DIRECTOR: Larry Peerce
Ali McGraw’s movie debut was a box office success and paved the way for her sensational turn in “Love Story” the following year. Directed by Larry Peerce and based on the 1959 novella of the same name by Phillip Roth, with an adapted, Oscar-nominated screenplay by Arnold Schulman, the movie centers on Neil Klugman (Richard Benjamin), a nice middle-class Jewish boy from the Bronx who falls under the spell of Brenda Patimkin, a wealthy Radcliffe student whose parents are nouveau riche Jews who have grown rich in the plumbing business. There are similarities between this movie and Neil Simon/Elaine May’s “The Heartbreak Kid” from 1972, except in that movie, the golden girl, played by Cybill Shepard, is a Shiksa. In contrast, Ali McCraw’s character is a Jewish American Princess.
The Queer element in the film comes from Brenda’s older brother, Ron (played by the late Michael Meyers, a name that would later become synonymous with a horror franchise). Ron is a star athlete – the film’s title alludes to a song he plays when he gets nostalgic for his glory days at Ohio State in Columbus – and he has his mind set on being a college coach. However, he has the hots for Neil, whom he keeps inviting back to his room and slapping on the butt. And then there is the scene outside the bathroom where Ron, having just washed his jockstrap in the sink, regards Neil- or is it the game on the TV behind him – with such a goofy grin that he appears to be enraptured with him/it/them. To seal the deal, he is an avid collector of what he calls “semi-classical” music, and he prides himself on his extensive collection of Andre Kostelanetz and Mantovani!
