A struggling actor (John Cassavetes) auditioning in London learns an old flame (Gena Rowlands) is wed to the play's financial backer (Murray Matheson).
Guest John Banner (Hogan's Heroes)
#319 - S2E19 - March 6, 1964
Great story, quite suspenseful, and excellent chemistry between the stars!
Actor, producer, and director John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands were married and often worked together: John + Gena: dynamite on screen and off.
There is a book on Cassavetes which is on my reading list, which I will get around to when I have the time and money (things that I never have enough of).
I have seen one film of Cassavetes's, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), and I quite liked it. Actor Ben Gazzara plays Cosmo Vittelli, the owner of The Crazy Horse West - a cabaret-style nightclub with semi-topless dancers, musicians and assorted entertainers, including Mr. Sophistication - a singer you aren't going to forget anytime soon. He loses a great deal of money gambling, and gets involved with some shady characters in the mob who strong-arm him into performing a hit on one of their rivals. Things do not go as planned...
If you feel inclined and have the time, you can watch it here:
This is the full uncut 2 hr 15 min film.
What I like is that you're just thrown right into the middle of things, and by the time you learn who everyone is and figure things out it's over.
You don't really get a feel of how much Cosmo really cares about his club and the people who are performers and keep it running until the end of the film. One thing he says to them that stuck with me is, "You have to work really hard just to be comfortable."
there doesn't seem to be anything here