GOODBYE O LORD, I’M GOING TO AMERICA!

In the late 19th century, a New York immigrant (Steven Keats), who’s trying to woo a dancer (Dorrie Kavanaugh), learns that his wife (Carol Kane) and young son are also coming to America.

Joan Micklin Silver’s feature film debut is a drama-comedy with a personal touch. In the novella, focus lay on the husband, but Micklin Silver emphasized the wife in her script, giving Kane a juicy role as the conservative woman who can’t understand why her Yankel has turned into such a… Jake.

Funny and painful, with a pitch-perfect cast, the film is deeply and convincingly anchored in Jewish traditions and poor working-class conditions.

1975-U.S. 90 min. B/W. Written and directed by Joan Micklin Silver. Novella: Abraham Cahan (”Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto”). Cast: Steven Keats (Yankel/Jake), Carol Kane (Gitl), Mel Howard (Bernstein), Dorrie Kavanaugh, Doris Roberts, Lauren Friedman, Lin Shaye.

Last word: “When I read the script, I felt like I was watching the movie and I had not had that experience before. That was my ancestry, but I didn’t know much anything about it — I asked my grandmother about our ancestry and she didn’t want to be back in the day when she spoke Yiddish. She wanted to be an American — so I read many, many books and saw many, many photographs and Joan provided me with so much information and the script was so beautiful, it guided me in every way with being able to play that character.” (Kane, Moveable Fest)