Shadows |  | Director: John Cassavetes
Actors: Jack Ackerman, Tom Allen, Cliff Carnell, Ben Carruthers, Jay Crecco
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.98
Buy Used: $22.49
You Save: $2.49 (10%)
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Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 93725
Format: Black & White, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 81
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Pan & Scan
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 6304864248
UPC: 013023002999
EAN: 9786304864241
ASIN: 6304864248
Theatrical Release Date: November 11, 1959
Release Date: March 24, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
When you consider that the big movies of 1960 were films such as Elmer Gantry and The Alamo, it's hard to imagine what people made of this, John Cassavetes's first independent feature. Improvised by the cast, shot in black and white, it looked like no other film of its time. Cassavetes, seeking to both deal with social issues and create a new kind of cinema, told a story about a family of black siblings in Manhattan trying to make ends meet. But one brother falls in with bad company, while the sister, who is trying to pass for white, gets involved in an interracial romance that ultimately crumbles when the white man she falls for discovers her true identity. Though it meanders at times, it features the kind of spontaneous emotion Cassavetes most wanted to elicit in his films. --Marshall Fine
Description
Cassavetes' first independent feature depicts the struggle of three African-American siblings to survive in the mean streets of Manhattan. Hugh, a would-be jazz musician, looks after younger siblings Ben and Leila, who are light-skinned enough to pass for white. This seems to give them an advantage and more opportunities while Hugh must struggle by playing the trumpet in dive bars and strip joints. Shadows was made from a script entirely improvised by the cast, and heralded a vital new era in independent filmmaking. Starring: Hugh Hurd, Leila Goldoni, Ben Carruthers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 A breakthrough in American cinema... January 13, 2007
The remarkable, sometimes infuriating, often brilliant films of John Cassavetes occupy a unique position in American cinema... Low-budget, partly improvised, inspired by cinema verite documentary, and related to underground film, they have nevertheless frequently managed to reach a wide and profoundly appreciative audience...
After drama studies, the young Cassavetes quickly made his name as an unusually unrefined, intense actor, often appearing in films about disaffected, rebellious youth such as "Crime in the Streets" and "Edge of the City."
Setting up an actors' workshop, he worked to transform an improvisational experiment into his feature debut... The result, "Shadows," taking three years to complete and partly financed by his performances in TV's Johnny Staccato, was a breakthrough in American cinema... About the effect of racism on an already fraught relationship between two black men and their sister, two of whom pass for white, the film is impressive for its irregular, seemingly formless style and naturalistic performances... Plot was minimal, mood and emotional apparent truth were everything...
 Behind-the-scenes for Cass buffs January 26, 2005
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
For a fascinating behind-the-scenes info about Shadows and a list of books about Cassavetes' work, go to Ray Carney's website dedicated to John Cassavetes (found through any search engine).
Out from the Shadows November 16, 2002
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Cassavetes was just warming up when he made this in the late '50s, but what a debut! He'd have better actors and more focused scenes in future movies, but the willingness to tackle intense subjects in unexpected ways is already here in full force. Race isn't so much the issue in "Shadows" as it is an occasion for exploring a whole range of folks uncomfortable in their own skins, from the 'racist' lover who wants Lelia back to the goofy hoods in Ben's gang. Cassavetes is especially sensitive to the way that people who are forced to conform to any of society's ideas--about the artist, the intellectual or the racial outsider--can be violent in turn towards others. A great taste of the films to come!
AWEsome Film February 3, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a great movie. Like it was made yeserday. Punk, beat in sensibility. About young people struggling on the fringes.Also the review that follows mine is right. A guy named Ray Carney just wrote an amazing book about the movie that has incredible behind the scenes details that no one ever knew before. Cassavetes revealed them to Carney before he died in a Rosebud conversation. Check out the book titled Shadows and another titled Cassavetes on Cassavetes along with the film. It's available here if you type in Cassavetes' name under books. Also Carney has a web site that you should check out with lots of other Cassavetes material. I love this movie! And the books about it.
FILM GOGGLES December 21, 2001
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This intense, hysterical, loud, sweet and sour film was NOT an IMPROVISATION despite the end title! Neither were Cassavetes other films, in the classic sense of IMPROV. Improv was sparringly used in the writing of the scripts, but Cassavetes was a WRITER who knew what he was doing more than people give him credit for. This is a major crime against one of the greatest artists of the last 100 years (wha? no, seriously). To get the real scoop, and an exhaustive, loving take on this important first film by an American original, check out the BFI Film Series edition on SHADOWS, which just came out. It breaks it down and builds it back up, in a way you won't believe.
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