Avalon (1990)

A Polish-Jewish family comes to the USA at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writer:

Barry Levinson

Stars:

Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth Perkins, Leo Fuchs

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leo Fuchs	...	Hymie Krichinsky
Eve Gordon	...	Dottie Kirk
Lou Jacobi	...	Gabriel Krichinsky
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Sam Krichinsky
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Ann Kaye
Joan Plowright	...	Eva Krichinsky
Kevin Pollak	...	Izzy Kirk
Aidan Quinn	...	Jules Kaye
Israel Rubinek	...	Nathan Krichinsky
Elijah Wood	...	Michael Kaye
Grant Gelt	...	Teddy Kirk
Mindy Loren Isenstein	...	Mindy Kirk
Shifra Lerer	...	Nellie Krichinsky
Mina Bern	...	Alice Krichinsky
Frania Rubinek	...	Faye Krichinsky

Storyline

A Polish-Jewish family arrives in the US at the beginning of the century and they and their children try to build themselves a better future in the promised land.

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Plot Keywords:

trolley | suburb | baltimore maryland | nightclub | jewish | 

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Taglines:

Three generations of family. They shared a dream called America in a place called Avalon.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Yiddish

Release Date:

19 October 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Авалон

Filming Locations:

19th Century Bookstore - 1047 Hollis Street, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$226,613, 8 October 1990

Gross USA:

$15,740,796

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,779,578

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Baltimore Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The streetcar wreck scene was staged with a plywood replica of a Baltimore PCC streetcar, with assistance by Baltimore-area streetcar historians. The location of the "wreck" actually was on an original Baltimore streetcar route.

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Goofs

Armin Mueller-Stahl (who plays Sam Krichinsky) has hazel eyes, while the actor playing him as a younger man (Michael Krauss) has brown eyes.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sam Krichinsky: I came to America in 1914 - by way of Philadelphia. That's where I got off the boat. And then I came to Baltimore. It was the most beautiful place you ever seen in your life. There were lights everywhere! What lights they had! It was a celebration of lights! I thought they were for me, Sam, who was in America. Sam was in America! I didn't know what holiday it was, but there were lights. And I walked under them. The sky exploded, people cheered, there were fireworks! What a welcome ...

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Crazy Credits

The credits roll over a photograph of Avalon, which begins as a sharp color photograph, but fades into a worn black-and-white picture at the end.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Dances with Wolves/Graffiti Bridge/The Kray's/The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

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Soundtracks

Down on Pennsylvania Avenue
Written by Tom Delaney

User Reviews

Wonderful walk down memory lane

Although this film takes place 15 years before I was born, growing up in an ethnic family in the early 60's had changed very little.

My family is Greek, but this film will appeal to any ethnic group especially first or second generation Americans. Back then we all still gathered at one member's home for holidays and on Sundays. We all dressed up (and still do) for church and holiday gatherings. Watching little Elijah Wood with his bow tie reminded me of myself at that age.

Mr. Levinson through film, and Randy Newman through his haunting musical score did a magnificent job of recreating a world that has all but disappeared. A time when family was the center of our lives, children respected the adults and were expected to behave in a civilized manner, people didn't spend Sundays running all over town to football, soccer games etc, and the elder members of the family were revered instead of ignored or worse, placed in a home.

We, those of us in the post-war generation would to well to look at this film as a guideline for how to bring values back into our lives and realize that we all need to re-think our priorities.

If you want to relive your childhood for 2 1/2 hours laugh one minute and cry the next, I HIGHLY recommend this film