Three generations of family. They shared a dream called America in a place called Avalon.

The third of director Barry Levinson's autobiographical "Baltimore Trilogy" (the first two entries were Diner and Tin Men), Avalon covers nearly forty years in the lives of an immigrant Jewish family. Sam Krichinsky (Armin Mueller-Stahl) emigrates to Baltimore in 1914, where Sam's brothers Gabriel (Lou Jacobi), Hymie (Leo L. Fuchs), and Nathan (Israel Rubinek) are awaiting his arrival. By and by, Sam meets his future wife, Eva (Joan Plowright). With the introduction of the Krichinsky's grown son Jules (Aidan Quinn), the film ventures into culture-clash country. Unwilling to become a manual laborer like his dad, Jules opts for the life of a door-to-door salesman. Eventually, he teams with his cousin Izzy (Kevin Pollak) to open the first TV store in Baltimore. Thereafter, the disintegration of the Krichinsky family is paralleled by the rise of TV's omnipresence in the American home. Avalon's elegiac and melancholy effect is underlined by Randy Newman's soulful musical score.

Avalon is a 1990 drama film directed by Barry Levinson. It is the third in Levinson's semi-autobiographical four "Baltimore Films" set in his hometown during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s: Diner (1982), Tin Men (1987), Avalon (1990), and Liberty Heights (1999). The film explores the themes of Jewish assimilation into American life.

Avalon received Academy Award nominations for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Music, Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design (Gloria Gresham). Levinson's script won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture.

Release Date: October 5, 1990


Distrib: TriStar


Boxoffice: $15,740,796 2014: $31,072,300