''Goodbye, Columbus'' is a 1969 American
romantic comedy-drama
Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film directed by
Larry Peerce
Lawrence Peerce (born April 19, 1930) is an American film and TV director whose work includes the theatrical feature ''Goodbye, Columbus (film), Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), the early rock and roll concert film ''The Big T.N.T. Show'' (1965), ''On ...
from a screenplay by
Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman (August 11, 1925 – February 4, 2023) was an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio.
Biography
Born to a ...
, based on the
1959 novella by
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth (; March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophical ...
. The film stars
Richard Benjamin
Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including '' Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' Portnoy's Complaint'' (1972), '' Westworld'', ...
,
Jack Klugman
Jack Klugman (April 27, 1922 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor of stage, film, and television.
He began his career in 1949 and started television and film work with roles in ''12 Angry Men (1957 film), 12 Angry Men'' (1957) and ...
,
Nan Martin, and
Ali MacGraw.
The story's title alludes to a phonograph record played by the brother of MacGraw's character, nostalgically recalling his athletic career at
Ohio State
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...
in
Columbus. The film was essentially MacGraw's film debut, as she had previously had only a
bit part
In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...
in the previous year's ''
A Lovely Way to Die''. The screenplay won the
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
Th ...
.
Plot
Neil Klugman is an intelligent, working-class army veteran and a graduate of
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
who lives with his aunt and uncle in
the Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
and works as a library clerk. He falls for Brenda Patimkin, a wealthy
Radcliffe student who is home for the summer. They meet by the swimming pool at Old Oaks Country Club in
Purchase, New York
Purchase is a hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...
, a private club that Neil visits as a guest of his cousin Doris. Neil phones Brenda and asks her on a date. She does not remember him, but agrees. He waits as she finishes a tennis match that ends only when it gets too dark to play.
They face obstacles from Brenda's family (particularly her mother), due to differences in class and assimilation into the American mainstream. Brenda's family are ''
nouveau riche
; ), new rich, or new money (in contrast to old money; ) is a social class of the rich whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. These people previously had belonged to a lower social cla ...
'', their money having come from the successful plumbing supply business owned and run by her father. Brenda herself is old enough to remember "being poor". Other conflicts include propriety and issues related to premarital sex and the possibility of pregnancy, and Mrs. Patimkin's envy of her daughter's youth.
After a few dates, Brenda persuades her father to allow Neil to stay with them for two weeks, angering her mother, who feels that she should have been asked instead. While Neil enjoys being able to sneak into Brenda's room at night, he has misgivings over her entitled outlook, echoed by her spoiled and petulant younger sister, and her naïve brother Ron, who misses the hero worship he enjoyed as a star basketball player at
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
. Neil is astonished when Brenda reveals that she does not take birth control pills or use any other precautions to avoid pregnancy, angrily waving off Neil's concerns. He prepares to leave, but she persuades him to stay by agreeing to obtain a
diaphragm.
At the end of his stay, Neil attends Ron's wedding to Harriet, his college sweetheart from Ohio. Brenda returns to Radcliffe in the fall, keeping in touch by telephone. She invites Neil to come up to spend a weekend at a Boston hotel. However, once they are in the hotel room, Brenda tells Neil she just received letters telling her that her mother found her diaphragm and that her parents know about their affair. They argue, with Neil questioning why she left it to be found unless she wanted it discovered. Siding with her parents, Brenda ends the affair as abruptly as she allowed it to commence. Neil walks out of the hotel, leaving her crying in the room.
Cast
Production
''Goodbye, Columbus'' was shot in
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...
,
the Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
in New York City, and
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
. The interior library scenes were filmed in
Gould Memorial Library on the campus of
Bronx Community College
The Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (BCC) is a public community college in the Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system.
History
The college was established in 1957 through the effo ...
and the exterior library scenes were filmed at
Yonkers Public Library
The Yonkers Public Library in Yonkers, New York, consists of three branch libraries. The main branch is the 'Yonkers Riverfront Library' which overlooks the Hudson River and New Jersey Palisades. Yonkers Riverfront Library is located in one of ...
in Westchester County. The film was shot on location on the campus of
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The film was the only acting role for Michael Meyers, who later became a physician. He was cast as Ron, the brother of Ali MacGraw's character, after director Larry Peerce "discovered" him at a wedding in Manhattan's
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...
