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
- 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)
- 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
- 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)
- 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
Originally telecast November 11, 1985, An Early Frost was the first TV movie to deal with the subject of AIDS. Aidan Quinn plays a personable young gay lawyer who is stricken with the HIV virus. As his health deteriorates, Quinn finds that his physical agony is secondary to his mental anguish. Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands play Quinn's parents, who must not only come to grips with their son's impending death, but with their own long-standing fears and prejudices concerning homosexuality. No easy answers are offered in this realistic drama, which also stars Sylvia Sidney as Quinn's grandmother and John Glover as a fellow AIDS victim. Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman won Emmys for their pioneering teleplay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Gena Rowlands, (more)
Grad-school administrative head Marion Post (Gena Rowlands) is in the midst of writing a book. The walls are thin in the apartment she's taken for work purposes, and soon Marion begins listening to the sessions conducted by her neighbor, an analyst. One of the patients is Hope (Mia Farrow), whose marriage is in tatters. As Hope prattles on, Marion begins flashing back to highlights (and lowlights) of her own marriage. Her musings are constantly interrupted by the memory of the man (Gene Hackman) she'd once ardently loved. Later on, chance encounters with old friends force Marion to face the fact that she has lived her life sheltering herself from her true emotions. Director Woody Allen's career-long indebtedness to Ingmar Bergman is underlined in Another Woman via Bergman's frequent cinematographer Sven Nykvist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, (more)
- 1998
Carolinian Sarah Cooper (Linda Lavin) and Texan Harriet Cahill (Gena Rowlands) are lifelong friends who are both widowed at virtually the same time. Although Sarah is financially well off, Harriet is struggling to make ends meet. In her efforts to help Harriet, Sarah is shocked to find out that her old friend has always been jealous and resentful of Sarah's comparative success in life--and that is not the only startling occurrence in the challenge- and crisis-ridden months that follow. Deflty managing to including such TV-movie standbys as adultery, old-age romance and terminal illness, Best Friends for Life made its CBS network bow on January 18, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 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)
Directed by Rick McKay, who traveled across five continents during the documentary's production, Broadway: The Golden Age is both a celebration of current Broadway stars and a tribute to Broadway legends past. Through a plethora of interviews and vast amounts of archival footage, McKay presents a variety of factoids, anecdotes, and memories from over 100 Broadway actors, writers, and directors. The careers of Laurette Taylor, Kim Hunter, Jessica Tandy, and Marlon Brando are all animatedly retold, as is some of the Broadway "lore of olde," such as Angela Lansbury's struggle to land a role in Mame and the shocked reaction to West Side Story on its opening night. In addition to footage and discussion regarding highly successful Broadway stars, a variety of actors recount their experiences and struggles in finding even a small amount of critical recognition. The cast includes Shirley MacLaine, Bea Arthur, Edie Adams, Alec Baldwin, and Kaye Ballard, and many others. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edie Adams, Bea Arthur, (more)
A single thirtysomething whose friends all seem to be romantically involved, happily married, or with child meets an eccentric Frenchman who shows her just what an amazing place the world can truly be in director Zoe Cassavetes' entry into the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. As if it wasn't depressing enough to be 35 and still single, Nora (Parker Posey) is constantly reminded by her loving but tactless mother (Gena Rowlands) just how unlucky she has been in love. Though Nora longs to enter into a blissful union like the one of her best friend, Audrey (Drea de Matteo), she finds that the dating pool just isn't what it used to be. Things soon begin to look up, however, when Nora makes the acquaintance of handsome Frenchman Julian (Melvil Poupaud). While the two share an instant chemistry that is undeniable, Nora is saddened to learn that Julian will soon be departing for his native soil. When Julian does depart, Nora laments the fact that she wasn't able to express her feelings more effectively. If only Nora could organize her scattered thoughts long enough to remember her love object's last name, she might not have to go searching out every "Julian" in Paris to locate the man of her dreams. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Parker Posey, Melvil Poupaud, (more)
