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In a rare Lumet comedy, Jews meet an unexpected landsman

JL;DR SUMMARY Sidney Lumet's rarely acknowledged 1968 comedy, \"Bye Bye Braverman,\" offers a humorous exploration of Jewish identity and friendship amidst its uneven pacing and dated ethnic jokes. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

YiddishJewish IdentityCultural IdentityJewish ComedySeinfeldFilm CritiqueSidney LumetBye Bye BravermanGodfrey Cambridge1960s Manhattan

Places mentioned

Brooklyn, New York, United States
"A film about four Jewish intellectuals George Segal, Jack Warden, Joseph Wiseman and Sorrell Booke who are repeatedly waylaid while trying to find a fifths funeral service in Brooklyn, Bye Bye Braverman was poorly received by most critics at the time of its release;"
Manhattan, New York, United States
"Boris Kaufmans rich cinematography captures mid to late 60s Manhattan in all its crumbling funkiness, yet still makes the borough seem like the height of modernity, efficiency and opportunity compared to the calcified old-world mazes of Brooklyn, which now seem like alien territory to these upwardly mobile Manhattanites."
Catskills, New York, United States
"But then Cambridge reveals that he is Jewish, as well; and despite the accident, he is genuinely delighted by this unexpected opportunity to share a moment of fellowship, kvell over the fact that his son has scored a summer bellhop position at a Catskills resort, and express his profound relief that a doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital has diagnosed his wifes recent cancer scare as nothing more than a swollen gland."
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, United States
"But then Cambridge reveals that he is Jewish, as well; and despite the accident, he is genuinely delighted by this unexpected opportunity to share a moment of fellowship, kvell over the fact that his son has scored a summer bellhop position at a Catskills resort, and express his profound relief that a doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital has diagnosed his wifes recent cancer scare as nothing more than a swollen gland."

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