In Memoriam: Gena Rowlands: A Luminary of Emotion and Depth dies at 94

Saying goodbye to authentic, complex & fearless Gena Rowlands

Oscar-nominated actress Gena Rowlands, renowned for her powerful performances in films like “A Woman Under the Influence” and “Gloria,” has passed away at the age of 94. Her illustrious career, which spanned nearly seven decades, included significant collaborations with her husband, director John Cassavetes, and earned her numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Awards and an honorary Academy Award in 2015.

Gena Rowlands began her career in dramatic television with notable performances in anthology series like Robert Montgomery Presents, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, showcasing her talent in complex roles that would later define her film career.

In the gripping episode “The Lonely Hours” of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Gena Rowlands delivered a riveting performance as a young mother locked in a psychological battle with Nancy Kelly’s character, a deranged woman who kidnaps Rowlands’ son. Rowlands skillfully portrayed the anguish and determination of a parent facing every mother’s nightmare while engaging in tense verbal exchanges with her son’s captor. Her nuanced portrayal showcased her ability to convey complex emotions, foreshadowing the intense dramatic roles that would define her later career.

Her portrayal of a mother confronting her son’s AIDS diagnosis in An Early Frost earned her critical acclaim and her first Emmy nomination, highlighting her ability to tackle sensitive and challenging subjects on screen. She even appeared in the episode Playback that aired on March 2, 1975, of Columbo, where she plays Elizabeth Van Wick, the wheelchair-bound wife of the murderer Harold Van Wick, portrayed by Oskar Werner, who kills her mother, Myrna Loy.

Rowlands broke new ground in Indie cinema. In The Notebook, Gena Rowlands delivered a poignant performance as the elderly Allie Calhoun, skillfully portraying the emotional depth of a woman grappling with dementia while reflecting on a profound romance from her youth. Her ability to channel personal experiences, particularly her own mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s, added authenticity to the role, resonating deeply with audiences and contributing to the film’s lasting impact.

Gena Rowlands: A Woman Under the Influence of Brilliance

The alchemy of Gena Rowland's acting style is how she integrates her craft with an indescribable beauty and presence that is reminiscent of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Before the emotionally distilled and complex actress emerged as an icon, Gena Rowlands set out with her husband, John Cassavetes, to create a new naturalistic landscape of independent American movies in the 1970s that inspired generations of filmmakers. She began showing the attractive pull of her strength in dramatic teleplays for early television programming.

Shows like Robert Montgomery Presents, Ponds Theater Armstrong Circle Theatre Studio One, The United States Steel Hour, Goodyear Playhouse, General Electric Theater, and of course Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. She had a regular stint on the television police procedural series 87th Precinct, playing cop Robert Lansing's deaf wife. In 1975, she starred alongside Peter Falk (One of Cassavete's inner sanctum of actors along with Ben Gazzara) in Columbo's season 4 episode Playback.

In feature films, she was cast as Jerry Bondi in Lonely Are the Brave in 1962, in Cassavetes' A Child is Waiting in 1963, and in Gordon Douglas' Tony Rome 1967, starring friends Frank Sinatra and Richard Conte.

Working since the mid-1950s, Rowlands began to give shades of the forceful performances to come in the three episodes of Hitchcock's series, in particular, The Lonely Hours, playing off veteran stage actress Nancy Kelly.

Gena Rowlands was nominated for two Academy Awards for her performances in director/actor husband John Cassavetes' films. In 1974 for A Woman Under the Influence and in 1980 for her gutsy portrait of one tough broad in Gloria 1980.

She was also nominated for eight Golden Globes having won two, and eight Emmys winning three. On November 14th, Gena Rowlands was finally given an Honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards ceremony.

"With her bold bone structure and the curtain of her wheat-gold Jackie O coif, Gena Rowlands is the classic Hollywood icon that got away"¦. Had she been born into the Studio ear of the 1930s or 1940s, one suspects that she would have sured up a career running across the grand roles, from the tough boots molls through to the stoic others and peppery femme fatales. She has the angular hardness which typifies the best of them in that period- one can imagine her, as easily as Crawford, Davis, Stanwyck or Bacall." -bfi.org.uk

"I'd never seen anyone that beautiful with a certain gravitas. It was particularly unique in that time, when many women were trying to be girlish, affecting a superficial, "˜I'm a pretty girl' attitude. It seemed to be the best way to succeed, but Gena did none of that. There was a directness"”not that she wasn't fun and didn't smolder"”but it came from a place that was both genuine and deep." "“ Mia Farrow

Director Sidney Lumet in an interview with critic James Grissom, said: "The highest compliment I can pay to her"”to anyone"”is that the talent frightens me, making me aware of the lack of it in so many and the power that accrues to those who have it and use it well. And the talent educates and illuminates. She is admirable, which can be said of only a few of us."

