Themes: Protecting the Innocent, Woman In Jeopardy, One Against the Mob
Main Cast: Gena Rowlands, John Adames, Buck Henry, Julie Carmen, Lupe Garnica
Release Year: 1980
Country: US
Run Time: 121 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
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
Val Avery - Sill; Jessica Castillo - Joan Dawn; Israel Castro - Second Kid; Ralph Dolman - First Kid; John Finnegan - Frank; Gregory Cleghorne - Kid in Elevator; Kyle-Scott Jackson - First Policeman; Gary Klar - Irish cop; Tony Kneisch - First Man/Gangster; Ronald Maccone - 3rd man/Gangster; Tom Noonan - 2nd Man/Gangster; Roman Rodriguez - Escape Cab Driver; Vic Ramos; Basilio Franchina - Tony Tanzini; Filomena Spagnuolo - Old Lady; Carlos Castro - Third Kid
Credit
Stephen F. Kesten - Associate Producer, Peggy Farrell - Costume Designer, John Cassavetes - Director, Jack McSweeney - Editor, George C. Villasenor - Editor, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Rene D'Auriac - Production Designer, Fred Schuler - Cinematographer, John Cassavetes - Producer, Sam Shaw - Producer, John Cassavetes - Screenwriter
Gloria is a 1980 film written and directed by John Cassavetes. It tells the story of a gangster's girlfriend who goes on the run with a young boy who is being hunted by the mob for information he may or may not have. It stars Gena Rowlands and John Adames.
Cassavetes did not originally intend to direct his screenplay; he planned merely to sell the story to Columbia Pictures. However, once his wife, Gena Rowlands, was asked to play the title character in the film, she asked Cassavetes to direct it.
Other films inspired by Gloria include Ultraviolet (2006), which uses the premise of a woman on the run with a little boy and transposes the story to a dystopian futuristic setting, and Erick Zonca's 2008 film Julia, starring Tilda Swinton. Luc Besson's film Léon also was inspired by Gloria, with actor Jean Reno playing the accidental guardian of a young girl (Natalie Portman) whose family was murdered by corrupt DEA agents.