. In 1976, he published a memoir about his involvement in the film and his subsequent medical career, ''Goodbye Columbus, Hello Medicine''. Meyers drowned in the ocean on September 14, 2009, in Los Angeles County at the age of 63.
Soundtrack
A vinyl
LP record
The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...
of the film's score was released in 1969 by
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
and a
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...
was released in 2006 by
Collector's Choice Music
Collectors' Choice Music (CCM) is an Itasca, Illinois-based record label and retailer of music on CD. Originally the company was primarily in two businesses, but since 2010 only in the second.
CCM was best known for reissuing albums originally re ...
.
Three songs in the soundtrack were written and performed by members of
the Association
The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts (including "Windy (The Association song), Windy" ...
: "Goodbye, Columbus" (Jim Yester), "It's Gotta Be Real" (Larry Ramos), and "So Kind to Me" (
Terry Kirkman).
Reception
Box office
''Goodbye, Columbus'' earned an estimated $10.5 million in
theatrical rental
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is frequ ...
s at the North American box office, making it
one of the most popular films of the year.
Critical response
''
Variety'' magazine lauded the film upon its release, writing, "This adaptation of Philip Roth's
National Book Award
The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...
-winning novella is sometimes a joy in striking a boisterous mood, and otherwise handling the action. Castwise the feature excels. Richard Benjamin as the boy, a librarian after serving in the army, and Ali MacGraw, making her screen bow as the daughter of wealthy and socially-conscious parents, offer fresh portrayals seasoned with rich humor. Their romance develops swiftly after their meeting at a country-club pool."
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' film critic,
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...
, liked the film but was annoyed that it strayed from Roth's work. Canby wrote:
Thus, at its center, ''Goodbye, Columbus'' is sharp and honest. However, the further they are removed from the main situation, the more the subsidiary characters, lightly sketched in the novella, become overstuffed, blintz-shaped caricatures. Jack Klugman and Nan Martin, as Brenda's parents, are very nice, but Michael Meyers, as her huge, empty-headed brother ('so exceedingly polite,' Mr. Roth observed in the novella, 'that it seemed to be some affliction of those over six foot three') borders on a cartoon figure. Also, I somehow resent the really vulgar manners that Mr. Peerce allows his middle-class Jews—especially at an elaborate wedding reception—not because of any particular bias, but because it is gross moviemaking. These reservations, however, become academic. ''Goodbye, Columbus'' is so rich with understanding in more important ways that it is a thing of real and unusual pleasure.
Critic Dennis Schwartz praised the film as well, writing, "Philip Roth's prize-winning novella, a scathing satire of a
nouveau riche
; ), new rich, or new money (in contrast to old money; ) is a social class of the rich whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. These people previously had belonged to a lower social cla ...
Jewish family, has been brilliantly adapted for the screen by Arnold Schulman (received an Academy nomination) and directed by Larry Peerce (son of the great operatic tenor
Jan Peerce). Somehow it slipped under the radar and as far as I'm concerned is both funnier and more perceptive than even ''
The Graduate
''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American independent romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novella by Charles Webb. It stars Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddoc ...
'', an earlier drama about young adults."
Accolades
See also
*
List of American films of 1969
This is a list of American films released in 1969 in film, 1969.
Box office
The highest-grossing American films released in 1969, by domestic box office gross revenue as estimated by ''The Numbers (website), The Numbers'', are as follows:
...
References
External links
*
*
*
''Goodbye, Columbus''film analysis by
Glenn Erickson
''Goodbye, Columbus''film clips at
Movieclips
*
{{PhilipRoth
1969 films
1969 comedy-drama films
1969 romantic comedy films
1969 romantic drama films
1960s American films
1960s coming-of-age comedy-drama films
1960s English-language films
1960s romantic comedy-drama films
American coming-of-age comedy-drama films
American romantic comedy-drama films
Coming-of-age romance films
English-language romantic comedy-drama films
Films about interclass romance
Films about Jews and Judaism
Films based on novellas
Films based on works by Philip Roth
Films directed by Larry Peerce
Films scored by Charles Fox
Films set in New Jersey
Films set in New York (state)
Films shot in Massachusetts
Films shot in New York (state)
Paramount Pictures films