In Faces 1968, nominated for 3 Oscars, Rowlands plays prostitute Jeannie with director Cassavetes with something like steel and fearlessness behind her eyes, asserting a challenge to try and reach her after being crushed by men. Rowland manifests a performance "˜aching with wordless solitude' (Ebert)

In the visual poem about loneliness and the feeling of isolation, Minnie & Moskowitz 1971 stars Rowland as the edgy blonde Minnie who perceptively flickers with co-star Seymour Cassel and displays her captivating sensuality under Cyclopean sunglasses.

Minnie works in a museum and has never forgiven the movies for selling her a bill of goods. "The movies lead you on," she tells her friend Florence. "They make you believe in romance and love . . . and, Florence, there just aren't any Clark Gables, not in the real world. Still, Minnie dreams, and keeps a romantic secret locked in her heart: She's glad the movies sold her that bill of goods. (Roger Ebert)

Rowlands garnered her first Oscar nomination for her unforgettable performance as Mabel Longhetti in A Woman Under the Influence 1974, co-starring Peter Falk, who is in the grips of Mabel's mental illness.

"It left me exhausted and depressed-feeling. Some of the time, when you're walking out there where the air is thin, you just hope you can walk back again." -Gena Rowlands.

From an interview with Matt Zoler Seitz "“ talking about A Woman Under the Influence-

"That was my favorite movie. I loved doing that movie. I loved it because I loved working with Peter Falk, I loved the mix of comedy in it, that was sort of real comedy. 

The film was about a woman who was obsessed with the love of her husband, for her husband. And he was a regular guy, worked for the city, had to do his work at night, or in daytime when there was a call for it. She plans so heavily for a romantic night, gets her mother to take her children over to her house, gets house in tiptop shape"”she was a woman who was really obsessed. Then he got a call that the water line had broken and had to call her and say that he couldn't come home later, and then he came back the next morning with all of his friends, and she was very happy to see him to offer them all breakfast, but mostly because she wanted to please him always, and she offers to make them spaghetti. Do you remember that scene?

Yes, I remember the spaghetti scene. Everybody remembers that scene, it was a great scene.

"It's so wonderful to do a scene like that, where it feels so true. You can tell a lot about her in that scene. You see that everything she did was to please him"¦

I also liked the fact that in that film, I was a little wacko, but my husband understood that and he loved me, and it didn't bother him that I was as strange as I could be. When I have this terrible breakdown and have to go away for a while, leave him and my children, oh"”that's a hard scene. We're showing a hard moment in a person's life, a terribly hard moment. Then she comes back and they try to make it easy for her as possible. It's just so good, all the scenes."

As Myrtle Gordon, Rowlands gives another masterful performance in Cassavetes' Opening Night portraying a successful stage actress's "˜final agony of bottoming out' (Ebert), rehearsing a production of The Second Woman in New Haven, whose life is turned upside down after she witnesses a 17-year-old fan's death outside the theater.

Gena Rowlands in Opening Night 1977.

Rowlands plays the role "At perfect pitch: She is able to suggest, even in the midst of seemingly ordinary moments, the controlled panic of a person who needs a drink, right here, right now." (Roger Ebert)

She captures the restless energy that imbues the behind-the-scenes world of the theater and the "˜dreary perspective of Myrtle's uninspiring production she stars in.' (Chris Wiegand- The Guardian).

"All while descending into a prolonged crack-up involving binge drinking, consultations with mediums, and a repeat hallucination of a young girl"¦ Early on, when Myrtle is first confronted with the hallucination/girl, there's a closeup of Rowlands' face that is an example of her unique genius. Even very talented actors feel the need to show an audience "what a moment is about." Not Rowlands. In that closeup, Myrtle stares at the girl, wondering if she has finally lost her mind, and then she puts an almost welcoming expression on her face, before mouthing the word, "Hello!" It's hair-raising." Ebert)

Nipping at booze, Myrtle trips between reality on and off stage, drenched in an alcoholic delirium "“ "Rowlands' drunkenness in "Opening Night" is in the pantheon of Great Drunks onscreen." (Roger Ebert).

