Gena Rowlands Movies
An alumnus of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Wisconsin-born actress Gena Rowlands entered the Broadway talent pool in 1952. From 1955 through 1957, the blonde, frosty-eyed actress co-starred with Edward G. Robinson in the original Broadway production of Middle of the Night. She also did plenty of Manhattan-based television during this period, including a recurring role on the forgotten syndicated series Top Secret U.S.A.Rowlands made her first film, The High Cost of Loving, in 1958, the same year that she married legendary actor/director John Cassavetes. The excellent response to her performance as the deaf-mute wife of a detective on the 1961 TV series 87th Precinct sparked a grass-roots campaign to have Rowlands appear on the series on a weekly basis, but her film commitments were such that she couldn't be confined to any one part for very long. Always a capable leading lady, Rowlands blossomed into full stardom in the films directed by her husband. She first collaborated with him on A Child Is Waiting (1963) and then starred as a prostitute in his 1968 film Faces. Rowlands went on to earn Oscar nominations for her work in two of her husband's other films, A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980).
After Cassavetes' death in 1989, Rowlands took a two-year sabbatical from films, returning to play Holly Hunter's mother -- and Richard Dreyfuss' mother-in-law -- in Once Around (1991). That same year, she appeared as a casting agent in Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth. After starring in such films as 1995's The Neon Bible and Something to Talk About (the latter of which featured her as the "steel magnolia" wife of Robert Duvall and mother of Julia Roberts), Rowlands stepped in front the camera for her son Nick Cassavetes' 1996 directorial debut, Unhook the Stars. The actress turned in a strong performance as a matriarch experiencing various life upheavals, and the following year again collaborated with her son in his romantic comedy She's So Lovely. Rowlands continued to stay busy with work for other directors, appearing in no less than three films in 1998. Particularly notable appearances included her role as Sean Connery's estranged wife in Playing by Heart and her portrayal of the grandmother of a disabled boy in The Mighty. In addition to her film work, Rowlands has earned considerable acclaim for her television roles. In 1985, she earned an Emmy nomination for her role in the powerful AIDS drama An Early Frost, and has won Emmys for her performances in The Betty Ford Story (1987) and Face of a Stranger (1991). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
After a string of such serious projects as The Shrike and I Accuse, director-star Jose Ferrer lightens up a bit with the frothy comedy The High Cost of Loving. Ferrer plays purchasing executive Jim Fry, who has doubts about his financial future when his company is taken over by a conglomerate. Adding to the dilemma is the fact that Fry's wife Virginia (Gena Rowlands, in her film debut) is expecting her first child. Surrounded by ulcerated status-seekers and "grey flannel suits", Jim and Virginia wonder if they've lost the fundamental values that attracted them to one another in the first place. The film's satirical barbs seem a bit muted today, but that's the price one pays when putting together a "topical" comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Ferrer, Gena Rowlands, (more)
- 1960
After a fight with his wife (Gena Rowlands) in which he tells her that he wishes he was single again, Ralph Jones (Dick York) is miraculously transported back to his bachelorhood, two years earlier. At least, that's the story Ralph tells his psychiatrist (John Zaremba), who has trouble believing such a far-fetched tale. The truth of Ralph's claim may well be confirmed by something as simple as a waterlogged baseball card! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
This episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour was adapted by frequent Twilight Zone contributor Richard Matheson from his own novel. In his youth, Christopher Martin (Hugh O'Brian) drove the getaway car for a robbery committed by three of his friends. But Christopher panicked, driving off and leaving his pals to be arrested. Now happily married and holding down a responsible job, Christopher is terrified when one of his ex-pals calls him, telling him that he intends to spill the beans to Mrs. Martin (Gena Rowlands) before wreaking a terrible revenge. Will Christopher be able to fend off his former partner in crime without revealing his sordid past to his wife? