{"id":11312,"date":"2014-06-05T05:14:26","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T11:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=11312"},"modified":"2014-06-05T05:14:26","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T11:14:26","slug":"the-go-go-boys-the-inside-story-of-cannon-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=11312","title":{"rendered":"The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both an affectionate tribute and a cautionary tale, \u201cThe Go-Go Boys<\/a>\u201d is a solid documentary that offers, as its subtitle promises, one version of the \u201cinside story of Cannon Films<\/a>.\u201d Israeli helmer Hilla Medalia (\u201cDancing in Jaffa\u201d) charts the careers of producers<\/a>\u00a0\u2014<\/span> and cousins\u00a0\u2014<\/span> Menachem Golan<\/a> and Yoram Globus<\/a>, and the rise and fall of the empire they jointly built. Combining well-chosen archival material with articulate talking heads waxing nostalgic and entertainingly dishing dirt, this celebration of the two legendary showmen also encapsulates the Cannes Film Festival\u2019s divergent impulses: selling schlock and adulating auteurs. Further fest play should segue into global broadcast.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another version of the Cannon story, \u201cElectric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films,\u201d from cult documentarian Mark Hartley (\u201cNot Quite Hollywood,\u201d \u201cMachete Maidens Unleashed\u201d), has been in the works for several years but not yet surfaced. But while Medalia\u2019s pic might be the cinematic version of an authorized biography, made with the cooperation of both cousins, it\u2019s no puff piece or hagiography: She asks tough questions (some of which are not answered) and doesn\u2019t hesitate to show how the men\u2019s devotion to their work had a deleterious effect on their families.<\/p>\n

The Golan-Globus partnership began long before the launch of Cannon; Medalia documents its inception in Israel, where Golan, the elder by 12 years, was already working as a producer-director when he brought his first cousin Globus, a financial and marketing whiz, into the Noah Films fold in the mid-1960s. Noah Films provided a model of working (fast and cheap) that the duo brought with them to Cannon, but it also established the brash, irrepressible Golan as the out-front idea man, with the slightly deferential Globus working behind the scenes, raising the cash and paying the bills.<\/p>\n

A whirlwind of clips highlights work from their Israel years, including the foreign-language Academy Award nominee \u201cSallah Shabati\u201d; the blockbuster \u201cLemon Popsicle\u201d and its sequels, Moshe Mizrahi\u2019s \u201cI Love You Rosa\u201d and \u201cThe House on Chelouche Street\u201d; and a string of forgettable action and musical titles. Some now-aged Israeli helmers and thesps share their reminiscences of the era, particularly the resourcefulness of Golan and Globus.<\/p>\n

Deciding to pursue the American dream, the cousins bought the already established, low-budget production company