Myrtle drifts in and out of character, conjuring visions of two women who do not exist. Virginia the role for which she is wary of, struggles to portray an older woman for the first time, a character who is aesthetically defined by her age. And embracing the phantom of Nancy, the young girl who died, whose youthful receptiveness is what she seeks to direct, all within an oppressive environment driven by the men she works with, director (Ben Gazzara) and ex-lover co-star (Cassavetes).

How can you bring a character alive if you don't believe in them "“ Myrtle asks playwright Sarah Goode played by Joan Blondell. Myrtle needs to reclaim her identity on stage and for herself.

"The scenes in which Myrtle in Opening Night consults first one and then another spiritualist are typical of Cassavetes' genius in filming madness. He gives us characters who are clearly breaking apart inside, and then sends them hurtling around crazily in search of quick fixes and Band-Aids. (In "Love Streams," the hard-drinking Cassavetes surrounds himself with hookers, while Sarah (Rowlands), as his sister, fills a taxicab with animals she has "rescued" from a pet store; in "A Woman Under the Influence," a crowd of basket cases sit down to eat a big dinner that has been whipped together under the delusion that life is normal and everybody is having a great time." Roger Ebert

Gena Rowland in Gordon Douglas' Tony Rome 1967.

In Gloria 1980 directed by John Cassavetes, a film Rowlands considers a "˜gangster comedy,' gets to play the hard-edged gun moll she would have perfected in the best film noirs of the 1940s. The film takes an unexpected approach to motherhood- as Gloria Swenson becomes the reluctant guardian of a little boy whose family is murdered by the mob. The two go on the run in the gritty streets of New York City in possession of a book that the mob wants. Rowland is never fake while she roars and swears at the thugs chasing her on the subway, moving like the wind down the sidewalks of New York in her silk suits, handling her gun like an uncompromising pro. "˜"˜I don't want to be a victim! Victim, that's passe; I've played a victim. I don't want to be a victimized, you know, a victimized person again"¦This is a victimized person, isn't it?'  he assures her -"˜' No, it's not a victimized person. A very strong person. You're not a victim; you're an "˜anti-victim." "Good, don't get it in your mind that I'm a victim!'" (Rowlands from a conversation with husband John Cassavetes).

Cassel and Rowlands in Minnie and Moskowitz in 1971.

Gloria for Gena Rowlands is where she gives flight her roles rooted in vulnerability and deep psychological storms. In the film, she attains ascendency puts a gun to the head of the personal victimization, and defies some of her older collaborative roles with Cassavetes interpreted by instability and downward spirals. She wouldn't allow herself to be trapped by stereotypes of "˜eccentric, middle-aged women.' which was a role that established her on-screen persona in the 1970s.

"Love is a stream. It is continuous. It doesn't stop."

In 1984's Love Streams, directed by John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands portrays Sarah Lawson, a character whose life has been unexpectedly upended when she finds herself in the midst of a divorce from her husband Jack, portrayed by Seymour Cassel.

Adding to her pain, her young daughter Debbie (Risa Martha Blewitt) chooses to live with her father instead. At a time when she questions whether she is worthy of love, experiencing an emotional breakdown she reaches out to her brother Robert (Cassavetes).

Rowlands objected to Cassavete's script, finding herself once again playing a "˜victimized person', but he assured her that Sarah was truly strong.

Sarah's divergence from the past "˜madwoman archetype' is in her resilience from her earlier roles in the 70s "“ as Mabel in A Woman Under the Influence whereas her therapist in Love Streams has a similar commentary that her love is "too strong for her family,''

Unlike Minnie, who is stripped down by Cassel in Minnie and Moskowitz in 1971, and Myrtle Gordon, whose mind becomes fractured during the New York premiere of her play in Opening Night, Sarah comes to a reckoning about how love flows and can be reached. And no one but Rowlands could compel heartache to emerge out of a smile.

Source Andrew Key

Source Chris Wiegand The Guardian

Source: RogerEbert.Com

Unraveling the Knot: Don’t Look Now (1973) A Mesmeric Paradox of Grief in Uncanny Red: Part 2

Of Grief & Ghosts: The Plot of Don’t Look Now (1973)

“The story evolves like a mosaic with the important pieces missing, just like one of those that John is restoring. Not unlike how the dissolution of the sealing material destroys the structures in the church, the reality of Baxters' life is falling apart, too. These cracks either should be mended, or they allow the forces from beyond and under to creep through them. The latter is especially true for John with his gift of clairvoyance, although resisted, or maybe especially because he resists it.” "” from Film Obsessive article by Magda Mariamidze

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.""” Gospel of Thomas

John (Donald Sutherland) and Laura Baxter (Julie Christie) bear the mark of a curse, a chilling revelation hinted at at the film's outset. Don't Look Now is a film about grief and loss. This is the most potent horror there is. Aside from the killings in Venice, it is these principles that are the true nature of this horror film. Roeg's masterpiece, the specter of death, and its companion grief are palpable and agonizingly real. The titles in quotations are baptized by the torrential British rain that licks the screen.

