Hester Street

"Goodbye O Lord, I'm Going To America!"

1975 1h 30m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 42

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A Russian emigre prides himself on the way he's molded himself into a real Yankee in the USA, though the world he lives in, New York's Lower East Side in the late 19th century, is almost exclusively populated by other Jewish immigrants. When his wife finally arrives in the New World, however, she has a lot of assimilating to do.

“Goodbye O Lord, I'm Going To America!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Steven Keats
Jake
Carol Kane
Gitl
Mel Howard
Bernstein
Dorrie Kavanaugh
Mamie
Doris Roberts
Mrs. Kavarsky
Stephen Strimpell
Joe Peltner
Lauren Friedman
Fanny
Paul Freedman
Joey

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joan Micklin Silver
Writers: Joan Micklin Silver, Abraham Cahan
Languages: Yiddish, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

51 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Yiddish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joan Micklin Silver, shot by Kenneth Van Sickle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Katherine Wenning shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Steven Keats and Carol Kane and Mel Howard carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Goodbye O Lord, I'm Going To America!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0073107 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joan Micklin Silver directs. Kenneth Van Sickle behind the camera. Katherine Wenning cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Yiddish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
251 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Yiddish, English.
4Directed by Joan Micklin Silver, shot by Kenneth Van Sickle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Katherine Wenning shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Steven Keats and Carol Kane and Mel Howard carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Goodbye O Lord, I'm Going To America!".
8IMDB entry: tt0073107 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 42 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Kenneth Van Sickle
Editing: Katherine Wenning
Production design: Stuart Wurtzel
Costume design: Robert Pusilo
Makeup / hair: Steve Atha
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Hester Street (1975)

Also by

Joan Micklin Silver

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-07-28
★ 7/10
There are a couple of really quite poignant performances here from "Jake" (Steven Keats) and his wife "Gitl" (Carol Kane) as together with their young son they try to make a new life in New York after fleeing from Russia. He had arrived some time earlier and had already become exposed to some of the more libertarian aspects of American society by the time his family arrived and though he manages to adopt the ways of their new society more readily, she does not. Indeed, his enthusiasm to fit in, and to have his son - now called "Joey" to do likewise begins to pit him against his strongly Jewish community and against a wife with whom he no longer connects. It's essentially a film about integration and of profound clashes of culture. The old having to give way to the new. Sometimes subtly, sometimes more brutally - and with "Gitl" being a woman, this struggle was only exacerbated by her social position as someone largely dependant on his husband for support. As this position becomes increasingly untenable for all, the story becomes alive with a tension that's born out of something nobody had had much of previously - opportunity. The drama is well delivered by both Keats and Kane illustrating just how easily the glue of something strong can dissolve when something intangibly tantalising comes along. In this case, "Mamie" (Dorrie Kavanaugh) epitomises the lively and bright alternative to the dreariness of his daily life. It's an observation, really - an episode in their lives that at times hits home but at others is akin to a Chaplin film mixed with a few episodes of "Upstairs Downstairs" - only with out the riches or glamour. It's hard to see it working as a film for the cinema, but it is a characterful study worth a watch.

Production companies