Liberty Heights (1999)

Baltimore, Fall 1954: Schools implement the new integration law. Ben finds the "colored" girl in his class cute - upsetting his Jewish mom and granny. Ben talks to her while his brother looks for his WASP dream girl.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writer:

Barry Levinson

Stars:

Adrien Brody, Bebe Neuwirth, Joe Mantegna

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adrien Brody	...	Van Kurtzman
Ben Foster	...	Ben Kurtzman
Orlando Jones	...	Little Melvin
Bebe Neuwirth	...	Ada Kurtzman
Joe Mantegna	...	Nate Kurtzman
Rebekah Johnson	...	Sylvia
David Krumholtz	...	Yussel
Richard Kline	...	Charlie, Nate's Assistant
Vincent Guastaferro	...	Pete, Nate's Assistant
Justin Chambers	...	Trey Tobelseted
Carolyn Murphy	...	Dubbie the Blonde
James Pickens Jr.	...	Sylvia's Father
Frania Rubinek	...	Grandma Rose
Anthony Anderson	...	Scribbles
Kiersten Warren	...	Annie the Stripper

Storyline

Anti-Semitism, race relations, coming of age, and fathers and sons: in Baltimore from fall, 1954, to fall, 1955. Racial integration comes to the high school, TV is killing burlesque, and rock and roll is pushing the Four Lads off the Hit Parade. Ben, a high school senior, and his older brother Van are exploring "the other": in Ben's case, it's friendship with Sylvia, a Black student; with Van, it's a party in the WASP part of town and falling for a debutante, Dubbie. Sylvia gives Ben tickets to a James Brown concert; Dubbie invites Van to a motel: new worlds open. Meanwhile, their dad Nate, who runs a numbers game, loses big to a small-time pusher, Little Melvin; a partnership ensues.

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Plot Keywords:

smashed pumpkin | school | high school | party | racial integration | 

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Taglines:

You're only young once, but you remember forever.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for crude language and sex-related material

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Barry Levinson wanted someone with a Grace Kelly appeal to play the role of Dubbie the Blonde. Model Carolyn Murphy was cast, although she was dubbed "The Blonde-Haired Gene Tierney" by Elle Magazine. She auditioned for the role after her agent encouraged her to do so and, unlike many other models turned actress, was praised for her work.

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Goofs

Mention is made about courtroom scenes on TV in Perry Mason, which did not debut until 1957.

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Quotes

Dubbie the Blonde: Do you speak french?
Van Kurtzman: No. Do you?
Dubbie the Blonde: Yes. Not as well as my father's boyfriend. But then again, he is French.

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Alternate Versions

DVD release has a "music-only" version of the film with no dialogue and only music and score.

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Connections

References The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)

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Soundtracks

La Basura
Written by Jorge Zamora (as Jorge Montalvo Zamora)
Performed by Orquesta America
Courtesy of EGREM Records
Under license from Milan Entertainment Inc.

User Reviews

I am neither Jewish nor Baltimorian (?), but . . .

this was a fine film, if not anything to blow one's hair back, leave one humming, or slipping into the dialogue. The story was set in the mid-1950s, accurately looks the part, and is actually three tales involving the three males in a middle class family.

Yes, there is the treatment of racism and the self-consciousness that it spawns on both sides, and yes, the death throes of anti-semitism (at least among decent people). A middle-aged man finds he has outlived the world in which he came to prosper, and does not know what to do. There is something else: the "grass is always greener" hypothesis in ethnic/social class mixing. One of the protagonists meets his "shiksa goddess" and her lot, longs to cross a divide he does his best to bridge -- and finds his betters have feet of clay for all their poise and social standing.

LIBERTY HEIGHTS is in the best sense a North American story. Leaving one's ghetto, the benefits of learning to do so, and creation of a better world. Note how toward the end, the flawed and even cruel W.A.S.P. society boy becomes better for having accepted the hand of friendship of someone his father might have avoided.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Yiddish

Release Date:

31 December 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Liberty Heights

Filming Locations:

Hippodrome Theater, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$95,247, 21 November 1999

Gross USA:

$3,736,868

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,736,868

Company Credits

Production Co:

Baltimore Pictures, Spring Creek Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1