Goodbye Columbus (1969)

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. --Marshall Fine Amazon.com

Every Father's Daughter Is A Virgin

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! December 11, 2008

Dated material, unrealistic and annoying SPOILER ALERT

My mom had told me about this movie recently, I remembered seeing it as a kid. The title came across my list of Movies To See and I decided to give it a whirl. I found the material dated, unrealistic and rather annoying.

Richard Benjamin plays a middle class library employee in New York state who meets Ali MacGraw, one of the most beautiful women of all time, at a country club swimming pool one summer day. He falls for the siren (and who wouldn't with her gorgeousness) and they begin a happy, carefree summer romance. Of course her parents, upper class and Jewish who had risen up thanks to MacGraw's father's plumbing business, do not approve. When alone, they assure each other "She'll get tired of him", and "It won't last". MacGraw doesn't seem very serious about much of anything at this point in life, Benjamin doesn't seem to have much of a plan either, and it should be lite, airy and fun. Which it very much is.

If it was left at that, I would have been happy. Add her whiney little sister into the equation for a comic relief and it turns into a bad experience. The brother is in it only to provide some background for the title (he goes to Ohio State). The parents have some moments together as well as seperately (such as the scene where her father is telling MacGraw that he will always love and sheild her from how precarious life can be). The part I didn't like was when Benjamin suddenly finds out that MacGraw isn't taking her birth control pills because they make her feel fat. Now in real life, I can understand this. But, she is so shallow and foolish that she will REALLY not take her pills but she will indulge in unprotected sex?!? Then again, even though we're nearly done with the first decade of the 2000s, I never cease to be amazed that girls do not protect themselves. But where is the consequence? If this movie was made today, MacGraw would end up pregnant. Which she doesn't in this movie.

The ending? Well, I understood it. The reaction of the parents is a little dated. They found her diaphram in a dresser drawer and wrote some kind of angry letter to MacGraw telling her that they were disappointed. Benjamin leaves, knowing that this could never be. Times were different then. Nowdays parents would or should be happy that their children are protecting themselves. Maybe they would be disappointed that their kids were having sex, but they might feel powerless to stop it. This dates the film. And it shows. July 29, 2008

Queen For A Day

I think that I have only seen this movie twice in my entire lifetime and I
could barely remember any of it. So I rented the dvd and I must say that I
really enjoyed it. Some of the neighborhoods looked familiar(I've lived in
the Bronx for over thirty years)and I would love to know where in the Bronx it was filmed because I love that library!
The ending of this film has always left me a bit puzzled; but I would love to have had "Brenda's" carefree life for just one day. Seeing this movie really took me back, and I actually found it strange not to see a single cell phone. I hope I passed the audition. Peace. May 2, 2008

Sweet memories

Goodbye, Columbus seems on the surface like a sweet, inconsequential tale. And maybe that's all it is. But reading it tapped some really nice pleasure zone in me that made me feel good while and after I read it. Who's to argue with that?

Part of its specialness was that as a young man I worked in Newark near the Library in the same general time period as this novel. I didn't much like the regimented boredom of adult life and responsibility, so I used to frequent the library (even when I was supposed to be busily working at Prudential Insurance Company) where the protagonist of Goodbye, Columbus worked. I was able to remember the marble staircase and the main reading room fondly and vividly based on Roth's evocative descriptions.

The book is hard to analyze and critique. It has lots of humorous and charming characters; everyone is a little kooky and flawed, just as in real life. But there is no evil to be seen anywhere.

The romantic plot just drifts along in a realistic way, and the hero is almost transparent, featureless, better allowing the reader to directly enter into the experience themselves. I rarely give 5 stars, but would to this book, except that I wonder if part of my especial appreciation of it was based on how well it evoked my own similar Jewish girlfriend and Newark experiences. January 28, 2008

Fine Adaptation of Roth Novel

Watching "Goodbye, Columbus" for the first time I flashed back to my sophomore year at Temple University when I was still undeclared. I took an American Lit class taught by an inspiring professor whose name unfortunately escapes me. His course offerings were a veritable stew of literary styles. I recall reading Henry James' "Daisy Miller" which spawned an underrated film by Peter Bogdanovich. I also recall reading Thomas Berger's "Neighbors" starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd that was generally reviled by the critics(I liked it, though). My impressions of "Goodbye, Columbus" is it is painstakingly faithful to Philip Roth's novella. Your opinion of the film I think depends on how much you liked the book. I like the film and the book. My only quibble here is that the principal actors, though ideally cast, may have been a tad too old for their parts. Richard Benjamin is superb as the Bronx librarian returning from a stint in the Army only to fall head over heels with a girl whose value system he finds contemptible. Ali MacGraw gives a sympathetic account of the spoiled preppie because you feel that she acts the way she does only because she's been programmed to do so. The attraction between the two is more than physical. Despite their protestations, Neil and Brenda possess character traits that the other finds desirable. The question you ask will the pull of their respective social classes accept this relationship or find it unacceptable and pull Neil and Brenda apart. The film is rich in Jewish color but the scenario that unfolds here could apply to any tightknit ethnic group. A real gem has been made here from a fine literary source. August 3, 2007

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