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Goodbye Columbus
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by Paramount
Sales Rank: 5328
Price: $14.95
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Philip Roth's novel of Jewish identity and assimilation in the suburbs of New York gets a spirited comic reading in this 1969 film, which marked the acting debut of model Ali McGraw (and who thought that was a good idea?). Actually, she's pretty good as the Jewish princess whose father has made a fortune in plumbing supplies. Richard Benjamin, who went on to become an odd sex symbol of the '70s, had just the right comic twist as the young man who can't overcome McGraw's middle-class morality with his sense of passion and romance. Jack Klugman is outstanding as her hard-driving and unyieldding father. A touchstone film. <I>--Marshall Fine</I>
Viewer Reviews
The title of this review is from the movie poster, one of the few tag lines of any poster for any movie I've ever remembered, but it caused such curiousity in me, I had to go see the movie. The poster showed a virginal girl smelling a perfect rosebud and the line was because father's never know for sure what their adult kids are up to. They just want to hope that their kids never have sex and become as tainted and spoiled as the rest of the world. You know, being a virgin is like being a brand new car; being promiscuous is like being a very used rental car!
I saw this one in my very early 20's, just going out into life as confused about love and sex as everyone else. I for sure didn't know about the cruel "games" people play on each other, but I found out just by living. I found this movie to be a sort of roadmap to get through life.
I fell in awe of Ali just like everyone else. She seemed perfect physically, but what I really loved was her total confidence in life and around people and her F.U. attitude. I think I must have gone back several times to see this amd study it. I would have given it 3 stars in the late 60's because there was so much cinematic competition, but nearly 40 years later, it has a bit of genius in depicting human nature and compared to the poor quality of movies nowadays it's a little gem.
Brenda's parents are nouvo riche (newly rich, not OLD money), but behave like a bunch of crude blue collar workers at times, a little too crude for the upscale neighborhood they've moved into. Michael Myers who portrayed Brenda's brother was not an actor, this was his first role and he nailed it like an old pro! He had said he took the role to finance his college education to become a physician which he did.
Of course Richard Benjamin can do no wrong. He nails every character he takes on. My favorite of his "Diary of a Mad Housewife." We don't see enough of him.
The only weak scene in the movie was the wedding scene where Mr. Patimkin is talking to Brenda and she is supposed to break down and cry. Well, as everyone found out, Ali McGraw can't ACT! Only her eyebrows and nostrils do. She was trying darned hard to dredge up those tears, but it only came across like she was faking an orgasm. It was painful and embarrassing to watch. The scene would have worked better had they not made it one complete, uncut scene, and instead cut away and sprayed something that stings into her eyes to get those tears there faster. I'm sure Jack Klugman, who's a consummate pro, was wondering how long that scene was going to take.
I just found the book tucked away in a corner of my collection and I'm reading it now. The movie is almost an exact copy so far, but it's extrememly well written. I highly recommend the book too.
A Classic for sure!
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Goodbye Columbus
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