A Tragic Prelude: or In the Wake of Loss: The Opening of Don’t Look Now:

John Baxter: What are you reading?
Laura Baxter: I was just trying to find the answer to a question Christine was asking me: if the world’s round, why is a frozen lake flat?
John Baxter: Huh. That’s a good question.
Laura Baxter: [flipping through a book] Ah-ha. “Lake Ontario curves more than 3 degrees from its easternmost shore to its westernmost shore.” So, frozen water really isn’t flat!
John Baxter: Nothing is what it seems.

The juxtaposition of these images is Roeg’s way of highlighting the profuse symbolism consciously scattered throughout key scenes of Don’t Look Now. Here, I found a visible but not readily apparent cue signaling the dichotomy between the forces at work. Laura and the Red Devil, with their backs, turned to us.

Though it's a sunny day, we get a sense that it is a typically damp English morning mist in the yard of a country estate. The film cuts back and forth between the Baxters and their two children, playing outside by the pond. Christine and Johnny's parents are lost in a world of idle contentment within the house. The air hangs heavy with a bourgeois harmony. Both are tuned into their work, though, with an unhurried cadence.

Laura is reading Beyond The Fragile Geometry of Space, a book that can be seen on the sofa, so that she can answer Christine's question about the earth’s shape. John comments, " Nothing is as it seems."

Alongside du Maurier's narrative, the film begins with Laura investigating the answer to Christine's insightful curiosity: ” If the earth is round, why is a frozen pond flat?” This question highlights a paradox, as both statements can be seen as valid yet fundamentally contradictory.

The remnants of a lazy Sunday lunch linger: dishes abandoned, forks and knives scattered, while a thin ribbon of smoke rises from a forgotten cigarette in an ashtray, painting a picture of contented indulgence.

Their two young children, Johnny and Christine, continue to play around the pond on their bucolic property. Christine (Sharon Williams), an angelic little blonde girl in a shiny red Mac with the bright look of fresh blood"”red like a bleeding heart"”wanders around the pond pushing a wheelbarrow and chasing a bouncing ball. The sunny blue day surrounds the murky surface of the pond choked with reeds. The pond doesn't reflect the sky, but the water is like a mirror to Christine's red raincoat as she skirts her playful path. Meanwhile, her brother weaves through the trees on his bike, a silent fluttering moth against the verdant backdrop.

Christine’s playful moments with her ball create an unsettling visual dance. The little sphere, adorned with a crimson geometric design against the hazy day, seems to pulse and warp as it tumbles across the ground into the pond. This optical illusion subtly disturbs our perception, adding to the film’s undercurrent of unease without drawing attention to itself. She is holding her brother's toy soldier, Action Man, who, when you pull the string, possesses the recorded voice of a woman calling out strategic military commands.

As soon as Christine tugs the string on her doll, it utters, “Enemy 1000 feet…fall in.” In that instant, Johnny topples over his bike, is felled by a rock, and is cut by a shard of broken glass after he has ridden his bike over a pane of glass, shattering it beneath the with of his tires.

In this stunning opening sequence, architect John Baxter is prepping for a restoration of a church in Venice. He scrutinizes his projector loaded with slides"”of an Italian church. Laura Baxter reads her books, and John is studying his slides of the medieval church he will be reviving. He focuses on one slide, in particular, of a stained glass window; the façade of piety is splendid, with the figure of Christ adorned in red robes. However, he has no solid faith or spirituality of his own to cling to.

It is the shadowy corner of the slide that catches John's eye"”a small, enigmatic red form huddled in a pew, cloaked in a red coat and hood. The sight triggers a sudden, curious feeling. This intruding presence, small, perhaps childlike in appearance, becomes the catalyst for John's sudden, horrifying vision"”an intuitive warning to him that Christine is in danger.

John accidentally knocks over a glass of water and watches with curiosity as a red stain emerges from the small figure, like blood, creeping across the slide. A seemingly unremarkable mishap ignites an unsettling vision that John's mind conjures. The red figure melts into a disambiguated crimson swirl that coils around the church's stained-glass window. By the time it settles, it is almost fetal in shape; the veiled red figure, once a mere curiosity, now takes on a sinister aspect. A vision of Christine wearing the same evocative color, red, becoming submerged in the murky depths of the nearby pond.

