Husbands [Criterion Collection]

Director: John Cassavetes John Cassavetes

Overview

John Cassavetes wrote and directed this look at three middle-aged men thrown into a midlife crisis when one of their mutual friends dies. Harry (Ben Gazzara), Archie (Peter Falk) and Gus (John Cassavetes) attend the funeral of their buddy David Rowlands (Stuart Jackson); all three are starting to feel the pressures of their advancing years, while Harry is having serious problems with his marriage. After the funeral, the three men decide that they need to get away from it all for a while, and they spend the next two days getting drunk, shooting hoops, playing cards, sleeping on the subway, and pretending that they're teenagers again. After 48 hours of irresponsibility, Archie and Gus decide that fun is fun but it's time to go home. But when Harry goes back to his wife, they have a huge argument; Harry storms out and decides to fly to England, persuading Archie and Gus to tag along. They get dressed up, visit a casino, and pick up beautiful women, but while Archie and Gus, as before, look at this as a brief vacation from their lives as loyal husbands and fathers, Harry doesn't want to go home, even though he seems more troubled by his infidelity than do his two friends. Cassavetes' first directorial project after his critical breakthrough with Faces, featuring intense, largely improvised performances by two of his most consistent collaborators, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk, Husbands was originally released in a cut running 154 minutes, but was trimmed to 138 minutes for general release.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/26/2020
UPC:	0715515246118
Original Release:	1970
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:22:00
Sales rank:	20,113

Special Features

New 4K digital restoration; Audio Commentary from 2009 featuring critic Marshall Fine; New interviews with Producer Al Ruban and actor Jenny Runacre; New video essay featuring audio recordings of actor-director John Cassavettes discussing his approach to working with actors; The Story of "Husbands" - A Tribute to John Cassavettes (2009), a half-hour program featuring Ruban, actor Ben Gazzara, and Cinematographer Victor J. Kemper; Episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1970 featuring Cassavetes, Gazzara, and actor Peter Falk; Trailer; Plus: An essay by filmmaker Andrew Bujalski; SDH subtitles

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Cassavetes	Gus,Nick,Xan
Peter Falk	Archie
Ben Gazzara	Harry
Jenny Runacre	Mary Tynan
Jenny Lee Wright	Pearl Billingham,Pearl Billingham
Noelle Kao	Julie
Leola Harlow	Leola
Meta Shaw	Annie,Annie
John Kullers	Red
Delores Delmar	Countess
Peggy Lashbrook	Diana Mallabee
Eleanor Zee	Mrs. Hines
Claire Malis Callaway	Stuart's Wife
Lorraine McMartin	Annie's Mother
Edgar Franken	Ed Weintraub
Sarah Felcher	Sarah
Antoinette Kray	`Jesus Loves Me'
Gwen Van Dam	`Jeannie'
John Armstrong	`Happy Birthday'
Eleanor Gould	`Normandy'
Carinthia West	Susanna
Rhonda Parker	Margaret
Joseph Boley	Minister
Judith Lowry	Stuart's Grandmother
Joseph Hardy	`Shanghai Lil'
K.C. Townsend	Barmaid
Anne O'Donnell	Nurse
Gena Wheeler	Nurse
David Rowlands	Stuart Jackson
Bill Britton	Actor
Arthur Clark	Actor
Charles Gaines	Actor
Fred Draper	Actor
Claire Malis	Actor
Claire Callaway	Actor

Technical Credits

John Cassavetes

John Cassavetes	Director,Screenwriter
Al Ruban	Producer
Sam Shaw	Producer
Dennis L. Maitland	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Husbands
1. Stuart's Funeral [8:48]
2. "I'm Going to Get Very Drunk" [5:59]
3. Sweating It Out [3:16]
4. Singing Contest [8:09]
5. "It Was Just A Little Love Affair" [8:39]
6. "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" [4:17]
7. Vomiting In The Bathroom [7:54]
8. "Harry, You're A Phony" [8:05]
9. Quick Stop At Harry's House [9:12]
10. Office Work [6:35]
11. "London. London, England." [4:25]
12. Hotel [4:12]
13. Craps [5:41]
14. Women [9:29]
15. Room Service [7:32]
16. "I Like Nuts" [7:09]
17. "Do You Talk?" [6:59]
18. "I Feel So Goddam Disloyal" [1:18]
19. The Next Morning [5:48]
20. "Emotionally, I Am In Deep Trouble" [4:46]
21. "They're My Best Friends" [8:14]
22. "Mom! Dad's Home!" [5:27]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Husbands
   Play The Movie
   Chapters
   Commentary: Off
   Commentary: On
Disc #2 -- Husbands
   Al Ruban
   Jenny Runacre
   John Cassavetes On Acting
   The Story Of "Husbands" - A Tribute To John Cassavetes
   The Dick Cavett Show
   Trailer

Editorial Reviews

Husbands is a fascinating cinematic exercise, the kind of film that infuriates some, bores many others and utterly captivates a select few. As with many John Cassavetes films, it's a "love it or hate it" experience. Its detractors can point with great justification to its flaws: the film itself is not only overlong, but many individual scenes within it are overlong -- and not by just a few seconds. The improvisational nature of the film means that it lacks narrative cohesiveness, points are made indirectly if at all, and the focus is unclear from one moment to the next. One watches the film and grows increasingly frustrated. But this seems to be exactly what Cassavetes intended. The men he is studying are themselves frustrated. They feel trapped. They want to escape their lives, and not just through a long weekend in London. Cassavetes creates a similar sense of unease in the viewer. Whether this is artistically brilliant or pretentious and sophomoric depends upon the individual viewer. But those who are able to give themselves over to Cassavetes will find Husbands immensely rewarding, an exhausting probe into the psyche of middle-aged, middle class American males circa 1970. Such viewers will leave not with insight but with comprehension of a small corner of American culture. They will also leave with a great appreciation of the acting talents of Cassavetes, Peter Falk and Ben Gazzara, whose work here is irreplaceable.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler