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By Todd Garbarini

The films of John Cassavetes are an acquired taste. Long considered to be the father of the modern independent film movement, his unorthodox style to acting and filmmaking notoriously drove some of his performers crazy while also receiving kudos and accolades from others. Like most filmmakers of his ilk, his work was best seen in independently owned movie theaters in New York City where films generally played for weeks or even months on end to a combination of both rave reviews and decent box office, two ingredients necessary to ensure securing funding for future projects. His directorial debut, Shadows (1958), depicted a romantic relationship between a white man and an African-American woman and the tumult that their relationship brought to their families. The film was unorthodox not only in its subject matter but in its approach to filmmaking. The film possesses...

John Cassavetes’ breakthrough picture gets the Criterion treatment, with fine new extras that take us back to a moment when the American Independent movement broke through to the big theaters, with bigger stars. It’s 142 minutes of intense improvisation during which Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk challenge, tease and bully fellow performers into the director’s vision of performance artistry. The full title on-screen raises the bar pretty high: Husbands: A Comedy About Life, Death and Freedom.

Husbands

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1029

1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 131 142 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 26, 2020 / 39.95

Starring: Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Jenny Runacre, Jenny Lee Wright, Noelle Kao, John Kullers, Meta Shaw, Leola Harlow.

Cinematography: Victor Kemper

Produced by Al Ruban

Written and Directed by John Cassavetes

Is John Cassavetes coming into style, or is he just being rediscovered for the fifth time? His impassioned films receive strong critical...

This obscure 1972 thriller features excellent performances by Glenda Jackson and Oliver Reed, and marks the feature debut of the great director Michael Apted. The wartime home front drama takes a surprisingly precocious and sensitive view of a bizarre incident that probably happened in real life: to escape his military service, a reluctant soldier cross-dresses as a woman.

The Triple Echo

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1972 / Color / 1:85 / 94 min. / Soldier in Skirts / Street Date March 25, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £18.36

Starring: Glenda Jackson, Oliver Reed, Brian Deacon, Anthony May, Gavin Richards, Jenny Lee Wright.

Cinematography: John Coquillon

Film Editor: Barrie Vince

Original Music: Mark Wilkinson

Written by Robin Chapman, from the story by H.E. Bates

Produced by Graham Cottle

Directed by Michael Apted

Billy Wilder would have given the makers of The Triple Echo cautioning advice about putting male actors in drag and passing them off as women: it’s a...

Husbands (1970) Direction & Screenplay: John Cassavetes Cast: John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, Jenny Runacre, Jenny Lee Wright Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara in John Cassavetes' Husbands John Cassavetes was a filmmaker who made his independent films in two primary modes: brilliant character-driven masterpieces like Faces, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night, or character-driven mediocrities with "moments," like Shadows, A Woman Under the Influence, and Gloria. Husbands (1970) falls somewhere in between. Husbands is nowhere near a great film, for most of the time it is poorly edited and, surprisingly, poorly scripted. But in the scenes that are not overly long and utterly pointless lie the seeds for what could have been a truly brilliant work. As it is, Sony Pictures' 142-minute DVD version of Husbands plays out more like the opening scene of the Cassavetes effort that came before it, Faces, which began with a depiction of drunken...