Goodbye, Columbus
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Larry Peerce
Richard Benjamin
Ali Macgraw
Jack Klugman
Nan Martin
Michael Meyers
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Recently discharged from the Army, and with no immediate plans for his future, college dropout Neil Klugman has moved into his Aunt Gladys' Bronx apartment and taken a job in the local library. Having been invited by his cousin Doris to spend a day at the country club to which she belongs, Neil is attracted to a vacationing Radcliffe student, Brenda Patimkin, the daughter of a nouveau riche Jewish businessman. Despite his disdain for Brenda's affluent Westchester County way of life, Neil determinedly starts dating her. Mrs. Patimkin becomes concerned about Neil's lack of ambition and concludes that he is unworthy of her daughter, but Mr. Patimkin assures his wife that Brenda will soon tire of the romance. Instead, as her summer vacation nears its end, Brenda invites Neil to spend his 2-week vacation at her home, and each night when the rest of the family is asleep Neil and Brenda make love in her room. Neil discovers that Brenda is not taking birth control pills because they make her sick, and he insists that she get fitted for a diaphragm. On the night before Brenda's return to school, her brother Ron marries his girl friend, whom he met while he was an Ohio State basketball star in Columbus. At the lavish wedding reception, a somewhat inebriated Mr. Patimkin tells Brenda how much he loves her and how much faith he has in her strong moral convictions. Once back at Radcliffe, Brenda writes to Neil and asks him to join her in Boston for a long weekend. In the sleazy hotel room where they check in as husband and wife, Brenda tells Neil that her mother found the diaphragm in her room, shows him reproachful letters from her parents, and tells him that she can't invite him to her home again. Concluding that Brenda's guilt feelings about their affair subconsciously led her to leave the diaphragm where her mother would inevitably find it, Neil accuses Brenda of posing as someone intellectually and morally free while, in reality, she is essentially the model Jewish daughter her parents want. Disillusioned, and with nothing left to say, Neil picks up his suitcase and walks out into the street.
Director
Larry Peerce
Cast
Richard Benjamin
Ali Macgraw
Jack Klugman
Nan Martin
Michael Meyers
Lori Shelle
Royce Wallace
Sylvie Straus
Kay Cummings
Michael Nurie
Betty Greyson
Monroe Arnold
Elaine Swain
Richard Wexler
Rubin Schafer
Jacqueline Smith
Bill Derringer
Mari Gorman
Gail Ommerle
Jan Peerce
Max Peerce
Anthony Mcgowan
Chris Schenkel
David Benedict
Ray Baumel
Delos Smith
Crew
The Association
Steve Barnett
Enrique Bravo
Andy Cianella
Gene Coffin
Charles Fox
Manny Gerard
Charles Grenzbach
Gerald Hirschfeld
Jack C. Jacobsen
Stanley R. Jaffe
Stanley R. Jaffe
Tony Lamarca
Ralph Rosenblum
Arnold Schulman
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Writing, Screenplay
Quotes
Trivia
The wedding scene, as filmed, included a magnificent 10-minute speech by Monroe Arnold as Uncle Leo - a real tour de force. But it didn't fit the mood of the rest of the picture, and was cut to 45 seconds. It was a bitter blow to Arnold, and helped him decide to retire from acting not long afterward.
Michael Nouri dances with Ali MacGraw during the wedding scene.
Lesley Ann Warren was supposed to play Brenda, but became pregnant and was replaced.
Future daytime diva Susan Lucci can be seen as one of the wedding guests.
Notes
Location scenes filmed in New York City and nearby Westchester County.
Miscellaneous Notes
1969 Academy Award Nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Released in United States April 1969
Released in United States Spring April 1969
Re-released in United States on Video March 23, 1994
Film marks Ali McGraw's screen debut.
c Technicolor
rtg MPAA R
Re-released in United States on Video March 23, 1994
Released in United States April 1969
Released in United States Spring April 1969
