Shadows (1959 film)

Shadows
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Cassavetes
Written by	John Cassavetes Robert Alan Aurthur
Produced by	Maurice McEndree Nikos Papatakis
Starring	Ben Carruthers Lelia Goldoni Hugh Hurd
Cinematography	Erich Kollmar
Edited by	Len Appelson Maurice McEndree Wray Bevins
Music by	Charles Mingus Shafi Hadi
Distributed by	British Lion
Release date	November 11, 1959 (1959-11-11)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40,000

Shadows is a 1959 American independent drama film directed by John Cassavetes about race relations during the Beat Generation years in New York City. The film stars Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, and Hugh Hurd as three black siblings, though only one of them is dark-skinned enough to be considered African American. The film was initially shot in 1957 and shown in 1958, but a poor reception prompted Cassavetes to rework it in 1959. Promoted as a completely improvisational film, it was intensively rehearsed in 1957, and in 1959 it was fully scripted.

The film depicts two weeks in the lives of three siblings on the margins of society:^[1] two brothers who are struggling jazz musicians and their light-skinned younger sister who goes through three relationships, one with an older white writer, one with a shallow white lover, and finally one with a gentle young black admirer.

Film scholars consider Shadows a milestone of American independent cinema.^[2] In 1960, the film won the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival.^[1]