I must admit I was never much of a fan of John Cassavetes’ movies. These, however, are two of his more commercial efforts.

Cassavetes made his living as a character actor (in The Dirty Dozen and Rosemary’s Baby amongst others), but his passion was directing. HIs movies were usually low budget and partially self-financed.  They have an arthouse, improvisational vibe, and have subsequently become hugely influential on American independent cinema.

Gloria is perhaps his best known movie. Its a noir-ish crime thriller, starring Cassavetes’ wife Gina Rowlands in the lead, as a gangster’s moll who goes on the run with a young boy being hunted by the mob. Rowlands got nominated for an Oscar for her efforts. Gloria got remade in the 90s with Sharon Stone in the lead, but I have not seen that version.

Bookie is also a crime ‘thriller’ (it actually is rather low on thrills – or plot – being more interested in characterisation), starring a down-trodden Ben Gazzara in the lead. I remember seeing this at University in a screening in the lecture theatre and I’m sure I nodded off a few times. It has since gathered something of a cult following, but for me it was just too introspective, downbeat and painfully slow.

The French poster for Bookie (designed by the prolific poster artist Landi) interestingly follows its own path entirely and doesn’t look like any of the other marketing materials around the world for the movie.   The French title translates as “The scoundrels’ ball.”

Both of these posters can be found for sale here.