Duddy will hoch hinaus

A Canadian film that isn't a joke. Wow. 'The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz' is a wonderful thing. Let's start with the novel. I read it as part of an English Lit class in High School and read it every autumn for seven years. It just goes so well with those first few blustery nights that arrive mid-October. Always tough for a screenplay to match up with a novel but novelist Mordecai Richler and Lionel Chetwynd were nominated for Academy Awards and lost to 'The Godfather Part 2's Coppola and Puzo - not bad. Wonderful to watch - just look at all the great street scenes, the country scenes, the autumn leaves, Duddy's well-lit apartment, Moe's Cigar Store...I mean, this is Canada keeping warm and cozy on a cool, October evening. The film, and the novel, are great to curl up with.

The most jaw dropping aspect of this film is realizing that Richard Dreyfuss was ever that young! He is perfect in the part of a pushy young man trying to get rich quick anyway he can, after all, it is what he has been raised to believe was the only goal in life. Although Duddy is pushy and brash, he is still likable and you want him to succeed, after all, he is coming from the streets without the benefit of higher education, his father is a cab driver who spends most of his days hanging out in a café with his buddies. To them money IS the goal.

I have owned this film on Video Tape for many years, and must watch it annually and always find something that I missed before. I liked the street scenes of Montreal in the late 40's, and the beautiful Adirondaks in summer. If you enjoyed Avalon, you would enjoy this film.

I always wanted to see this film ever since it was released when I was in college, but just never got around to it. Just watched it now in 2018 and not disappointed. Dreyfuss really was the perfect Duddy Kravitz. Many of his subsequent roles had a "little bit of Duddy" in them. The viewer can both cheer for Duddy and also be repulsed by him, the mark of a good screenplay, script and actors. Warden, Wiseman and Lanctot lend realism to the tale and provide the other prisms through which to view Kravitz. Both a story and a character study it can be tough to watch, even if occasionally softened by touches of humor. By the end we're left to wonder if it was all worth it and we sense that Duddy is wondering the same thing.

"A little bit of Duddy Kravitz in everyone," so the poster tells us. Yeah, I guess you could say that, although it is exaggerated in the film to get the message across (either that, or I haven't met anyone like that yet.) Dreyfuss' character is believable, and so is his father. I would have to say the only wooden character in the whole film is that of Lenny, Duddy's brother. There is a good message to get from the film--if you watch it, you won't be disappointed.

Duddy Kravitz (Richard Dreyfuss) is a hustling young Jewish man living in a working class Montreal neighborhood. His older brother medical student Lenny is the favorite of his father Max (Jack Warden) and his rich uncle Benjy. His grandfather's mantra is "a man without land is nobody" and sees every man in the family including himself as failures. He works a summer job at a Jewish resort hotel. He falls for the French Canadian maid named Yvette (Micheline Lanctôt). The other waiters from McGill University led by Irwin look down on the lower class Duddy. While on a picnic with Yvette, he decides to buy the land around a beautiful lake and build his own hotel resort. She would need to front the deal since the owners would probably be unwilling to sell to a Jew.

Duddy is a money grubbing Jew character and he's somewhat annoying. His obsession is also understandable and fascinating. It's wrapped up with daddy issues. I don't root for his quest but it is still compelling. This is a nice slice of an era as well as an interesting coming of age story. The production is adequate and Dreyfuss delivers a good performance.