| Crossing Delancey | |
| Director: | Joan Micklin Silver |
| Producer: | Michael Nozik |
| Music: | Paul Chihara |
| Cinematography: | Theo Van de Sande |
| Editing: | Rick Shaine |
| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. |
| Runtime: | 97 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $4 million |
| Gross: | $16 million (United States)[1] |
Crossing Delancey is a 1988 American romantic comedy film adapted by Susan Sandler from her play of the same name, and directed by Joan Micklin Silver.[2] It stars Amy Irving and Peter Riegert. The film also features performances from Reizl Bozyk, David Hyde-Pierce, Sylvia Miles and Rosemary Harris. Amy Irving was nominated for a Golden Globe for the film, for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical.
Isabelle Grossman works for a New York bookstore which supports authors through public readings. When Dutch-American author Anton Maes comes to the bookstore to give a reading, he shows an interest in Isabelle, who is enamored with the literary world that is very different from her strictly religious upbringing.
Isabelle pays frequent visits to her Yiddish-speaking Bubbe (grandmother), Ida, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Anxious for her granddaughter to settle down with a decent Orthodox Jewish man, Ida hires a marriage broker. Although enraged, Isabelle grudgingly allows the matchmaker to introduce her in Bubbe’s kitchen to Sam Posner.
At first Isabelle is dismissive of Sam, believing that the small business he owns, a street corner pickle stand, is too working class to provide the life she wants. Instead, she sets her sights on Anton and the New York City intelligentsia, but she also feels guilty for how rude she was to Sam. She tries to make it up to him by setting him up with her girlfriend Marilyn. In the process, though, she learns that Sam kept turning down the matchmaker because he was waiting for her to bring a photo of Isabelle; Sam has quietly had a crush on Isabelle from afar for many years. She is deeply touched, through her friends seems Sam has given up on her and starts dating Marilyn.
One day at a store book reading, Sam shows up invited by Isabelle, as does Anton. Isabelle leaves with Sam, and later agrees to meet him the next day at her Bubbe’s apartment to on to a date.
After work the next day, however, she is sidelined by Anton and, believing that he is romantically interested in her, goes to his apartment. She discovers instead that the narcissistic Anton wants an assistant he can sleep with, not a real wife or girlfriend. A disgusted Isabelle rejects him and races to her grandmother's apartment, finding it empty with Ida sleeping on the couch. Heartbroken, she believes she has ruined her chances with the honest and caring Sam. As she cries, Sam enters from the balcony. The two finally are united and Ida, waking and having feigned senile dementia to keep Sam from leaving, laughs gleefully that her plan has succeeded.
This was Yiddish theatre star Reizl Bozyk’s only film role.
| Crossing Delancey (original motion picture soundtrack) | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | The Roches and Paul Chihara |
| Cover: | "Crossing_Delancey"_Original_Motion_Picture_Soundtrack_album_cover.jpg --> |
| Released: | Oct 17, 1988 |
| Genre: | Folk |
| Label: | Varèse Sarabande |
| Producer: | Paul Chihara |
| Chronology: | The Roches |
| Prev Title: | No Trespassing |
| Prev Year: | 1986 |
| Next Title: | Speak |
| Next Year: | 1989 |
Crossing Delancey (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the motion picture Crossing Delancey, released October 17, 1988. Instrumental tracks were by Paul Chihara, and songs were performed by (and in some cases written by members of) The Roches.
Suzzy Roche of the Roches played Marilyn, a friend of Isabelle (Irving), in the film. The Roches provided several songs for the soundtrack. One of the songs that was featured in the film, Nocturne, is also featured on the group's 1989 album Speak. An earlier arrangement of their cover of "Come Softly to Me" is featured on their album Another World.
The film received positive reviews.[3] [4] [5] It currently holds an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 82 reviews.
One retrospective review from 2018 called Crossing Delancey "the ultimate Jewish rom-com" and a rare great story of "outwardly Jewish love".[6]
The film was a modest success, grossing 16-million dollars in the United States against a 4-million dollar budget. [1]
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artios Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Comedy | Meg Simon and Fran Kumin | [7] | ||
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | Amy Irving | [8] |