Goodbye, Columbus (1969)

Every father’s daughter is a virgin.

This unorthodox and bittersweet comedy received an Oscar nomination for "Best Screenplay Based On Another Medium." Philip Roth's (Portnoy's Complaint) best-selling social satire brings together Richard Benjamin (Diary of a Mad Housewife) and Ali MacGraw (Love Story), even though they're not exactly suited for each other. Neil is a poor Bronx librarian and Brenda is a pampered Jewish American princess from Westchester. Benjamin and MacGraw are superb in their debuts as the lovers who try to cross class lines amidst kisses and her parents' stiff opposition. One of the most appealing, poignant comedies ever produced. 

Transplanting Roth's first novella from late 1950s suburban New Jersey to late '60s Westchester County, New York, director Larry Peerce (The Other Side of the Mountain) and screenwriter Arnold Schulman (Love with the Proper Stranger) retain the bite and humor of Roth's observations of the Jewish American middle class, and the resulting film was a critical and financial success. In addition to the screenplay, the performances of Benjamin, MacGraw and Jack Klugman (TV's The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E.), as well as the title song by the Association, were nominated for numerous film awards. This lush, Technicolor cinematography is credited to Gerald Hirschfeld (Last Summer and T.R. Baskin). For this first-ever Blu-ray of Goodbye, Columbus, the film has been remastered from a new 4K scan of the film's original 35mm camera negative.

Directed by: Larry Peerce
Starring: Richard Benjamin, Ali MacGraw, Jack Klugman, Nan Martin
1969 / 102 min / 1.85 / English Monaural