Crossing Delancey
Encyclopedia
Crossing Delancey is a romantic comedy film starring Amy Irving
and Peter Riegert
released in 1988. It is directed by Joan Micklin Silver
and based on a play by Susan Sandler
, who also wrote the screenplay. Amy Irving was nominated for a Golden Globe for the movie, for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical".
) comes to the bookstore to give such a reading, he shows an interest in Isabelle who is enamored with the intellectual world that is very different from her traditional Jewish upbringing.
Isabelle pays frequent visits to her Bubbie, (grandmother) Ida (the legendary Yiddish theatre star Reizl Bozyk
in her only film role), who lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Anxious for her granddaughter to settle down, Ida turns to the local marriage broker (Sylvia Miles
). Although shocked and annoyed, Isabelle allows the matchmaker to introduce her to Sam Posner (Peter Riegert
), who owns the pickle shop on Essex, below Delancey Street.
At first Isabelle is not interested in Sam, believing that he is too working-class for her. Instead, she sets her sights on Anton and the New York intelligentsia. But she also feels sorry for Sam and tries to set him up with her girlfriend Marilyn (Suzzy Roche
). In the process, she learns that he did not hire a matchmaker out of desperation and in fact has admired Isabelle from afar for several years. Deeply touched, Isabelle agrees to meet him at her grandmother's house.
After work, however, she is sidelined by Anton and, believing that he is romantically interested in her, goes to his apartment. She discovers instead that Anton wants the convenience of an assistant, not a true partner. Finally seeing through him, the disgusted Isabelle 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 feigns confusion but is gleeful that her plan has succeeded.
Amy Irving
Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
and Peter Riegert
Peter Riegert
Peter Riegert is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director, best known for his role as Boon from Animal House and crooked New Jersey State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman on the HBO original series The Sopranos.-Early life:...
released in 1988. It is directed by Joan Micklin Silver
Joan Micklin Silver
Joan Micklin Silver is an American director.She was born in Omaha, Nebraska and received her B.A. From Sarah Lawrence College....
and based on a play by Susan Sandler
Susan Sandler
Susan Sandler is an American writer and currently a professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She has numerous writing credits but is probably best known for her play Crossing Delancey, which she also adapted into a movie with the same name starring Amy Irving and directed by...
, who also wrote the screenplay. Amy Irving was nominated for a Golden Globe for the movie, for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical".
Plot
Isabelle Grossman (played by Irving) works for a New York bookstore which supports authors through public readings. When the author Anton Maes (Jeroen KrabbéJeroen Krabbé
Jeroen Aart Krabbé is a Dutch actor and film director who has appeared in many Dutch and international films.-Biography:...
) comes to the bookstore to give such a reading, he shows an interest in Isabelle who is enamored with the intellectual world that is very different from her traditional Jewish upbringing.
Isabelle pays frequent visits to her Bubbie, (grandmother) Ida (the legendary Yiddish theatre star Reizl Bozyk
Reizl Bozyk
Reizl Bozyk , also known as Rose Bozyk, was a Polish-born American actress of the Yiddish theatre....
in her only film role), who lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Anxious for her granddaughter to settle down, Ida turns to the local marriage broker (Sylvia Miles
Sylvia Miles
-Early life and career:Miles was born Sylvia Reuben Lee in New York City, the daughter of Belle and Reuben Lee, a furniture maker....
). Although shocked and annoyed, Isabelle allows the matchmaker to introduce her to Sam Posner (Peter Riegert
Peter Riegert
Peter Riegert is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director, best known for his role as Boon from Animal House and crooked New Jersey State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman on the HBO original series The Sopranos.-Early life:...
), who owns the pickle shop on Essex, below Delancey Street.
At first Isabelle is not interested in Sam, believing that he is too working-class for her. Instead, she sets her sights on Anton and the New York intelligentsia. But she also feels sorry for Sam and tries to set him up with her girlfriend Marilyn (Suzzy Roche
Suzzy Roche
Suzzy Roche , originally from Park Ridge, New Jersey, is best known for her work with the female vocal group The Roches, alongside sisters Maggie and Terre...
). In the process, she learns that he did not hire a matchmaker out of desperation and in fact has admired Isabelle from afar for several years. Deeply touched, Isabelle agrees to meet him at her grandmother's house.
After work, however, she is sidelined by Anton and, believing that he is romantically interested in her, goes to his apartment. She discovers instead that Anton wants the convenience of an assistant, not a true partner. Finally seeing through him, the disgusted Isabelle 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 feigns confusion but is gleeful that her plan has succeeded.