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Since it was released in the same year as his masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), it is ironic that this drama was probably the least liked of director Robert Mulligan's films. A stiff adaptation of a novel by Dutch author Jan DeHartog, the film stars Rock Hudson as Dr. Anton Drager, an opportunistic atheist who travels with his wife Els (Gena Rowlands) to the jungles of Java in 1936. Drager is to become the new right-hand man of famed Dr. Brits Jansen (Burl Ives), a legendary humanist who works with lepers and is rumored to have done groundbreaking work that Drager believes could make him famous and wealthy. Trouble with a native witch doctor practicing black magic leads to a crisis of conscience for Drager, however, forcing him to reevaluate his self-centered philosophy. A former divinity student at New York's Fordham University, Mulligan may have been intrigued by the material's spiritual bent, but his direction is uninspired, and The Spiral Road (1962) was not considered a success. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rock Hudson, Burl Ives, (more)
Although it never quite escapes the pitfalls of pretension, this film was Kirk Douglas's bid for the affections of the art house crowd, and it remains one of his best efforts. The star plays unreconstructed "rugged individual" Jack Burns, who rides throughout the modern west knocking down man-made fences. Visiting his equally rebellious friend Paul Bondi (Michael Kane), Burns deliberately gets himself thrown in jail to be nearer his pal. Frustrated that Bondi doesn't want to join Burns on the road, Burns breaks out of jail, thereby becoming a fugitive. His trail is dogged by Sheriff Johnson (Walter Matthau), a frustrated frontiersman who secretly admires the freewheeling Burns. Meanwhile, a truck driver (Carroll O'Connor) is ominously driving down the highway with a truckload of toilets. If you think there's supposed to be some symbolism in this seemingly peripheral character, you're absolutely right. Bill Raisch, a genuine amputee who played the one-armed man on TV's The Fugitive, is Douglas' surly opponent in the café brawl sequence. Filmed on location in New Mexico, Lonely are the Brave was adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Edward Abbey's novel Brave Cowboy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, (more)
- 1963
A woman calling herself Vera (Nancy Kelly) displays a great deal of affection toward the baby son of her landlady, Louise Henderson (Gena Rowlands). Curiously, although the infant is named Lonnie, Vera insists upon referring to him as Michael. What seems innocent enough on the surface is quickly revealed to have a sinister subtext when it turns out that both Vera and Louise had delivered babies at the same time in the same maternity hospital -- but only one of the babies survived. This is one of the few anthology-series episodes of the 1960s to boast an all-female cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Kelly, Gena Rowlands, (more)
- 1963
Produced by Stanley Kramer, A Child is Waiting is set in an institution for the mentally handicapped, with many actual residents playing supporting and bit roles. Doctor Burt Lancaster and instructor Judy Garland often find themselves at odds over teaching methods, with Garland preferring an intense one-on-one approach with her students. Bruce Ritchey, a non-developmentally challenged youth, plays the retarded son of Gena Rowlands and Steven Hill, whose intellectual and social progress becomes the focal point of the film. The most uplifting sequence in A Child is Waiting takes place during a play staged by the genuinely handicapped children for their parents; while director John Cassavetes gilds the lily with close-ups of the teary-eyed audience, the kids themselves are earnest, engaging, and totally devoid of self-pity. According to Stanley Kramer, Judy Garland left her best work in this film on the cutting room floor; whenever completing a scene in which she'd exercised professional restraint, she'd insist upon a retake, then resort to the sobbing and breast-beating that her fans had come to expect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, (more)
- 1963
The fifth season of Bonanza commenced on September 22, 1963 with the episode titled "She Walks in Beauty." Gena Rowlands guest-stars as Ragan Miller, whose ravishing good looks have brought her nothing but misery and disastrous romantic relationships. Despising all men, she merely uses them to get what she really wants out of life. Ragan's arrival in Virginia City immediately sows the seeds of jealousy between brothers Hoss and Adam Cartwright, culminating in a bloody fistic brawl. Jeanne Cooper costars as Ragan's older sister Emilia. "She Walks in Beauty" was written by Don McDougall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1964
