These recollections were written by Dory Lubliner in 2009 and are presented here in their original context.
WORKING ON GOING STEADY....
About 3 weeks later, I received a phone call from the production which informed me that I'd be playing the role of "a motorcycle rider" (didn't say "one of 3 motorcycle riders") and that I was to show up at such and such place & time. I said "Great! thank you, I'll be there", not mentioning that I had never ridden a motorcycle before (since I'd surely loose the part) while confident I'd get the hang of it within a few minutes of riding the bike. Had I told them, I would have created a huge set-back for the production in the last minute, who'd then have to scramble to find someone else and reschedule the entire shooting schedule. Many heads would spin, money & time would be wasted and this would surely haunt me for the rest of my career.
When I arrived on the set, I was on the one hand disappointed to learn that I was not going to be the "only" and "main" motorcycle rider in the movie, but on the other hand, encouraged that in case I couldn't handle the motorcycle, there were 2 other bike riders I could perhaps take advantage of to hide my deficiency. As it turns out, I rode the bike just fine.
In the scenes that I had to carry the girl in tandem, I had never ridden anyone in tandem, actually let alone riding a motorcycle altogether. But I got the hang of it pretty quickly.
I remember the bike was an antique, maybe a late 1950s Ducati 250cc or so. It had been very well maintained and cared for. It was rented from its owner for the term that I was to be using it.
The problem was that once a shooting day wrapped, they didn't have anywhere to store it until the next day so, I got to ride it home and back to where we'd be shooting the next day. I enjoyed riding it. No rider's license, no helmet, no worries.
It had no lock and I didn't have a chain & padlock or anything to secure it with, so when I drove it home to Menahem's house, I'd roll it to a spot at the side of the house where it was not visible from the street. Thanks to having to ride the bike home every day after shooting, it gave me the opportunity to practice riding it.
I also remember riding it to the beach were we filmed the scene where they were skinny dipping and we stole their clothes. Once I got to the beach and put the bike on the sand, it became very difficult to ride, it only went in 1st gear, was overheating and would choke.
A beach still or motorcycle still would work well here, breaking up the production memories with a visual moment from the film.
This photo was shot at the entrance door to the apartment of the parents of [one of the threesome], during the pajama party scene that, as the story goes, once they saw us coming they stopped the music and turned the lights off to pretend that there was no party.
I was supposed to have heard a rumor that there was going to be a party and we had decided to go and crash the party. When we showed up at the door, after the brief interrogation, once we were convinced there was no party and the guy in the white T-shirt had begun to leave, the guy in the red T-shirt grabbed me by the collar and threatened:
"You said there was a party", and I responded
"That's what I heard..."
After that, when we exited the building and were walking under the apartment's balcony making our way towards our parked bikes, is when they poured the water on us...
Regarding the photo from the scene in the bathroom/shower, with Zachi Noy trying to escape out the window while we were beating on him. You have to understand that at the time, Zachi Noy, Dror Alexander (a performing pianist), and I, were roommates sharing a 3 bedroom penthouse apartment in North Tel Aviv (at the corner of Frishman & King Solomon streets).
Because of our friendship, I could not bear to hit him as hard as was required to make the scene realistic & believable. We did a few takes with the director yelling from behind us "harder.., Harder.., HARDER!!"
In the 3rd take, the director stopped the filming, came up to me and said "You're wasting time and a lot of money, I don't care how you're gonna do it, but you must hit him really really hard like you mean it - or you'll be removed from this scene".
In the next take, I had no choice and we all really let him have it. He was truly hurting, and his back & butt became red like a tomato. The last take was good & the director was pleased and happy. This was the last scene for that day (actually, night) and Zachi left the set feeling victimized and severely demeaned, while I left with a heavy heart as I had had to do something I could not bear to have done, hurting my friend and roommate. At times, this business can get cruel & awfully mean.
Zachi, Dror and I shared that apartment, I think, for maybe about 3 years until I met Naomi Golan (Menahem Golan's middle daughter). We dated for the next 3 years. I moved-in and lived with the Golan family in their home in Afeka, a suburb of Tel Aviv.