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.

Supporting cast

Buck Henry plays Jack Dawn, an accountant for the mob. His murder leaves both his ledger and his son in the care of Gloria.

Tom Noonan, J.C. Quinn, and Sonny Landham appear in the film as various mob henchmen.

Lawrence Tierney makes a cameo as a bartender. He is never seen in close-up and only briefly appears in profile.

Bill Avery is an extra in this movie

Awards

Gena Rowlands was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the picture, and the film won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, tying with Atlantic City. The young boy Gloria was protecting, played by John Adames, tied with Sir Laurence Olivier for the Worst Supporting Actor Razzie award of 1980.

Remakes and Influences

The film was remade in 1999 under the same title with a screenplay by Steve Antin and directed by Sidney Lumet. It starred Sharon Stone and Jean-Luke Figueroa.

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,^{[citation needed]} and Erick Zonca's 2008 film Julia, starring Tilda Swinton.^[1] 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.^{[citation needed]}

References

• Cassavetes, John and Raymond Carney (2001). "Chpt 10: Gloria (1978-1980)" in Cassavetes on Cassavetes. Macmillan. ISBN 0571201571.
• Morris, George (1980). "Lady on the Lam," Texas Monthly. Vol. 8, No. 10. ISSN 0148-7736.

External links

• Gloria at the Internet Movie Database

Notes