John Cassavetes was a great actor, a charismatic, driven individual and generally recognised as the father of the independent American film. Cassavetes' rep as a director is mainly based on the critical success of four 'features', Shadows (1959), Faces (1968) A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976). When Shadows premiered in 1959, it was hailed for its free-wheeling, improvisatory style, jazz soundtrack and gritty, hand-held monochrome photography. Over the years, the film has grown in stature, an example of 'real', 'truthful' film-making. Or so we thought. Now, discovered in the remnants of an old junk shop, there exists a near pristine copy of the same film made in 1957. This is the only known copy of a fully completed version screened that year to mixed critical reviews. A clearly disappointed Cassavetes called back the cast, shot new scenes, re-cut the old materal, re-worked the narrative and arrived at the version released in 1959. So, substantially, a new film. The final version of Shadows, then, is an imperfect movie- some wooden acting, partially improvised, partially scripted, continuity errors and all - but still a ground-breaking masterpiece.
Whether or not the public will ever get to see the original Shadows is debatable as the Cassavetes estate is very reluctant to do anything which may cast a shadow over John Cassavetes legacy.
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