Crossing Delancey (1988)

A Manhattan single meets a man through her Jewish grandmother's matchmaker.

Director:

Joan Micklin Silver

Writers:

Susan Sandler (screenplay by), Susan Sandler (based on her original play)

Stars:

Amy Irving, Peter Riegert, Reizl Bozyk

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Amy Irving	...	Isabelle Grossman
Peter Riegert	...	Sam Posner
Reizl Bozyk	...	Bubbie Kantor
Jeroen Krabbé	...	Anton Maes
Sylvia Miles	...	Hannah Mandelbaum
George Martin	...	Lionel
John Bedford Lloyd	...	Nick
Claudia Silver	...	Cecilia Monk
David Hyde Pierce	...	Mark (as David Pierce)
Rosemary Harris	...	Pauline Swift
Suzzy Roche	...	Marilyn Cohen
Amy Wright	...	Ricki
Faye Grant	...	Candyce
Deborah Offner	...	Karen
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Myla Bondy

Storyline

Isabelle's life revolves around the New York bookshop she works in and the intellectual friends of both sexes she meets there. Her grandmother remains less than impressed and decides to hire a good old-fashioned Jewish matchmaker to help Isabelle's love-life along. Enter pickle-maker Sam who immediately takes to Isabelle. She however is irritated by the whole business, at least to start with.

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Plot Keywords:

screenplay adapted by author | new york city | judaism | matchmaking | based on play | 

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Taglines:

A funny movie about getting serious.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The pickle store as referred to in the film was Guss' Pickles, located at 35 Essex Street, below Delancey Street. A New York tradition, since 1920. Currently, The Pickle Guys, located at the corner of Essex & Grand Streets, continues that tradition.

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Goofs

The synopsis of Anton's new book, visible when he signs an autograph, is clearly a summary of the story of this film (or the original play), mentioning Isabelle, her job, her grandmother, etc. If that was indeed the story of that book, Isabelle would have had some stern comments for Anton when she read it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Anton Maes: [People are arriving at an event at a book store. There are sounds of employees greeting them, checking them in, serving champagne. Izzy is collecting empty plastic cups and napkins. She sees a woman put a book from the shelf in her bag, and deftly removes and replaces it. Anton is watching her from across the nook and motions her over. Their eyes lock as she approaches] So, you won't be out of a job.
[He plunks down his cup on her tray]

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Connections

Referenced in Day by Day: Out for a Stretch (1989)

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Soundtracks

She's Going
Written by The Beat (as The English Beat)
Performed by The Beat (as The English Beat)
Courtesy of IRS Records

User Reviews

Out of the ordinary romantic comedy that truly captures New York City...

This is my favorite movie of all time with an unbelievable cast of great character actors. I remember a New York reviewer at the time calling Amy Irving's performance "lukewarm" and I could not disagree more. Irving's performance and character epitomize the thirty-something single New York working woman trying to move up in the world. Irving's character is completely enraptured by the experience of being the book manager of a very prestigious uptown neighborhood book store and falls for the good-looking, European writer who is completely enraptured with himself! Riegert is the nice "pickleman" who any girl knows would make a great husband but the fireworks just don't go off for the girl. Any woman can definitely relate to the dilemma of being attracted to the charming, good-looking rogue but when you get right down to it, it is the everyday "picklemen" who stay true and truly make the world go round.

And I must say that this film captures the city better than any movie I have yet to see complete with crazy singing woman in crowded narrow hot dog joint, midage man struggling to play handball in local park, elderly women learning self-defense at community Y. Classic New York stuff! I could go on and on but do note far out performances by Sylvia Miles as the tacky matchmaker and Rosemary Harris, the great English actress, in a cameo near the end.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Hebrew Yiddish

Release Date:

16 September 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Crossing Delancey

Filming Locations:

Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$46,711, 28 August 1988

Gross USA:

$16,262,415

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,262,415

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1