He leaps to his feet and heads for the door. Laura asks him what is happening. "Nothing," he tells her.
Laura tosses a slide onto the book on metaphysics as the image continues to bleed.

John runs out of the house, hurls himself at the pond, past his son, his hand cut from the piece of broken glass; he screams, "Dad!"

When John reaches the water, it feels like it takes forever for him to reach Christine; frozen by his anguish, he then plunges in and pulls his red angel from the watery nothingness, her lifeless body wrenched up into his arms as he agonizes over her limp body with drenched blonde wisps. Roeg intercuts this moment of visual artistry with the harrowing sight of John trying to trudge through the water until he breaks through. Christine’s lifeless body is cradled in his arms as time and reality blur – in an unreadable mixture that will become past and present.

Continue reading “Unraveling the Knot: Don’t Look Now (1973) A Mesmeric Paradox of Grief in Uncanny Red: Part 2” →

Unraveling the Knot: Don’t Look Now (1973) A Mesmeric Paradox of Grief in Uncanny Red: Part 1

The basic tenet of horror movies – "˜ Nothing is as it seems "˜ and for me, Don't Look Now is a death of all certainties.

In the early seventies, when even mainstream films could be fearless and experimental, smashing taboos and taunting the censors, it was non-conformists who offered cinemagoing a uniquely intense experience.

 “Don't Look Now 1973 retains its power and mystery today thanks to Roeg's mastery of what Alfred Hitchcock famously called "pure cinema," manifest in his visual sleight of hand and, above all, in his refusal to be bound by the conventions of dialogue-driven narrative and simple chronology. All this has shaped a style that has justifiably come to be described as "Roegian."– (David Thompson: Seeing Red 2015 article CRITERION )

“Nothing is what it seems," says John Baxter, the protagonist of Don't Look Now, at the start of the film. The rest of the movie depicts the tragedy of Baxter's incapacity to apply this fundamental wisdom in his own life. "Nothing is what it seems" may be an untested platitude, but it's a truism when it comes to movies, and Don't Look Now is one of the great "movies-about-movie-watching" ever made. Primarily, it is about the act of perception itself"¦ By seeing an event that has not yet happened as something that is already happening (what-will-be as what-is), he (John) fatally confuses the signs and makes the future the past, i.e., irrevocable, inescapable. Like a movie stamped on celluloid, or the glimpse of the satanic dwarf on the slide Baxter is handling in the opening scene, he fixes something in time, and thereby turns life into death.""” (article – Jasun Horsley Cinephilia and Beyond)

"He was a genius, Nic. A visionary. He made a love scene between a grieving wife and herhusband with no cries of passion, no sounds of orgasm, no words. All you hear is Pino Donaggio's music as Nic intercuts their making love with them getting dressed to go out to dinner. Magical. You don't see that scene as a voyeur. You watch it and it reminds you of yourself, of you being loving and you being loved. We decided it would be wisest not to shoot John's death scene until we'd done everything else, in case the unreliable prop knife failed and my throat would be cut, spilling red. Fragmented, abstract images colour and tell his stories. Look at Omar Sharif on a camel, coming from the other end of the desert towards the camera. That's Nic. Look at the Sahara's empty foreground and suddenly the smokestacks of a steamer crossing from left to right along the unseen Suez canal. That's Nic. He was the was the first to use Panavision's R-200°, which meant he had 15 degrees more shutter for Don't Look Now than the 185°s that were the best before. He was everything I ever wanted from a filmmaker. He changed my life forever. Francine and I asked him if we could name our firstborn after him. He said yes. Our glorious son is named Roeg." -  (Interview – Donald Sutherland)

Continue reading “Unraveling the Knot: Don’t Look Now (1973) A Mesmeric Paradox of Grief in Uncanny Red: Part 1” →

Home for the Holidays 1972 Made for TV Movie: "The next time, I will not be the one who wakes up screaming.”

"There's nothing more chilling than a warm family gathering."

A Flashback to the 1970s: ABC Movie of the Week:

Even now, when I hear that iconic theme music from the ABC Movie of the Week, I can’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia wash over me, like a warm hug from a long-lost friend who just walked in wearing bell-bottoms and a tie-dye shirt. It's like my heart does a little happy dance, reminding me of those cozy nights I spent rapt by the TV, ready for whatever wild ride the network had in store.

Growing up in the 70s, I was drawn to its unique vibe; who wouldn't get misty-eyed thinking about the sheer joy of watching a made-for-TV movie? Those were the days when that format was our portal to adventure, and that theme music was the soundtrack to our childhood dreams!

