Constant forge

I’ve heard of John Cassavetes for quite a while, and also of his wife, the lovely actress Gena Rowlands, but I had never seen one of his films until a couple of days ago, when I saw Faces (1968), A Woman Under The Influence (1974) and Husbands (1970). Now, I can truly say I’m a fan of this man and his work, both as a director and as an actor. Oh, and as a screenwriter, of course. I -like many other people- live for the movies of the Golden Age of Hollywood, the old-fashioned glamour and the lovely musicals or over-the-top melodramas, but at the same time, I adore the revolutionary so called “New Hollywood” of the 1970’s. You see, John Cassavetes is one of the hundreds of reasons I love the 70’s cinema.
Since I am merely a teenager, I can’t really see Cassavetes work from the point of view a mature person does, I haven’t experienced most of the things his characters go through, but I’m still able to enjoy his movies, mostly due to the fact that I do sense and understand the reality and pain he depicts in these stories, and the feeling he and the wonderful actors put into their projects. I can also manage to find beauty in these movies, whether it is a close-up of Gena Rowlands’ beautiful face, or a heartbreaking and truthful scene.

I could write the reviews for Faces or A Woman Under The Influence right now, but I won’t, not yet. In this post I’ll simply share some nice looking photos of John Cassavetes himself, Gena, his films, Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara, Seymour Cassel and a three-part interview of the three starring actors in Husbands (Cassavetes, Falk and Gazzara), delivered by the great Dick Cavett.  As Martin Scorsese said in a fantastic documentary, we all love the Golden Age of Hollywood, it’s terrific to see Ingrid Bergman coming out of the fog and saying goodbye to Humphrey Bogart so tenderly, but that’s never going to happen to us, it’s like something almost untouchable, unreal. Cassavetes sure as hell isn’t.

Gena Rowlands in "A Woman Under The Influence" (1974).

Rowlands in "Faces" (1968).

Actress Lelia Carruthers in "Shadows" (1959).

Rowlands & Cassavetes.

Cassavetes with co-star Mia Farrow in "Rosemary's Baby" (1968), directed by Roman Polanski.

Cassavetes and Peter Falk at Ben Gazzara's wedding, 1982.

John & Gena.

Opening Night (1977)

Faces (1968)

With John Marley in Faces (1968).

Beautiful Lynn Carlin in Faces (1968).

Seymour Cassel as Chet in Faces (1968).

Lynn Carlin

John Marley

Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara and John Cassavetes in Husbands (1970).

Cassavetes holding Ben Gazzara in Husbands (1970).

Next to Peter Falk in Husbands (1970).

Ben Gazzara in Opening Night (1977).

Husbands (1970)

Now, the interview! Dick Cavett is one of my favourite talk-show hosts, probably my favourite (I will do a post about him soon). Anyhow, I don’t know what you might expect from this interview, but it’s truly the craziest one I’ve ever seen, quite funny -at least to me- and very serious, at times. If you like Cassavetes, you’ll enjoy this treat, delivered by three mad men.