Director Larry Peerce is that classic example of the journeyman filmmaker. For years before directing his first theatrical feature Peerce worked in television, becoming one of the most efficient and versatile artists in that medium. Peerce’s films are exact, workmanlike and often wholly affective. Peerce never set any trends or radicalized any genres but he did some really good films that have, unfortunately, become largely forgotten.
Goodbye, Columbus (1969) is one of Peerce’s best films. An adaptation of a Philip Roth novel, Goodbye, Columbus was primarily made as a way for Paramount Pictures to exploit the success of United Artists’ The Graduate (1967). The two films deal in a number of similar themes concerning sexual awakening, first love, and adult responsibility. Goodbye, Columbus is more explicit however when it comes to its commentary on class.
This tale of romantic disillusionment in the Silver Sixties marked the debuts of Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw as the two leads Neil and Brenda. Neil works at a branch of the New York City Public Library and Brenda spends her time at the Old Oaks Country Club. Their passionate affair over the course of a single summer is a tumultuous one as they navigate their differing economic backgrounds and their individual opinions on birth control. Brenda’s family doesn’t help much; intentionally working to make the divide between the two lovers greater and greater via a series of careful manipulations.
Goodbye, Columbus features, for its moment, some very frank dialogue about sex that really captures a specific moment and milieu. The film is, overall, greatly aided by the performances of the leads as well as the excellent supporting cast, most notably Jack Klugman as Brenda’s father. What dates Goodbye, Columbus more than anything else are the very sentimental montages set to the songs of The Association. These moments of plastic emotion undermine the naturalism of the acting and location shooting. The songs in Goodbye, Columbus are catchy and fun but work better as a soundtrack LP than as a compliment to Peerce’s images.
In the end Goodbye, Columbus is a solid little film with some exceptional moments (every scene with Michael Meyers is amazing). I have personally always loved this film and consider it equal to Peerce’s other pseudo-masterpiece Two-Minute Warning (1976). Today Goodbye, Columbus is probably most enjoyed as a time capsule of an era that is lost to us.
