We Met at Grossinger's
New England Premiere!
Post-film Q&A with Professor Hasia R. Diner, author of a dozen books, most recently Opening Doors: The Unlikely Alliance Between the Irish and the Jews in America.
“To the mountains!” was the rallying cry of New Yorkers escaping stifling summer heat for fresh air, relaxation, and a bit of acculturation. Barred from many mainstream hotels (“gentiles only” was commonplace), Jews built a leisure world of their own in the Catskill Mountains 90 minutes north of the City. At its peak in the mid-1950s, the “Jewish Alps” included hundreds of hotels, bungalows, and boarding houses, a became an oasis where Jewish Americans redefined what it meant to be accepted, celebrated, and free. Of the large all-inclusive Borscht Belt resorts that included Kutsher’s and The Concord, Grossinger’s was a crown jewel, drawing up to 150,000 guests a year to its iconic 600-room resort with three swimming pools, golf course, two kosher kitchens, and its own airstrip and post office. At its heart was Jennie Grossinger, a trailblazer in hospitality entrepreneurship who transformed her family’s humble boarding house into an iconic institution that hosted politicians and celebrities, built training facilities for world class athletes, and showcased the best entertainers, musicians and comics.
Featuring incredible archival footage (hey there’s Jackie Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Eddie Fisher and Rocky Marciano! mid-century fashion shows and dance contests, lox, lox and more lox!) and terrific interviews with Grossinger descendants, former hotel staff and guests, historians, and cultural figures, including Judy Gold, Jackie Hoffman, and Joel Grey, We Met at Grossinger’s brings back the heyday of the “Sour Cream Sierras” with humor, romance – and a deft exploration of its rich historical context: Jewish immigration in the early 20th century, the impact of WWII and the Holocaust, and changes to Jewish and American life in the postwar period. We Met at Grossinger’s is currently being adapted as a scripted TV series.
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