Charlie Kate Birch (Gena Rowlands) is a peculiarly powerful Southern matriarch, an anachronism in the early 20th century. She's a self-educated woman who makes a good living as a midwife and holistic healer. One day, she saves a black man who's been lynched, and he thanks her by giving her a rabbit's foot, which supposedly "brings an easy life" to the person who carries it. Charlie's husband leaves her soon thereafter, but she had begun to think he was an idiot anyway. Charlie's only character flaw seems to be her attraction to unworthy men, and she passes that trait on to her daughter, Sophia (Mimi Rogers). Sophia's husband is an unfaithful lout, and he dies an early death, leaving Charlie, Sophia, and her daughter, Margaret (Susan May Pratt of 10 Things I Hate About You) to fend for themselves, which they do admirably. Soon, Sophia has another suitor, a divorced lawyer named Richard Baines (Geordie Johnson). Unlike her mother, Sophia has remained a romantic soul, and she loves Richard, and waits patiently for him to propose to her. Charlie, meanwhile, has an ongoing feud with the alcoholic town doctor, and tries to be a more cerebral influence on Margaret. But when, during World War II, Margaret falls in love with Tom Hawkings (Ken Mitchell), a wounded soldier, Charlie realizes that they're a perfect match. Charms for the Easy Life was adapted by screenwriter Angela Shelton (Tumbleweeds) from a novel by Kaye Gibbons. The film was directed by Joan Micklin Silver (Crossing Delancey) and premiered on Showtime on August 18, 2002. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Mimi Rogers, (more)
- 1992
Set amidst the glorious greens and blues of one of the many islands of Washington's Puget Sound, this made-for-cable television family drama centers on three generations of women and their lovers. The main story centers on one insecure bride who though madly in love with her spouse, still cannot quite trust him. She berates herself because she can see no obvious reason for her distrust. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2006
A documentary produced for the Turner Classic Movies cable station, Edge of Outside surveys the careers of various filmmakers who have attempted to bring their uncompromised visions to the screen. Interspersing clips of classic films, the filmmakers take a look at the careers of such famous iconoclasts as Sam Peckinpah, Orson Welles, John Cassavetes, and Stanley Kubrick. The filmmakers interview other filmmakers and critics like Martin Scorsese, Arthur Penn, Peter Falk, Peter Biskind, and Ed Burns. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In this touching drama, based on a magazine article by Mary Stuart, a wealthy socialite finds herself impoverished following her husband's sudden death. Across the street from her tiny apartment, there lives a bag lady in large cardboard box. The women, realizing that they have more in common than they thought, become good friends. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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)
- 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
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)
- 1998
Adapted from a play by Tom Ziegler, the made-for-TV Grace and Glorie stars Gena Rowlands and Diane Lane as the title characters. Disenchanted with her empty existence in New York City, stylish but lonely Gloria "Glorie" Greenwood heads to the country, where she becomes a hospice worker in the mansion of Grace Stiles, an old, terminally ill widow. At first, Glorie has trouble "taking" to Grace, just as Grace resents Glorie's very presence. Gradually, the two women realize that they have far more in common than they ever could have imagined. A CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, Grace and Glorie was first telecast on December 13, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Actor/director Forest Whitaker (Waiting to Exhale) helmed this romantic drama about a one-time high-school beauty queen who returns to her hometown of Smithville, TX. The Steven Rogers screenplay begins in Chicago, where blonde Connie (Rosanna Arquette, uncredited) appears on a trashy daytime talk show and tells a nationwide TV audience about her affair with the husband of her best friend, Birdie Pruitt (Sandra Bullock). Walking into the ambush, Birdie is paraded forth for a public humiliation as Connie's claim is confirmed by husband Bill (Michael Paré). Birdie and her young daughter, Bernice (Mae Whitman), then move back to Texas to live with Birdie's eccentric mother, Ramona (Gena Rowlands), a taxidermist who has filled the house with stuffed animals. Since most of Smithville saw the TV show, embarrassment keeps Birdie sitting around the house in her pajamas; however, her moment of glory as the homecoming "Queen of Corn" has not been forgotten by handyman Justin Matisse (Harry Connick Jr.), the first guy who kissed her back in high school, so a romance soon begins. "Just give hope a chance to float up and it will," says Birdie. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick, Jr., (more)
