‘Cast a Giant Shadow’: A 1966 ode to Israel’s first general, Mickey Marcus

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.

We roll out with three Jangles — news with a Jewish angle. Borschel-Dan gives her favorite actress, 96-year-old June Squib, a shoutout for her recent Tony nomination for “Marjorie Prime.” Hoffman discusses his recent discovery of a famous Jewish porn star and also the new reboot of “Lord of the Flies” which hints that one of the boys is Jewish.

WATCH the full episode here:

We then turn to “Cast a Giant Shadow,” the 1966 biopic of Colonel Mickey Marcus. David Daniel “Mickey” Marcus was a complicated character who was foundational to the organization of what became the Israel Defense Force. The United States Army colonel, who was later dubbed Israel’s first general, was also instrumental at the Nuremberg Trials.

Kirk Douglas plays Marcus and the rest of the all-star cast includes Senta Berger, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Angie Dickinson.

The movie maven and our host disagreed about the film, so stick around to see if “Cast a Giant Shadow” gets an “oy,” “meh” or “not bad” in this week’s The Reel Schmooze.

The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

Check out last week’s The Reel Schmooze here: