Nominally the history of the Catskills resort Grossingers, the film is actually a look at the history of the Borscht Belt, the hotels and resorts in upstate New York that were the place to go whenyou needed to get out of New York for a vacation. The resort was legendary because the resort hosted the greatest entertainers in the world as well as the cream of the rich and famous. The film is also a look at the history of antisemitism in America over the last 125 years since the resort was originally functioned as a place where Jewish people could go and be safe from hatred.
I need another time through or two. There is so much history in this film that I didn't catch it all. There is the history of the resort and the family that ran it, a history of show business and a history of the last century. Its all intertwined because events big and small all happened at Grossingers. There is also a large dose of nostalgia, for even though I never went to the resort, friends of mine did and then there was the endless advertising in print and on radio and TV.
This film is a full meal and then some.
While I know some of you won't want to see the film becaus you think that the story of a hotel that closed decades ago has no bearing on today, but the truth is it does. The things that created it exist today. More importantly the things that Grossingers did were copied by other people and became the norm today.
Trust me, you want to see this.
Recommended.
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