Actually, it wasn't the street, it was the name of the apartment building that Sam first lived in with his brothers in America.
As noted, it is of course, a mythical island in the Arthurian legend. That's presumably what inspired the developer or landlord to name his apartment building that. It works in the movie, in that it refers to a specific place, but also to a part of Sam's life which has taken on a quasi-mythical importance to him.
Actually, Barry and I grew up in the same neighborhood and one of the movie theaters in our neighborhood was called the Avalon.
shareAs someone who worked on the film, the real story goes like this: The film was originally entitled "The Family". Barry struggled with what to call the film, and midway through production came up with the title "Avalon". About a month later, as we were filming outside the location for the family circle meeting, one of the crew noticed that one block away, where some of our production trucks were parked, was a building with the enscription "Avalon" above the front door. We told Barry, and he went to have a look. He then dispached an additional camera to get a shot of the front of the building. This shot was later used in the end titles of the film. Barry had the shot de-saturated as the titles roll, much as a colorful memory fades with time.
By the way, I believe that his intention was that "Avalon" was a mythical place, much as America was at the turn of the century when so many immigrants of all nationalities and religions came to our shores in search of a dream.
Thank you for the 'inside information' -- it's helpful to have this kind of information set down here, where folks can find it, and while those of you who worked on the film are around to do so. I agree that the reference to 'Avalon' has a dual meaning -- on one level, it's a place where, originally, all of the brothers who worked to bring one another to America lived together -- kind of a mini-village from the old country -- which by the 1940s represents, to Sam, the kind of self-sacrifice and familial togetherness that, even by the middle of the story, he sees slipping away. (Remember his wistfulness when they are leaving the row houses to go to the 'burbs, and he mentions how far they are getting 'from Avalon'?)
And, as some of the other posters have pointed out, it also represents the kind of mythical place (as in the Arthurian legend) where we often invest our memories -- times and events that probably didn't happen as happily and warmly as they are remembered (or that wouldn't have seemed so at the time), but which in retrospect are recalled as some kind of golden age. What a happy accident, therefore, that Mr. Levinson and the crew stumbled on a building that allowed them to provide this dual layer to the movie's title and to the events that Sam and the others remember -- haltingly, by the end -- as the story moves forward.
I absolutely love this kind of inside stuff from people who've worked on the film. Thanks for posting, even though it's years after the fact.
C.J. Appel, maybe?