Gloria (1980) - Rowlands in Cassavetes' tough-woman thriller is a winner

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Gena Rowlands looks like a tough lady with a revolver, sheltering a little boy on this effective poster for John Cassavetes' Gloria

When his whole family gets murdered by the mob over a threat, his father has made, small Puerto-Rican boy Phil winds up in the care of his mother's friend Gloria, who has her own mob connections ...

 

Gloria is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker John Cassavetes (Shadows (1958)), whose 10th film it was.

In Gloria he presents an unusual and strong plot, which is vividly accelerated through the use of cat-and-mouse dynamics, along with the two main characters' varying wish to engage with each other and the inherent, irresistible suspense that lies in the life of a small innocent child being endangered.

The film is shot on New York locations in an exemplary, marvelous way. Gena Rowlands (She's So Lovely (1997)) is fabulous and awards-worthy as the bad-ass and highly empowering title character, a woman who is tougher than the mob. Little John Adames is deeply, deeply adorable as Phil: The crew and filmmaker must have fallen hard for him, - which excuses that he doesn't, - in some scenes at least, - act very naturally. His performance is wonderful nonetheless.

Gloria is both enormously exciting, funny and mock-romantic between the two, (it is kept sweet and innocent, of course.) SPOILER The ending may be a bit overstrung melodramatically, - but thank God at least it's a happy one. (Few audiences would be able to bear to see Gloria or Phil get killed.) Gloria is another Cassavetes/Rowlands collaboration bull's eye.

 

Related posts:

John Cassavetes: The Fury (1978) - De Palma's telekinetic powers run amuck! (co-starring actor) 

Top 10: Best dramas reviewed by Film Excess to date 
A Woman Under the Influence (1974) or, Family Dysfunction (writer/director)

Faces (1968) or, John Cassavetes' LA Misery circa 1968 (writer/director)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) - Aldrich's rough WWII super-entertainment (co-starring actor)
Edge of the City (1957) - Poitier gleams in Ritt's idealistic debut (co-starring actor)

Watch a trailer for the film

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 4 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain, - but likely at least a big hit

[Gloria premiered 5 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 122 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 1979 in New York and New Jersey. If made on a realistic 1 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a big hit with its domestic gross alone. It was nominated for an Oscar; Best Actress (Rowlands), lost to Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won the Golden Lion award in Venice, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. The film was remade with the same title in 1999 with Sharon Stone, by Sidney Lumet, a film that was a box office disaster. Cassavetes returned with Love Streams (1984). Rowlands returned in Tempest (1982). Gloria is fresh at 93 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Gloria?

The Graduate (1967) - Submerge yourself in Nichols' terrific classic

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Someone's sticking out an alluring leg before Dustin Hoffman on this titillating, hugely popular poster for Mike Nichols' The Graduate

We meet Benjamin as he graduates college and finds himself on high and dry concerning his future. At this junction his parents' friend Mrs. Robinson enter his life with her attractive daughter Elaine, which further complicates things.

The Graduate is written by Calder Willingham (Paths of Glory (1957)) and Buck Henry (The Owl and the Pussycat (1970)), adapting Charles Webb's (Love, Roger (1969)) same-titled 1963 novel, and directed by German-born American master filmmaker Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf (1966)), whose 2nd film it is.
This film is everything. You might go into it with some reservations and find the symbolism and heightened drama of the performances somewhat ostentatious. But keep watching. This film is irresistible: so funny, so involving, so full of creative spirit and invention. It is a zeitgeist hit that's full of youthful energy, joy in the art of relating a narrative, music, - Simon and Garfunkel's folk-pop evergreens are an integral part of the film, - and memorable performances, especially form Anne Bancroft (Home for the Holidays (1995)) and Dustin Hoffman (Kung Fu Panda (2008)). And so many underwater shots!
The film also has a visual (the cinematography is simple yet fabulous) and lyrical poetic quality, especially in the scenes of Hoffman driving the red sports car. It is a strange thing, but watching the film feels like traveling back in time, visiting the 1960s. It is absolutely wonderful. And The Graduate is a genuine classic.

Related posts:

Mike Nichols: Closer (2004) - Nichols and Marber's intelligent film of love and infidelity 
Angels in America (2003, TV-miniseries) or, Dying in the 80's, of AIDS, at L-E-N-G-T-H
Biloxi Blues (1988) or, '45 Army Camp Confidential     
Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist satire

