Performers
Myrtle Gordon : Gena Rowlands
Maurice Adams : John Cassavetes
Manny Victor : Ben Gazzara
Sarah Goode : Joan Blondell
David Samuels : Paul Stewart
Dorothy Victor : Zohra Lampert
Nancy Stein : Laura Johnson
Gus Simmons : John Tuell
Jimmy : Ray Powers
Prop man : John Finnegan
Kelly (as Louise Finch) : Louise Lewis
Leo : Fred Draper
Vivian : Katherine Cassavetes
Melva Drake : Lady Rowlands
Carla : Carol Warren


Another masterpiece from John Cassavetes, who directs and acts in this dramatic portrayal of an actress whose career is fading fast. It employs many of the Cassavetes trademarks - improvised lines, documentary-style handheld camera, tense pauses where not much seems to happen, and a rough, edgy quality that makes the film look like a window on real life. Which, of course, it is.

Myrtle Gordon, a talented middle aged stage actress, spirals into a crises of confidence in her ability to act or relate to others when an adoring fan dies on the opening night of her latest play. Her plight is complicated by her life as an actor surrounded by other actors for whom the difference between real emotion and performance is often blurred.