Directed by:
John CassavetesScreenplay:
John CassavetesCinematography:
Erich KollmarCast:
Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd, Rupert Crosse, Greta Thyssen, John Cassavetes, Seymour Cassel, Jack Ackerman, Anthony Ray, Mel Stewart, Tom Reese (more)Plots(1)
Set amongst the lively milieu of artists and jazz musicians in bohemian 1950s New York, John Cassavetes' directorial debut follows the doomed relationship between a young mixed-race woman Lelia (Lelia Goldoni) and Tony (Anthony Ray), a white man who betrays his prejudice when he meets Lelia's brother, a struggling jazz singer. Shot on location with a cast and crew largely made up of amateurs and featuring a swinging, improvised score by Charles Mingus and Shafi Hadi, Shadows gave birth to a radical new film language grounded in authenticity, and is widely considered the first truly independent American film. (British Film Institute (BFI))
(more)Cast
Ben Carruthers
USA
Best movies:
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Shadows (1958)
Lilith (1964)
Lelia Goldoni
USA
Best movies:
The Day of the Locust (1975)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
Shadows (1958)
Hugh Hurd
USA
Best movies:
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Shadows (1958)
Mafioso (1962)
Rupert Crosse
USA
Best movies:
Shadows (1958)
Marnie (1964)
Waterhole #3 (1967)
Greta Thyssen
Denmark
Best movies:
Shadows (1958)
Bus Stop (1956)
Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962)
John Cassavetes
USA
Best movies:
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
Seymour Cassel
USA
Best movies:
In the Soup (1992)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Faces (1968)
Jack Ackerman
USA
Best movies:
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Shadows (1958)
Machine Gun McCain (1969)
Anthony Ray
USA
Best movies:
Men in War (1957)
Shadows (1958)
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973)
Mel Stewart
USA
Best movies:
Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series)
Let's Do It Again (1975)
Tom Reese
USA
Best movies:
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1968)
Vanishing Point (1971)
The Outfit (1973)
Lynn Hamilton
USA
Best movies:
Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
Roots: The Next Generations (1979) (series)
Shadows (1958)
Cliff Carnell
Best movies:
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Columbo (1971) (series)
Ronald Maccone
Best movies:
Casino (1995)
Goodfellas (1990)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
Jean Shepherd
USA
Best movies:
Shadows (1958)
A Christmas Story (1983) - narrator
It Runs in the Family (1994) - narrator
Gena Rowlands
USA
Best movies:
Persepolis (2007)
Night on Earth (1991)
The Notebook (2004)