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: 190 mil. $
= Blockbuster (returned 63.33 times its cost)
[The Graduate premiered 20 December (New York) and runs 106 minutes. An exhaustive list of actresses were in contention or considered for the main female parts, while Hoffman was mainly cast over 'just' Warren Beatty and Robert Redford. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from April - August 1967. In post-production Nichols begged Paul Simon to write more songs for the film. It made 104.6 mil. $ domestically in its original release, making it the currently 23rd highest-grossing film in North America, adjusted for inflation. It is estimated to have made 85 mil. $ in international rentals, and it has made another 339k $ in 3 subsequent domestic re-releases. It was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning for Best Director. It lost Best Actor to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night, Actress (Bancroft) to Katherine Hepburn for Guess Who's Coming for Dinner, Supporting Actress (Ross) to Estelle Parsons for Bonnie & Clyde, Cinematography (Robert Surtees) to Burnett Guffey for Bonnie & Clyde, Picture to In the Heat of the Night and Adapted Screenplay to Stirling Siliphant also for In the Heat of the Night. It won 5/7 Golden Globe nominations, 5/7 BAFTA nominations, a Grammy, a National Board of Review award and other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. It was since adapted for the stage. Nichols returned with Teach Me! (1968, short) and theatrically with masterpiece Catch-22 (1970). Bancroft returned in Young Winston (1972); Hoffman in Madigan's Millions (1968); and Katherine Ross (A Climate for Killing (1991)) in Hellfighters (1968). The Graduate is certified fresh at 86 % with an 8.85/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Graduate?

What's Up, Doc? (1972) - Screwball comedy revived for a wonderful show

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Even the credits and poster work is brimming with spirit and right on the money for Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc?

Four highly important plaid overnight bags get mixed up in San Francisco around a musicologist doctor, who is in town with his fiancee Eunice to compete for a grant.

Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl (1968)) is the sprawling stranger who begins to impersonate the doctor's wife, hilariously played by master comedienne Madeline Kahn (Blazing Saddles (1974)). Ryan O'Neal (Barry Lyndon (1975)) is the very cute and confused Doc in the middle. Both Streisand and O'Neal look sweet as pie, and they also have great screen chemistry. They are sexy and funny in What's Up, Doc?, often at the same time.
But this is not merely a mix-up romcom, but also an homage to all the old, classic screwball comedies as made by Howard Hawks (Bringing Up Baby (1938)), Frank Capra (Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)), Preston Sturges (The Lady Eve (1941)) etc. in the high days of Old Hollywood. Gender-related mix-ups with gags of all kinds involved, it is a genre I have sometimes thought too silly to be really funny, but in great New York filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich's (Targets (1968)) able and very enthusiastic vision, I am laughing and rejoicing in the calamities again and again.
Great Hungarian cinematographer László Kovacs (Easy Rider (1969)) supplies great crips pictures, and Bogdanovich has cast an incredible supporting cast to one outrageously funny character after the other. It all concludes in a memorable and quite elaborate chase through San Francisco and then a court room scene that simply puts the capital H in Hilarity.
The Streisand character is especially cartoonish, deliberately, SPOILER and the film's ending pays appropriate homage to Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes.
What's Up, Doc? will make you laugh and make you happy and perhaps also a bit nostalgic. It is written by Buck Henry (Catch-22 (1970)), David Newman (Superman (1978)) and Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)), based on Bogdanovich's story. It is one of my all-time favorite comedies and one that I can watch again and again and fall in love with all over every single time.
Bogdanovich is a somewhat under-appreciated American filmmaker and actor. He has made several good films, especially The Last Picture Show (1971), which, - on the other hand, - is an incredibly depressing film. He has also made many film documentaries, montages and books on filmmakers and actors. I just finished reading his Who the Hell's In It, which is an incredible joy to read for anyone who loves film and film stars. It features chapters on Bogdanovich's encounters/relationships with stars like John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, James Cagney, Charlie Chaplin, Lillian Gish etc., including comments on their major achievements. - A great book from a great guy.

Related posts:

Peter Bogdanovich: Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject) 
The Wild Angels (1966) - Young biker rebels deliver a counter-culture punch in Corman's hands (co-writer)

Watch the very unorthodox, unpretentious and funny trailer for the hilarious comedy, What's Up, Doc? here

Cost: 4 mil. $
Box office: 66 mil. $ + 3 mil. in 1973 re-run rentals (North America only)
= Mega-hit (returned at least 17.25 times the cost)
[What's Up, Doc? premiered 9 March (New York) and runs 94 minutes. It was shot in New Jersey and California, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, from August - December 1971. It became the 3rd highest grossing film of the year in North America, behind The Godfather and The Poseidon Adventure. The only international figure I have available is from Sweden, where the film was also a major hit with 1.1 mil. admissions there. The film's success closely tails the subsequent major hits Jaws (1975) and Star Wars: Episode VI - A New Hope (1977), said to have started the blockbuster term. The 1982 video release of the film garnered another 28.5 mil. $ in rentals. Bogdanovich returned with Paper Moon (1973). Streisand returned in Up the Sandbox (1972), O'Neal in The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973). What's Up, Doc? is fresh at 90% with a 7.4/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of What's Up, Doc??