I often love reflecting on those days – the groovy vibes of the 1970s when the ABC Movie of the Week burst onto the scene, pulling you into its orbit. Launched in 1969 as a bold move to jazz up ABC’s lineup, this anthology series became a cultural phenomenon, delivering a fresh, funky mix of drama, suspense, and heartwarming stories that kept viewers like me glued to their couches.

With its vibrant opening theme and a mosaic of original films, the series kicked off with Seven in Darkness, a gripping tale of survival that set the tone for the creative magic to come. Each week brought a range of unique offerings, from the nail-biting tension of Duel, directed by the visionary Steven Spielberg, to the heartfelt camaraderie of Brian’s Song, which touched us on such a deeply emotional level.

The ABC Movie of the Week was more than just entertainment; it was a cultural touchstone that launched the careers of iconic actors and filmmakers, all while capturing the spirit of an era defined by bold experimentation and social change. With unforgettable stories and a flair for the dramatic, this series left an indelible mark on the fabric of television, making it a true classic of the 70s that still resonates today.

The landscape of 1970s television was rich and varied, featuring everything from soap operas and detective dramas to family sitcoms and supernatural thrillers. This era was characterized by a diverse array of genres, from groundbreaking sitcoms and gripping dramas to whimsical variety shows and thrilling action series. Shows like All in the Family, Mash, Columbo, and The Rockford Files captivated viewers with their clever plots and charismatic actors. They not only reflected the zeitgeist of the era but also influenced future generations of storytelling on screen.

The legendary Aaron Spelling contributed his vision to American television in a big way. He left a legacy as a producer known for creating some of the most unique made for tv movies chillers like Curtis Harrington’s How Awful About Allan 1970 and Satan’s School for Girls 1973 and iconic shows of the 1970s and beyond, including Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty, and Beverly Hills, 90210. With a career spanning over five decades, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most prolific television producer, crafting a staggering 4,300 hours of programming that defined the landscape of American pop culture.

Thanks so much, Gil of Realweegiemidgetreviews, for hosting this wonderful blogathon and giving me a chance once again to feel the groovy sense of nostalgia during my New York summer heatwave with this little chilly holiday tale of family fights and frights!

Continue reading “Home for the Holidays 1972 Made for TV Movie: "The next time, I will not be the one who wakes up screaming.”” →

Around the corner at The Last Drive In

In just a few days, I’ll be publishing my feature article for Nicolas Roeg’s meditation on grief, Don’t Look Now 1973. This is perfect timing to pay tribute to one of the most prolific, beloved actors, Donald Sutherland, who we just lost a few days ago.

Donald Sutherland (NY Times article), whose unforgettably versatile performances in films like Don’t Look Now has left an indelible mark on cinema and the artistry that defined his impressive career. Films that include M*A*S*H 1970, Kelly’s Heroes 1970s, Klute 1971, Casanova 1976, Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978, and Ordinary People 1980.

I am also really, really excited to announce… my upcoming interview with the indomitable Adrienne Barbeau, A Trailblazer of Stage and Screen!

So grab a box of raisinets and get ready for some good ol’ long-winded stuff from your EverLovin’ Joey!

Farewell to the King of the B’s: Cult Auteur Roger Corman dies at 98

"Now that we can create anything you can imagine with CG and technology, I think sometimes the special effects are emphasized over the story. It should still be about effects serving the narrative."

"”Roger Corman

For decades, Roger Corman was the Michelangelo of the B-movie, single-handedly painting hundreds of low-budget movies at the neighborhood drive-ins with titles like It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Little Shop of Horrors, X The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, The Wild Angels and a title that lingers called The Terror which featured a handsome unknown Jack Nicholson. All were created at the fastest pace on the cheapest budget imaginable. And it could be said the trailers (and titles) were just as exhilarating as the features. But beneath the cheese resided a surprising truth: Corman was a godfather of American independent film who played a prominent role in launching the careers of directors such as Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, and Francis Ford Coppola.

Some of his most notable films were his adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe, which featured the hauntingly surreal art design by Daniel Haller and the Baroque magnificence of Vincent Price at the center of it all. About those masterpieces of the macabre to come!

Some of my most beloved memories as a kid growing up in the early 1960s are spending balmy afternoons exploring Corman's world. It's about time I paid tribute to his monumental contribution in the wake of his passing. And you know me… I’ll cover it all.

Read The Hollywood Reporter article here:

This is your EverLovin Joey saying: Keep an eye out here at The Last Drive In"”I'll be planning something special, it won't be cheap, and it won't be quick- not for the King of the B’s!