Two aging single women in 1980s New Jersey enact a depressing routine of deluded barroom romance in this made-for-cable drama. At least 15 years after her father walked out on her, Debby (Uma Thurman) still has issues with men. She spends her evenings carousing with best friend, Beth (Juliette Lewis), and her hung-over days working customer service and dreaming of a proper romance. Debby's endless stream of dissatisfactions includes single mom Beth's precocious daughter, whose needs sometimes interrupt the women's search for boyfriends, and the shrewish condescension of her older co-workers. But on the very same day that high-strung Debby experiences a bout of hysterical blindness at work, she enjoys a strained encounter in the parking lot of her favorite watering hole with handsome construction worker Rick (Justin Chambers). This brief flirtation convinces Debby that she's finally found Mr. Right, but it's obvious to anyone else watching that Rick is Mr. Right Now, at best. As the relationship staggers along, Debby becomes convinced that the same is true of Nick (Ben Gazzara), the kindly widower who is courting her waitress mother, Virginia (Gena Rowlands). But even Nick's fatherly overtones and fine intentions can't shield Debby and Virginia from the vicissitudes of life. Executive-produced by star Thurman, Hysterical Blindness was directed by Mira Nair, fresh off the success of the art-house hit Monsoon Wedding. The associate producer was writer Laura Cahill, who adapted her own play for the small screen. The film premiered August 25, 2002, on HBO. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, Gena Rowlands, (more)
- 1984
Filmed in 1984, I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes was released in 1989, the year of the subject's death. Filmmaker Michael Ventura follows Cassavetes around as the actor/director labors on his final film, Love Streams. This is warts-and-all material; Cassavetes makes no attempt at diplomacy if something displeases him, nor are the actors averse to putting in their two cents' worth. Cassavetes' real-life wife (and Love Streams star) Gene Rowlands is among the peripheral characters in this stream-of-consciousness documentary. Running 60 minutes, I'm Almost Not Crazy... still finds time to include a capsule biography of John Cassavetes and an assessment of his key films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, (more)
This moving, finely-wrought portrayal of legendary cinematographer Sven Nykvist was directed by his son Carl-Gustav Nykvist -- a noted filmmaker himself. Spanning from long forgotten kiddie flick in 1945 to Woody Allen's Celebrity (1997), Nykvist's career came to an abrupt end when he was diagnosed with a rare disorder that affects his speech. Though the film explores Nykvist's upbringing and turbulent private life (an ugly divorce, the suicide of one of his sons, an affair with Mia Farrow), the emotional heart of the film is his celebrated collaboration with auteur Ingmar Bergman, with whom Nykvist made some of his most enduring work, including Winter Light (1962) and Scenes from a Marriage (1973). As Bergman recalls his own career, he notes, "I don't miss making films, but I miss the collaboration with Sven." ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Bibi Andersson, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
A brother and sister grapple with family and lifestyle issues in this rock-n-roll drama. Real-life rocker Joan Jett stars as Patti Resnick, an unwed mother who sings and plays guitar in a Cleveland bar band with her brother Joe (Michael J. Fox). Estranged from her parents and struggling to make ends meet, Patti decides to dive headlong into a carefree rock-n-roll lifestyle. Good-guy Joe pulls away from music to provide some stability for her tiny son. It takes a family crisis to bring Patti back home and force her to face the prickly past with her devoutly Christian mother (Gena Rowlands). Despite a somewhat thin story, the film has solid performances all around, most especially from the refreshingly compelling Jett. Bruce Springsteen penned the title song. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, Gena Rowlands, (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)
- 1984
In this emotional roller coaster ride, Robert Harmon (John Cassavetes) is a street-wise, sometimes obnoxious writer currently working on a book about the seamier side of buying/selling love, and Sarah Lawson (Gena Rowlands) is an emotive wife and mother struggling through a divorce and custody battle. When Sarah lands on Robert's doorstep with her suitcases, it seems at first that she has returned to her husband. Robert has several women staying at his place (research sources!), but when his real ex-wife arrives with their young son, he sends the women packing. Sarah, it turns out, is Robert's sister. As the two work out their own live's hurdles -- Robert, the unaccustomed father with his 8-year-old son, and Sarah, trying to cope with her custody battle and its results -- their way of handling adversity and personal burdens becomes the real subtext of the film. This film won the Golden Bear Award at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, (more)
