Once again delving into the tortured, tumultuous lives of jazz musicians, John Cassavetes followed up his breakthrough Shadows with the studio-backed Too Late Blues. Paramount produced this dark tragedy about a working pianist, played by boyish crooner Bobby Darin, who slowly self-destructs, sabotaging his relationships with his band, manager, and girlfriend, all in dogged pursuit of artistic vision and control. Some took the story as a metaphor for Cassavetes’ own struggles making a film to his satisfaction within the studio system. No matter what, it’s a compelling, dynamic film that only Cassavetes could’ve made.
“This attempt to recapture the spontaneous energy and ‘realism’ of his much-acclaimed, independently-made Shadows in a rather more plot-bound film for Paramount remains one of the more impressive Hollywood movies to be set in the hip, flip jazz world.” – Geoff Andrew, Time Out
“The Cassavetes touch – the delicate way of handling emotional messiness, the tough but ultimately generous view of human behavior – is unmistakable. The rarely seen Too Late Blues is an especially resonant work, a parable about the price of artistic independence and the conflicts of ego and idealism – in other words, something like a confessional manifesto from the emerging director, 31 when he made it.” – Dennis Lim, Los Angeles Times
Kim Morgan discusses Cassavetes and Too Late Blues for the New Beverly blog.