This episode marks a rare joint appearance by John Cassavetes and his wife, Gena Rowlands. Married to Charles Justin (Murray Matheson), an elderly diamond merchant, young Diana Justin (Rowlands) decides to finance a stage play with her husband's money -- and hires an ex-lover of hers, actor Lee Griffin (Cassavetes), for the leading role. Not surprisingly, Diana and Lee are soon plotting Charles' murder, with a key element of the plot being Lee's impersonation of Charles while pulling off a lucrative business transaction in Europe. What Lee doesn't know is that the late Mr. Justin had performed one last act of retribution before shuffling off his mortal coil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, (more)
Frank Sinatra brings a sneering Rat Pack ethos to his first hard-boiled detective role in Tony Rome. Tony is an ex-cop who lives on a houseboat off Miami, accepting fees for private-eye work. His former partner, Ralph Turpin (Robert J. Wilke), asks Tony for help in locating Diana Pines (Sue Lyon), the daughter of rich construction magnate Rudolph Kosterman (Simon Oakland). Tony finds her unconscious and drunk in a sleazy motel room and returns her to her home. Rudolph decides to hire Tony in order to find out why his daughter is behaving so erratically. In the meantime, Diana's stepmother, Rita (Gena Rowlands), also offers Tony money to inform her first about whatever Tony finds out. He discovers that Diana has lost an expensive diamond pin, but before he can act upon the information, he is beaten up by two goons and nearly killed by Diana's crazy step-uncle. Tony then finds out that Turpin has been murdered. With help from sultry and sexy divorcée Ann Archer (Jill St. John), Tony discovers that Diana has been funneling large sums of money to her alcoholic mother, Lorna (Jeanne Cooper), with Rita's priceless jewelry being replaced by fakes. A collection of disagreeable human sludge all take their turns trying to get Tony and the information that he holds -- including his old pal Lieutenant Santini (Richard Conte). After a murder attempt on Rudolph's life, Tony uncovers a series of vile connections involving blackmail, deceit, and betrayal. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Jill St. John, (more)
Faces is right: this definitive John Cassavetes film consists almost exclusively of tight, uncomfortable close-ups. It takes place in the fourteenth year of the marriage of Richard (John Marley) and Maria (Lynn Carlin). Neither husband nor wife is content with the conditions that prevail; Maria joins her friends looking for romantic satisfaction elsewhere, while Richard secures the services of a prostitute (Gena Rowlands). Maria herself has a one-night stand with a hippie (Seymour Cassel), but this is no more satisfying than her dead-end marriage. If you think that Faces is an exhausting experience in its current 130-minute length, imagine what it looked like in Cassavetes' original six-hour cut. Alternately clumsy and profound, it is nonetheless a work of deep sincerity, as recognized by the Venice Film Festival, which bestowed no fewer than five awards on the film, and it perfectly exemplifies Cassavetes' improvisational, cinéma vérité style and searching explorations of modern relationships. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Marley, Gena Rowlands, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Hank McCain (John Cassavetes) is the imprisoned gangster who gets out of jail with the help of the mob. The syndicate wants him to take part in a heist of a Las Vegas casino. The plan is discussed and soon abandoned by the mob, but Hank decides to go ahead with the robbery. Disguised as a fireman, he pulls off the daring crime with the help of his current flame Irene (Britt Ekland). The angry mobsters want him dead and they soon close in on his old girlfriend Rosemary (Gena Rowlands) for information that could lead to Hank. She would rather commit suicide than give them information about her ex-boyfriend as she obviously still carries a torch for her old flame. Even without her help, the dragnet closes in on Hank as the mobsters systematically figure out his whereabouts. This feature was the Italian entry at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, a choice that caused controversy and questions. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Britt Ekland, (more)
- 1971
