Written and excellently Directed by John Cassavetes.
Cassavetes, an actor as well as a director, also directed (Shadows, The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie, Too Late Blues and others), as an actor, well know for Noir TV's Johnny Staccato TV Series, The Killing (1964), Mikey And Nicky).
Beautiful Noir Cinematography by Fred Schuler (Dog Day Afternoon, Wise Guys). A great Jazz score by Bill Conti (I, The Jury).
The film stars Gena Rowlands (Lonely Are The Brave, Tony Rome, Machine Gun McCain, Minnie and Moskowitz, A Woman Under the Influence, Night on Earth) as Gloria Swenson and John Adames as Phil Dawn, They are in majority of scenes.
Gena Rowlands as Gloria Swenson |
The rest of the supporting cast are Julie Carmen (The Milagro Beanfield War) as Jeri Dawn, Buck Henry (The Graduate, Eating Raoul) as Jack Dawn, Lupe Garnica as Margarita Vargas, John Finnegan as Frank, Tom Noonan, J.C. Quinn, and Sonny Landham as Mob Henchmen, Lawrence Tierney (Born To Kill, The Devil Thumb's a Ride, Dillinger, Hoodlum, Reservoir Dogs) in a cameo as The Broadway Bartender, and New York City circa 1979-80.
We get the first strains of a Spanish Guitar piece in the darkness. We see the old Columbia Pictures logo of a woman holding holding aloft a sparkling torch, Liberty like. A zoom to the torch to brilliant white. A zoom out to the new logo a stylized sun rising over a horizon.
Fade out to a wall of art. The title is in amongst the watercolor paintings. Gloria - Gena Rowlands. A quick zoom to various close ups of the art of Romare Bearden.
We get various credits appearing on different watercolors. As all this is happening the Spanish Guitar and the soulful cante flamenco is answered by a sax and this back and forth transforms into a jazz sax lament that comprises Bill Conti's the main title piece. We transition from a watercolor skylines to an aerial view of a twilight New York City over the East River, over Lower New York Harbor including a slow spiral fly by the Statue Of Liberty.
Cut to the Harlem River and a night game Yankee Stadium. One sequence is looking Southeast over Lower Manhattan with the just seven year old Twin Towers, it's chilling.
The opening aerial sequence continues, now in daylight. We are in the Bronx. 161st Street. We zoom over Yankee Stadium to a NYC transit GMC "fishbowl" bus crossing the Macomb's Dam Bridge, over the Harlem River. The bus carries Jeri Dawn with her two wheeled shopping cart. She gets off at Grand Concourse and wheels her groceries into her apartment building.
GMC "fishbowl" bus |
Julie Carmen as Jeri Dawn |
Inside the building in the foyer, is a strange man she's never seen before wearing a pattern shirt standing near the top of the stairway.
There's a contract out on Jack and his whole family. When Jeri informs Jack about the wise guy down in the lobby. He orders everyone to get ready to leave. The whole family consists of his wife, her mother, two daughters and Phil, Jack's only son. They start to gather their clothes.
You know I don't like kids... |
So Gloria takes Phil. Before he goes Jack gives Phil the diary, and tells him that its worth a lot, and that he's the man in the family now.
Meanwhile, the mob goes into action, blocking off exits and climbing the stairway with a set of automatic shotguns.
Gloria has to practically drag Phil to her apartment. he just doesn't listen.
When they get there Gloria shows Phil her cat trying to get his mind off of his family. Phil asks to call his father on the phone and they are talking when the mob breaks into the apartment.
We hear a gunshot. From the window we see another shotgun blow out a window in a shower of glass and an orange muzzle blast, in Jack and Jeri's apartment.
Watching the news on TV Gloria hears the latest on the Dawn family mob killing and the abduction of Phil Dawn by a woman identified as Gloria Swenson. Shit.
Gloria knows that they got to leave the apartment now. She was a former mob gal pal and they know that she has a sister. They will be by.
Sure enough they barely get out of the apartment and onto the stairway when some of the wise guys show up in the elevator. She manages to avoid the one checking the stairway and heads down to the basement and out the back way.
I am the man! |
The wise guys tell Gloria to stay out of it. She tells them that the kid knows nothing, it doesn't matter they are whacking the kid.
From here all well staged a cat and "mouses" type confrontation and chase sequences around New York City.
Noirsville
Lawrence Tierney |