Enter Teresa Wright in The Little Foxes 1941 – Behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts"¦ and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field.

"I only ever wanted to be an actress, not a star."

Teresa Wright may seem lamblike at first glance, but don't let the soft smile fool you into thinking there isn't something gutsy within that charming glow. She is one of the most engaging actors, and she shows a resolute luster and independence to take on Hollywood with the same veracity she pursued wicked Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt.

Wright was not only endearing, but her acting and personal life lacked ceremony and authenticity. She was discovered by Samuel Goldwyn and gained early recognition for her exceptional performances in her first three films. She became the only actor to receive Oscar nominations for each of them. Wright earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress and one for Mrs. Miniver.

Teresa Wright and Greer Garson in William Wyler’s Mrs. Miniver (1942).

It stands to reason that Times drama editor Edwin Schallert described Wright's burgeoning career as "one of the most remarkably brilliant for a young player in Hollywood.""¨Despite being a Hollywood star, she remained true to herself and rejected the pretentiousness that came along with being a star. She achieved Hollywood stardom on her own terms, without selling out for the sake of glamour.

Teresa Wright was resolute in her refusal to pose for photographs while wearing bathing suits and to subject herself to superficial interviews in gossipy fan magazines. At first, Goldwyn told her he was not of "the bathing suit school of Hollywood producers."

Muriel Teresa Wright was born in Harlem, New York City. She discovered a passion for acting while attending the exclusive Rosehaven School in Tenafly, New Jersey, after watching Helen Hayes in "Victoria Regina." While attending high school in Maplewood, N.J., Wright participated in theatrical productions. Although one teacher advised her to pursue typing instead, a public-speaking teacher mentored her and provided her with plays to read. He also arranged for her to spend two summers at the Wharf Theater in Provincetown.

After receiving a scholarship in the two summers preceding her graduation, she began apprenticing at the Wharf Theatre in Massachusetts, appearing in plays such as The Vinegar Tree and Susan and God.
She performed in school plays and graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, in 1938. She then decided to pursue acting professionally and moved to New York.

Wright had to drop her first name when she discovered that another actress named Muriel Wright was already registered with Actors Equity.

In 1938, in her first play, she landed an understudy role in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" on Broadway and then toured in the play.

It was a minor role, but it also served as a chance to understudy the lead ingénue character of Emily, actress Dorothy Maguire; however, when Maguire failed to return, Teresa continued in the same role under Martha Scott. Wright eventually replaced Martha Scott when the actress adapted the role of Emily in the film version.

Following her successful stage performances, Wright made her remarkable Broadway debut as Mary in Life With Father in 1939. This caught the attention of playwright Lillian Hellman, who recommended her to Goldwyn for the screen version of Hellman's The Little Foxes.

Teresa Wright as Alexandra (Zan) Gibbons in Lillian Hellman/William Wyler The Little Foxes (1941).

She gained recognition for her work alongside Bette Davis (who played the cold, calculating mother Regina) and Patricia Collinge who reprised her unparalleled Broadway role as the mercurial Aunt Birdie) in the film.

At that time, she had signed a contract with MGM but refused to do publicity stunts or cheese-cake shots that would turn her into a centerfold:

" The aforementioned Teresa Wright shall not be required to pose for photographs in a bathing suit unless she is in the water. Neither may she be photographed running on the beach with her hair flying in the wind. Nor may she pose in any of the following situations: In shorts, playing with a cocker spaniel; digging in a garden; whipping up a meal; attired in firecrackers and holding skyrockets for the Fourth of July; looking insinuatingly at a turkey for Thanksgiving; wearing a bunny cap with long ears for Easter; twinkling on prop snow in a skiing outfit while a fan blows her scarf; assuming an athletic stance while pretending to hit something with a bow and arrow."

Though she became the unwilling pin-up girl, Teresa Wright became Goldwyn's biggest overall star during the 1940s.

Teresa Wright and Gary Cooper in Pride of the Yankees (1942) image RKO via Getty Images.

Teresa received Oscar nominations for her roles in Mrs. Miniver (1942), the only movie she made for her studio MGM, and The Pride of the Yankees (1942), winning the Best Supporting Actress trophy for Mrs. Miniver.

In both roles, Teresa Wright gave heartwarming performances as the granddaughter in the sentimental war-era Mrs. Miniver and as baseball icon Lou Gehrig's kindhearted wife in Pride of the Yankees, starring opposite Gary Cooper. Wright, now one of the most appealing newcomers in Hollywood, garnered two Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress nods in the same year. She holds the record for receiving back-to-back Academy Award nominations in her first three film roles, which still stands today.