Can a straight-laced woman find happiness with a scruffy hippie who has a bad habit of getting beaten up? Minnie Moore (Gena Rowlands) was a prom queen in high school but has become disillusioned with life now that she is a divorcée who has just turned 40. Her marriage ended badly, and her current relationship with her boyfriend Jim (John Cassavetes), who is inconveniently married to another woman, is hardly going any better. Jim treats Minnie with little respect, but she tries to calmly soldier on with her work as a curator at a museum. When Jim's wife threatens to commit suicide if he doesn't break off his affair with Minnie, he agrees to stop seeing her. He goes to museum where Minnie works, bringing along his two children to serve as witnesses, and he tells her that they're through. Emotionally shattered by this experience, Minnie blankly and uncomprehendingly accepts a blind date with a loud-mouthed boor named Zelmo Swift (Val Avery), who proposes marriage only an hour after they've met. Angered by her lack of enthusiasm for this proposal, Zelmo angrily follows Minnie to a nearby parking lot, where the attendant, Seymour Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel), comes to her rescue, though he hardly emerges victorious in battle. Shaggy-haired and steadfastly bohemian Seymour has just arrived in Los Angeles from New York City looking to make some changes, and after a few minutes with Minnie, he's convinced that he's met the love of his life. Minnie isn't buying it, but she eventually agrees to go out on a date with him, and before long, these two polar opposites find that they're attracted to each other after all. A typically low-budget labor of love from writer/director/actor John Cassavetes, Minnie and Moskowitz features John's wife Gena Rowlands as Minnie, his mother Katherine Cassavetes as Seymour's mom, his brother-in-law David Rowlands as a minister, and several of his children in a party sequence; John's friend and frequent collaborator Timothy Carey also appears in a small role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, (more)
- 1974
- R
John Cassavetes' harrowing masterpiece charts the emotional meltdown of a suburban housewife and its effects on her blue-collar Italian family. Gena Rowlands stars as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of three whose husband Nick (Peter Falk) works as a construction worker; a mismatched couple like so many others in Cassavetes films, the Longhettis seem to be complete opposites: she's impetuous, extroverted, and fragile, while he's controlling, distant, and hard-bitten. Their differences underscore a series of domestic dramas, culminating in a nervous breakdown that sends Mabel to a psychiatric hospital for six months, only to return to a home environment on even thinner ice than before. The improvisational style central to Cassavetes' vision is at its most acute throughout A Woman Under the Influence. Like its title heroine, the film threatens to veer out of control at any time, its shape and scope defined not by narrative but by the emotional upheaval at its center. Embracing the full spectrum of the Longhettis' relationship, from seismic bursts of high drama to small, even trivial moments of domestic tedium, its long scenes relentlessly probe every nook and cranny of the family's life, drawing out each moment for maximum emotional impact; the film is by turns beautiful and ugly, illuminating and frustrating, and it features a performance by Rowlands as heartwrenching and unforgettable as any ever committed to celluloid. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, (more)
Larry Peerce directed this tired disaster movie about a mad sniper loose in a football stadium. At the beginning, the sniper picks off a cyclist for practice and then takes roost in the top tower of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Sent in to stop the terror is Captain Peter Holly (Charlton Heston), who wants to get his hands on the sniper without endangering the lives of the people in the stadium. Unfortunately, there is a second group of law enforcement officers, a tactical commando group, who want to go into the stadium and rush the sniper -- regardless of the danger such an action would cause to the crowd watching the game. The sniper plans to start blasting at the two-minute warning signal of the football game. Holly has to find the sniper before the two-minute warning is given -- not merely to prevent the killings threatened by the sniper but to head off the tactical force before any other unnecessary deaths are incurred by the force's bulldog techniques. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, (more)
- 1977
John Cassavetes' Opening Night stars Gena Rowlands (Mrs. Cassavetes) as end-of-tether Broadway actress Myrtle Gordon. She is about to open in a play written by her old friend Sarah Goode (Joan Blondell), but a series of pre-show setbacks and disasters threaten to destroy not only the production but Myrtle's sanity. The actress is especially rattled when one of her staunchest fans dies in an accident. In the face of bleak reality, just how important is the old "show must go on" ethic? Supporting Gena Rowlands are such veterans of the New York-Hollywood shuttle as Ben Gazzara, Zohra Lampert, Paul Stewart, James Karen, and several friends and relatives of the principals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, (more)
