''Bloomfield'' (released in the United States as ''The Hero'') is a 1971 British-Israeli

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

and Uri Zohar. It was entered into the

21st Berlin International Film Festival The 21st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 26 June – 6 July 1971. The ''Young Filmmakers Forum'' (in 1987 renamed ''International Forum for New Cinema'') section was introduced at the festival. The Golden Bear was awarded ...

. The soundtrack of the film composed and produced by Johnny Harris includes a short version of " The Loner", a song co-written by

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main lea ...

and Lulu's brother Billy Lawrie. Johnny Harris was MD for

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

at the time this song was composed and recorded in 1969. It was released on a

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherho ...

single in 1972 performed by The Bloomfields when the film was finally released in Great Britain. The soundtrack also includes 3 tracks by

Heads Hands & Feet Heads Hands & Feet was a British rock and country rock band. It was formed in 1969 after the breakup of Poet and the One Man Band, which included some of the same members (see ''Members'' below). Music and performances Heads Hands & Feet recor ...

Production

The film was originally called ''Knights of Bloomfield'' and was to be directed by Uri Zohar. At one point the film was going to be shot in Italy and was known as ''Viva Higgins''. Harris called the story "very autobiographical. It's a story about freedom and man's success and moments of failure." The film was financed by the Investor's Overseas Service, a mutual fund run by Bernie Cornfeld. It was their first investment in moviemaking although Cornfeld had invested in the short lived Commonwealth United Company. Filming started in October 1969 in Israel, in Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Two weeks into filming director Uri Zohar left the production. After a week Harris took over as director.HARRIS MAKES HIS DIRECTING DEBUT The Irish Times 10 November 1969: 16. Since Harris was not a member of a technical union a crew union ordered its members to stop working but they continued anyway. "No other director would take over without months of preparation," claimed Harris. Harris was meant to be in Israel for five weeks and ended up staying five months, causing him to miss out on playing the title role in the film '' Scrooge'' (Albert Finney took the role). After he made the film Harris said he felt like putting an ad in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' apologizing to all the directors he had worked with. Cinematographer

Otto Heller Otto Heller, B.S.C. (8 March 1896 – 19 February 1970) was a Czech cinematographer long resident in the United Kingdom. He worked on more than 250 films, including ''Richard III'' (1955), '' The Ladykillers'' (1955) and '' Peeping Tom'' (1960) ...

died two weeks after filming.

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for ex ...

took place around

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, particularly at the

Bloomfield Stadium Bloomfield Stadium ( he, אצטדיון בלומפילד) is a football stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a capacity of 29,400. It is the home stadium of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv. The stadium also serves the Is ...

. Interiors were shot at

Twickenham Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Richard Macdonald.

Plot

A footballer in Israel is offered a bribe to lose a match. But when he meets a child who is a fan of his, the footballer decides to win the game.

Cast

as Eitan *

Romy Schneider Romy Schneider (; born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach; 23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982) was a German-French actress. She began her career in the German genre in the early 1950s when she was 15. From 1955 to 1957, she played the central chara ...

as Nira *

Kim Burfield Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

as Nimrod * Maurice Kaufmann as Yasha *

Yossi Yadin Yossi is a Hebrew given name, usually a short and nickname for Yosef (equivalent to English Joseph). It may refer to: People * Abba Yossi – mythology figure * Country Yossi – American singer and radio personality *Yossi Abu – Israeli execu ...

as Weiner *

Shraga Friedman Shraga (Talmudic Aramaic: ) is a Jewish given name (meaning "candle" in Talmudic Aramaic) and may refer to: * Samuel ben Uri Shraga Phoebus, Polish rabbi and Talmudist of Woydyslaw in the second half of the 17th century *Shraga Bar (born 1948), for ...

as Chairman * Aviva Marks as Teddy * Yossi Graber as Bank manager * David Heyman as Eldad

Reception

The film had its world premiere in Harris' hometown of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2 ...

. Screened at the 1971

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for '' The New York Observer''. Early life Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wo ...

who was a judge called it "an appalling piece of self indulgent garbage."Berlin Festival Ends with Laugh--and Argument Reed, Rex. Chicago Tribune 18 July 1971: e2. The film was not released in the US until 1972 where it was screened under the title ''The Hero''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfield 1971 films 1971 drama films 1971 multilingual films 1970s English-language films 1970s Hebrew-language films 1970s sports drama films Films directed by Richard Harris Films directed by Uri Zohar Films set in Israel Films shot at Twickenham Film Studios British association football films British sports drama films British multilingual films Israeli multilingual films Films with screenplays by Wolf Mankowitz Israeli sports drama films 1970s British films English-language Israeli films