Aboard the ship, Salvatore will strike up a friendship with Lucy, a beautiful, mysterious Englishwoman about whom rumors swirl. Does a boyfriend await her in America? Has she been jilted? If no one is there to meet her at Ellis Island, will she be able to enter America?

Their budding romance is a bright spot amid the uncertainties of the journey. In one memorable sequence, the ship encounters rough seas and the violent consequences are harrowing. It’s a grim sequence that reminds us of the sacrifices made by so many who brought nothing but their hopes to this country, sometimes at great peril.

They arrive at Ellis Island, but can see America only through the fog. Later, they peer through a high window at the land outside. Golden Door shows us their reaction to the sight of the new country, but never allows viewers to see it. It remains a place grounded in the imaginations of the characters and the viewers.

Upon arriving at Ellis Island, however, the characters’ journey is far from over. To enter the country, proposals are made, bargains are struck, and tests are undertaken to keep out the infirm and those lacking in intellect. After surviving so much, some will not be admitted and some will choose not to enter. But for those who do enter through the Golden Door, opportunity awaits.

AVALON:  Assimilation

“I came to America in 1914 by way of Philadelphia,” says Sam Krichinsky, the protagonist of Barry Levinson’s drama of Jewish immigrants who settle in Baltimore. “I didn’t know what holiday it was, but there were lights and I walked under them,” Sam recounts.

The holiday is the Fourth of July and the lights are fireworks. In America, Sam’s life is full of promise. He goes into business with his brothers, plays music on the weekends, gets married and has children. All the while, he expresses thanks for the country he calls home. Indeed, the film repeatedly returns to subsequent July Fourths, and to Thanksgiving Day, during which the broader family gathers and engages in sacred rituals, including the cutting of the turkey.

Avalon (1990) traces the lives of three generations of Krichinskys, capturing the evolution of 20th century America, especially its second half. The Krichinskys move to the suburbs—described as places with bigger lawns and fewer people under the same roof—but the Krichinsky brothers gradually grow apart emotionally as well as geographically. Television takes over their lives and captures the imagination of the country. Sam’s entrepreneurial, can-do spirit passes on to his son, Jules, a door-to-door salesman who eventually sets up shop with his cousin to sell TV sets. Jules then moves from selling TVs to selling advertising time on TV programs.