- 1978
- PG
In 1950, a Brink's armored truck in Boston was robbed by a highly organized gang decked out in Halloween masks. The Brink's Job is an occasionally humorous account of that "perfect crime." Peter Falk stars as the mastermind behind the robbery, who assembles a bunch of two-bit hoods who in any other circumstance would be written off as born losers. The success of the caper hinges upon Brink's rather arrogant assumption that its trucks are unassailable and their guards are always on their toes. Wrong on both counts! This comic suspenser was based on The Big Stick Up at Brink's, a book by Noel Behn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, (more)
- 1978
A Question of Love is the deceptively bland title for this controversial made-for-TV film. Gena Rowlands plays a divorced nurse who is doing her best to raise her young sons (Keith Mitchell and Josh Albee) without their dad's help. Rowlands' ex-husband Clu Gulager files for full custody of the children. It isn't that Gulager is selfish or vindictive: the fact is that Rowlands is a lesbian, with a live-in lover (Jane Alexander), and Gulager feels that her lifestyle is not in the boys' best interests. Nothing is cut and dried in William Blinn's intelligent screenplay: there are no heroes and villains, no absolute "right" or "wrong." Extremists and moderates are depicted with equanimity, as are the points in favor of both Rowlands' and Gulager's position. While it has unavoidably dated since its first telecast on November 26, 1978, A Question of Love retains most of his dramatic power even after nearly two decades. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
The made-for-television movie Strangers: The Story of a Mother and a Daughter concerns a bitter widow (Bette Davis) who is upset about the unexpected return of her estranged daughter (Gena Rowlands). Davis won an Emmy for her performance. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Gloria (Gena Rowlands), a self-involved woman in her forties who was once a mobster's mistress, is asked to look after Philip (Juan Adames), the son of her Mafia-connected Puerto Rican neighbors. This temporary set-up becomes permanent when the neighbors are killed in a mob hit. Philip has in his possession a diary containing a record of illegal Mafia activities; thus the boy is as good as dead unless Gloria takes decisive action. With Philip in tow, Gloria leads the hit men on a frantic chase around Manhattan, and during the various gunfire exchanges, more than holds her own. Offering to exchange the diary for the boy's life, Gloria is rebuffed by the vendetta-driven assassins. Where once she was content squirreling herself away in her lonely apartment, Gloria now must face a lifetime on the run. Directed on a more commercial level than was customary for John Cassavetes (with a subversive streak of self-parody in the bargain), Gloria served as an excellent showcase for Cassavetes' wife Gena Rowlands. The film won the Golden Lion Award at the 1980 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, John Adames, (more)
This comedy is set upon a remote Greek island and is very loosely based on Shakespeare's classic play. The tale centers on a middle-aged New York architect who abandons his wife and moves to the island with his teen-age daughter and his new lover, a Greek singer, in hopes of finding meaning in his life. The only resident of the island is an old hermit, and the father is finally happy until his wife, her lover, his son and others get in a shipwreck and end up marooned on the island with him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, (more)
- 1982
In one of Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre productions, the actress stars as the title character who is rescued by a prince (Jeff Bridges) from her imprisonment in a tower. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Thursday's Child is full of woe in this made-for-TV drama. Rob Lowe was given "and introducing" billing in the role of a teenaged athlete in dire need of a heart transplant. As Rob's parents Gene Rowlands and Don Murray prepare to face the possibility that they may lose their son, his aunt Jessica Walter remains relentlessly optimistic and cheerful. For various reasons, the debut of Thursday's Child was twice postponed. The film finally aired February 1, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