Teresa Wright received top billing for Shadow of a Doubt, a film that was her personal favorite and earned every bit of that limelight in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller. The film places Wright as serial killer Joseph Cotten's unsuspecting niece, Charlie, at the story’s center. Unsuspecting at first"¦

When Young Charlie (Wright) is over the moon about her favorite Uncle Charlie coming to her sleeping California town for a visit, the whole family celebrates his arrival. Her mother, Emma, Charlie's older sister (Patricia Collings, who appeared with Wright in The Little Foxes and Casanova Brown), can't wait to dote on her baby brother. But soon, it comes to light that Charlie might have left strangled wealthy women in his wake, and in fact, maybe The Merry Widow killer.

Teresa Wright gives a nuanced performance as Charlie Newton, who daringly holds her own in a game of cat and mouse with Joseph Cotten. They are tangled up in danger as she carefully draws out his murderous impulses.

But in the shadows beyond the edges, the family is unaware of the two characters diverge "“ one set on self-preservation with a malignant disgust for fat lazy wives who live off their husbands and the other who seeks out the truth and bends toward humanity. Their same names are where it begins and ends. Wright is a glowing jewel in the blackness of Hitchcock's nightmare.

Continue reading “Enter Teresa Wright in The Little Foxes 1941 – Behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts"¦ and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field.” →

Feature & Interview with Iconic Actress, Dancer, and Photographer, Barbara Parkins

The Raven-haired sylph who: "walks in beauty like the night"¦ Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that's best of dark and bright; Meet in her aspect and her eyes"¦" "” Lord Byron

Barbara Parkins is an icon of the 1960s, appearing in two of the decade's most popular and legendary film and television productions.

Barbara's exquisite beauty is undeniable, but her captivating performances in Peyton Place and Valley of the Dolls truly secured her legacy in Hollywood history and our collective consciousness. As beloved – Betty Anderson in the television series Peyton Place and as Anne Welles in the notorious adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's sensational novel Valley of the Dolls (1967). These memorable roles continue to resonate with audiences today.

But beyond any of it, the glamour, serious drama, pulp fiction, or even the camp, there is an actress who possesses an otherworldly beauty and a depth of character and quality. Not only has she touched our hearts with her performances as these two classic heroines, but she is also one of those recognizable actresses who project strength, confidence, and poise.

Barbara Parkins will undoubtedly be remembered for her portrayal of Betty Anderson Cord in the iconic 1960s prime-time operatic melodrama Peyton Place, which ran from 1964 to 1969.

Based on Grace Metalious's "˜dirty book,' Peyton Place blew the lid off of the hypocritical conformity of small-town America, capturing the complexities of American morality through high drama, showing the dark underbelly of a quaint community of "˜wholesome' families striving for normalcy amid controversial issues. That everything is not safe, it's not always comfortable, and it is without real struggle. And sometimes, life can be downright ugly. Her novel captures the "complexities of human existence"”the dramas, highs and lows, conflicts, and teenage sexuality"”depicting life’s un-romanticized, unvarnished reality. While the book offended some readers, it intrigued others, and despite being a popular show, critics often deem it shocking yet captivating." (The Baltimore Sun 1999 Laurie Kaplan article THE WOMEN OF PEYTON PLACE)

“Barbara Parkins has caught the public's eye, partly because of her beauty, partly because she is a capable little actress. But mostly because she seems to have an inner fire. She's a volcano in a tight dress.'' (From an article BARBARA PARKINS: MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER – Niagra Falls Gazette March, 1965 by Dick Kleiner)

 

Continue reading “Feature & Interview with Iconic Actress, Dancer, and Photographer, Barbara Parkins” →

Coming soon to The Last Drive In! My interview with Iconic Raven-haired Actress: Barbara Parkins!

You’ll be able to read my in-depth conversation with the undeniable beauty, dancer/accomplished actress & photographer whose fascinating journey took her from Hollywood to aiming her lens as she travels the world.

Next… I’ll explore director Nicolas Roeg’s haunting meditation on grief – in his adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now (1973).

Donald Sutherland in Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (1973)

And just around the corner, lurking like Mrs. Trafoil is my special project: Deconstructing the Myth of Hag Cinema!

Tallulah Bankhead as Mrs. Trafoil and Stephanie Powers in Die! Die! My Darling! (1965)

This is your EverLovin’ Joey saying: Stay tuned!