Making a Scene Film Series: Gloria (1980)

Director: John Cassavetes

RSVP on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/making-a-scene-film-series-gloria-1980-tickets-49782275125

Well, it’s a cute idea for a movie, and maybe that’s why they’ve had this particular idea so often. You start with tough-talking, streetwise gangster types, you hook them up with a little kid, you put them in fear of their lives, and then you milk the situation for poignancy, pathos, excitement, comedy and anything else that turns up. It’s the basic situation of “Little Miss Marker,” the Damon Runyon story that has been filmed three times. And now John Cassavetes tells it again in Gloria. The twists this time: The tough-talking gangster type is a woman, and the kid is Puerto Rican. Cassavetes has cast his wife, Gena Rowlands, in the title role, and it’s an infectious performance–if infectious is the word to describe a chain-smoking dame who charges around town in her high heels, dragging a kid behind her. — Roger Ebert

The films in this series have had a major impact on artist Angela Dufresne’s work in the exhibition Angela Dufresne: Making a Scene currently on view at Kemper Museum. The characters and their methods in these productions provide inspiration for Dufresne’s own scenes.

Before the film, enjoy dinner at Café Sebastienne! Book your dinner reservation online now at kemperart.org/cafe or by calling 816-561-7740.

https://www.kemperart.org/info-reservations