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John Cassavetes' "Shadows" began as a dream in a New York loft on January 14, 1957. Today that dream has won two international awards.
That January night a group of young actors were improvising on a theme. The wild dream grew that this improvisation could be captured on film. Until dawn next morning, the dreamers talked.
Soon it became a firm, fervent project. The problem was money. Four weeks later, on a New York radio program, director John Cassavetes discussed the project with interviewer Gene Shepard. Said Shepard: "There are thousands of men and women who would like to know they could help to have a movie made . . ." For a week afterward, money came in. At the end it totaled $2,500.
Fresh Appeal
Then a fresh appeal was made - and this time the cash flowed in from people like Joshua Logan, Hedda Hopper, Jose Quintero, William Wyler, Reginald Rose. Charles Feldman, Robert Rossen, and Sol Siegel.
The rest of the $40,000 budget was borrowed. Then "Shadows" went into production. For 42 days and nights, the dreamers and Eric Kollmar with his camera trailed around New York. They shot from the noon-bright marquees of Broadway theatres – and from disguised dustbins. They concealed their camera in subway entrances, restaurant windows, the backs of trucks.
Actors Improvised
Through it all, when the camera turned the actors improvised. Not one word of their dialogue was written, no scene detailed in script. John Cassavetes had conducted long discussions of the basic situations and the characters, but when the camera turned, the actors were on their own.
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