels is following a trail of dead bodies, courtesy of one of the terrorist groups out to eliminate their competition. David decides to help Barak and sets up the meeting, but Lang becomes upset, knowing that it could end badly and wants it called off. When David does not comply with his wishes, Lang contacts Samuels for his help, and together, they eventually get to David, but Barak has already left for the meeting, along with Nurit and some other fellow students. The Israeli army then sends word to Samuels regarding where the meeting took place, and when they arrive, they find Barak, Nurit, and Rashid among the dead, courtesy of a sniper by a rival terrorist group.
COMMENTARY: Much like The Ambassador, The Jerusalem File revolves around the Israeli/Arab conflict, and even though it does not feature big name stars like the former, it is still superior and unfortunately less known. As a political thriller set shortly after the Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, The Jerusalem File adheres more to suspense and intrigue, rather than the actual events of the war, thus making it a fast moving thrill ride that demands the attention of the viewer. Bruce Davison as the young and naive student David Armstrong does a good job by eliciting sympathy when he finally realizes how he has been used and the violent outcome that occurs as a result of his help. Not surprisingly, the fact that things have not changed much in this region of the world has resulted in numerous copycat productions up until the present day.
As Major Samuels, Pleasence is in fine form as a man on a mission fighting against a deadline to track down a possible terrorist leader. At first almost appearing villainous because of his unscrupulous methods of trying to get results and answers, it slowly becomes evident that Samuels is the real hero of this film, due to his efforts to protect his country and avoid the inevitable violent showdown. There are many great scenes with Pleasence, such as when Samuels and his men raid and ransack a local house looking for photos. He asks his captain, “Did they know that they were sheltering terrorists?” and when told that the owners said they had no choice in the matter, Samuels coolly replies, “Then neither had we.” In a contemporary film review, Pleasence was singled out for his gritty performance — “Donald Pleasence emerges as a convincingly human, if implacable, sleuth. [103]