Avalon
written by Barry Levinson
[Sam Krichinsky, a tragic far cry from his former self, is speaking to his adult grandson Michael (Tom Wood). Sam's great-grandson (Christopher James Lekas) sits on the bed, paying more attention to the TV than Sam]
Sam: In the end, you spend everything you ever saved, everything you ever owned, just to exist in a place like this. Huh... So...are you dating?
Michael: I told you, Sam, I'm married.
Sam: You are married?
Michael: Yes. And this is my son. I named him Sam.
Sam: You're not supposed to name him after the living!
Michael: I know.
Sam: You know. Huh. Carry on the family name, carry on. A couple years, I went to see the house on Avalon. It was gone. Not just the house but the whole neighborhood. I went to see the ballroom where me and my brothers used to play. The whole place gone. Not just that. But the grocery store where we used to shop. Gone. All gone. Gone. I went to see where Eva lived of Poplar Street. It isn't there. Not even the street. It isn't there, not even the street. And then I went to see the nightclub I used to have! (chuckles to himself) And thank God, it was there! Because for a moment, I thought I never was...... (quietly) If I knew things would no longer be here, I would have died to have remembered better...
Michael: I miss you, Sam.
(Sam seems not to notice anyone has said anything)
Sam: I came to America in 1914...Mike...I came to America in 1914......
(The scene ends. Michael and the younger Sam are leaving the nursing home together)
Young Sam: Daddy, that man talks funny.
Michael: Well, he wasn't born here, Sam.
Sam: He wasn't born in Baltimore?
Michael: (his voice breaking as he holds back tears) No. He came to America in 1914. He said it was the most beautiful place he had ever seen...
(We see the flashback of the elder Sam (as a young man) walking through the gates to Avalon, looking up at the fireworks and smiling. The film ends.)