Shadows
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The story of an interracial romance and the obstacles it puts on family relationships. When appearing on Jean Shepherd's radio program Night People, Cassevetes mentioned the improvisation work he had done with his acting class, and asked for funding to film it. When listeners actually sent in money, he worked up a script based on the classwork, and with additional funding filmed his story of three siblings, two of whom can pass as white. | "John Cassavetes's directorial debut revolves around a romance in New York City between Lelia (Lelia Goldoni), a light- skinned black woman, and Tony (Anthony Ray), a white man. The relationship is put in jeopardy when Tony meets Lelia's darker-skinned jazz singer brother, Hugh (Hugh Hurd), and discovers that her racial heritage is not what he thought it was. Shot on location in Manhattan with a mostly nonprofessional cast and crew, Shadows is a penetrating work that is widely considered the forerunner of the American independent film movement."--Publisher's description
Credits
- Cast
- Lelia Goldoni, Anthony Ray, Hugh Hurd, Ben Carruthers, Rupert Crosse; Faces Distribution Corporation (film presenter); John Cassavetes (film director); Shafi Hadi (composer); Charles Mingus (composer); Lelia Goldoni (actor); Anthony M. Ray (actor); Hugh Hurd (actor); Ben Carruthers (actor); Rupert Crosse (actor); Seymour Cassel (film producer); Maurice McEndree (film producer)
Complete catalog record
Alternate title: Shadows (Motion picture : 1959)
Original source: "Presented by Jean Shepherd's Night People"--Credits | Originally produced as a motion picture in 1959. Film restored by UCLA in 2000-2002. | Running time does not include special features. | Special features: New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound; video interviews with actress Lelia Goldoni and associate producer Seymour Cassel; rare silent 16mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop; restoration demonstration; stills gallery featuring rare behind the scenes production photos; trailer. | Camera, Erich Kollmar ; editor, Maurice McEndree ; music, Shafi Hadi, Charles Mingus.
Release: Irvington, NY : Criterion Collection, [2004]
Physical description: 1 videodisc (81 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. | monochrome
Contents: Contents: The pickup -- The rehearsal -- The act -- The sculpture garden -- Literary party -- The date -- The family -- A few cats come by -- Lucky day -- Slow dance -- The happiness boys -- Color bars -- Special features: Full screen presentation (1.33:1) -- New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound -- Video interviews with actress Lelia Goldoni and associate producer Seymour Cassel -- Rare silent 16mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop -- Restoration demonstration -- Stills gallery featuring rare behind the scenes production photos -- Trailer -- Language: English mono -- Subtitles: English.
Subjects: Man-woman relationships -- Drama | Interracial dating -- Drama | Families -- Drama | Passing (Identity) -- Drama | Families | Interracial dating | Man-woman relationships | Passing (Identity)
Ucla location: Instructional Media Library Stacks DVD | ID7418
Original source: "Presented by Jean Shepherd's Night People"--Credits | Originally produced as a motion picture in 1959. Film restored by UCLA in 2000-2002. | Running time does not include special features. | Special features: New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound; video interviews with actress Lelia Goldoni and associate producer Seymour Cassel; rare silent 16mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop; restoration demonstration; stills gallery featuring rare behind the scenes production photos; trailer. | Camera, Erich Kollmar ; editor, Maurice McEndree ; music, Shafi Hadi, Charles Mingus.
Release: Irvington, NY : Criterion Collection, [2004]
Physical description: 1 videodisc (81 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. | monochrome
Contents: Contents: The pickup -- The rehearsal -- The act -- The sculpture garden -- Literary party -- The date -- The family -- A few cats come by -- Lucky day -- Slow dance -- The happiness boys -- Color bars -- Special features: Full screen presentation (1.33:1) -- New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound -- Video interviews with actress Lelia Goldoni and associate producer Seymour Cassel -- Rare silent 16mm footage of John Cassavetes and Burt Lane's acting workshop -- Restoration demonstration -- Stills gallery featuring rare behind the scenes production photos -- Trailer -- Language: English mono -- Subtitles: English.
Subjects: Man-woman relationships -- Drama | Interracial dating -- Drama | Families -- Drama | Passing (Identity) -- Drama | Families | Interracial dating | Man-woman relationships | Passing (Identity)
Ucla location: Instructional Media Library Stacks DVD | ID7418
Related films
Sources
- UCLA Library Catalog · record ↗ — title, creator, length, format, color, sound, genre, description, credits, catalog record
Record added 2026-11-08 20:56:08