Goodbye, Columbus
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: D Film: B-
Richard
Benjamin and Ali McGraw were made stars out of Goodbye, Columbus (1969), a film that stretches out
the idea of “meet cute” into a feature film.
Though it is no masterwork of cinema, Larry Pierce’s film crosses class
division and sex as a comedy that we would call a romantic comedy today, but
without the pretension of false happy endings or the dumbing-down or
infantalization of its adult leads. They
are far from sexless.
Immediately,
to the title song, Benjamin falls for McGraw on site (very understandable), but
it turns out to be more than just an infatuation. He is from the Bronx with little to offer her in the
form of financial security, while she comes from money in Westchester.
That does offer some culture clash, but much of it still remains
friendly enough without being phony and pretending not to be, as we would see
in films now. Arnold Schulman’s
adaptation of Philip Roth’s novella produced this well-rounded enough screenplay,
so much so that it received an Academy Award nomination. For its natural realness, including some
then-daring nudity, it deserved it.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image has good, consistent color and is from a
clean print, but the transfer is a bit soft and the grain from the film is
apparent. Cinematographer Gerald
Hirschfeld, A.S.C., really knows how to get the camera in there for some great
shots, which get us even more involved. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is smaller than it should be which especially affects
the three songs by The Association (the title track, It’s Gotta Be Real, So Kind To Me), best known for their hit Windy.
Charles Fox does the instrumental score.
The film was printed in dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor and some
of that comes through here as well.
Their songs fit this film well.
There are no extras, not even a trailer!
However, it gives us Ali and Benjamin in good form and other great
actors like Jack Klugman and Nan Martin.
Goodbye, Columbus is worth
your time, and expect an interesting ending.
- Nicholas Sheffo
