Charlie and a Half

Charlie and a Half (Hebrew: צ'רלי וחצי, romanized: Charlie Ve'Hetzi) is a 1974 Israeli comedy bourekas film directed by Boaz Davidson and produced by the Filmor company. The film stars Yehuda Barkan as Charlie, a charming but unscrupulous con artist from a working-class Tel Aviv neighborhood, and David Shushan as Miko, a streetwise orphan who helps Charlie run his schemes. The story follows Charlie’s romantic pursuit of Gila played by Haya Katzir, a wealthy North Tel Aviv woman.

Charlie and a Half was influenced by the Iranian Luti genre and written by journalist Eli Tavor. Its soundtrack, composed by Yair Rosenblum with lyrics by Yonatan Gefen, featured songs that later became classics. Despite receiving mixed reviews at the time, particularly from critics opposed to so-called "ethnic films," it became a commercial success and has since become a cult classic.