Lemon Popsicle

After so many years, I finally watched this, the original Israeli version that was remade in America as The Last American Virgin by the same writer/director Boaz Davidson. Possibly set in the late '50s or early '60s, it concerns three teen boys and their attempts of having sex with various girls/women. But one of them, Benji, has a crush on a new girl named Nikki. Nikki, however, seems more into Benji's friend Bobby. The third boy is their heavyset friend, Huey. Since the set-ups are mostly the same as The Last American Virgin, I'll discuss them when I review that one. For now, I'll just say that I find the characterizations somewhat inconsistent but I guess that's to provide some excuse for easy laughs concerning sexual situations before the surprising ending concerning who ends up with who. Having said that, I did indeed still find those situations funny. And the conclusion is the kind that you'd rarely find in this particular genre of film...

Although Lemon Popsicle is actually a sex comedy, it's not offensive at all and the fact that it is set in the early 60s provokes a feeling of innocence and naivety. It's about situations most of us have been through during puberty (and beyond) : chasing after some girl, going to parties hoping to make new acquaintances etc. The soundtrack is beautiful and adds a lot to the accurate depiction of that era. The direction is another story...

The first sequel was not as good.

6

Rated R for Language,Sexuality/Nudity and drinking - all involving teens

I was curious to see the film The Last American Virgin.Since I am a teenager(im 15 years old) I enjoy teen movies.I do not just like newer ones such as American Pie or Superbad but I also like the classics such as Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Sixteen Candles.I wanted to see The Last American Virgin because I heard it was fairly realistic.I had heard that it was a remake of an Isreali film from 1978 entitled Lemon Popsicle.When I found the entire movie on youtube, I watched it.Unlike Last American Virgin which took place in the 1980's, Lemon Popsicle takes place in the late 1950's or early 1960's.The best part about this film is the 1950's soundtrack.There are plenty of hits from the fifties in this film.The film is about Benji and his two friends.Benji meets this girl who he falls in love with but this girl has the hots for his best friend who is the stud of the group.The first part of the film is like any other teen sex comedy, there are plenty of funny sexual situations that the characters get into.Then suddenly the film turns from comedy to drama as the girl Benji likes tells him that she is pregnant and his friend will not pay for the abortion.Benji then helps her out and confesses his love to her.You probably will not see the ending coming and I will not spoil it here.Lemon Popsicle is a teen sex comedy which is pretty funny at times and has a good amount of drama as well.It is a fairly hard to find film and has not been released on DVD yet.

If hollywood needed to learn from a script for 'The Last American Virgin', it would have come from this movie. The movie was made in the late 70's and depicts an early 60's Israel. The movie portrays teen-age situations, surrounded by a wonderfully rich soundtrack. In fact, the soundtrack is so good, you can just close your eyes and not watch the movie at all. HOWEVER, the soundtrack is thoughtfully mixed into the plot to provide a very nice effect.

Originally available in the UK on Hokushin Home Video (remember them??), this, the first of the Lemon Popsicle series, kind of showed what growing up in the 60s was really like (after the sanitised schmaltz of GREASE). Three horny teenage friends spend most of the film searching for love, sex, and parties, and they find all three in abundance. This film has a magnificent soundtrack of late 50s early 60s classics (which was released on blue vinyl in the UK) and some way over the top comic sequences which belie its non-mainstream production values; this film was made as a German-Israeli co productionby director Boaz Davidson. One of the stars, Zachi Noy, Huey (the overweight kid) has gone on to become a major star in his home country (even starring in a 9th instalment of the series released this year - see the imdb for further details). So, besides the music, I love the romance, I love the comedy, and I love the sex scenes which come across as very dirty in certain scenes. The first two sequels, Going Steady and Hot Bubblegum are also sheer brilliance; the fourth film Private Popsicle is okay, but the fifth in the series BABY LOVE is possibly the most awesome teenage film EVER made!! See it if you can find a copy - come on lets have DVD releases please!! Number 6 is total rubblish, and 7,8, and 9 don't seem to have been translated into English yet (or released in English anyway).

Footnote: Lemon Popsicle was remade in the US in the mid-80s as THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN which also features a phenomenal 80s soundtrack and is recommended to all!! Any other fans of the series please contact me.