Opening Night Opening Night
  • United States
  • 1976
  • 144 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.66:1
  • English
  •  
  • Spine #255

Broadway actress Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) rehearses for her latest play, about a woman unable to admit that she is aging. When she witnesses the accidental death of an adoring young fan, she begins to confront the personal and professional turmoil she faces in her own life. Featuring a moving performance by Rowlands (and with some scenes shot on stages with live audiences reacting freely to the writing and performing), John Cassavetes’ Opening Night exposes the drama of an actress who at great personal cost makes a part her own.

Cast

Myrtle Gordon Gena Rowlands
Maurice AaronsJohn Cassavetes
Manny VictorBen Gazzara
Sarah GoodeJoan Blondell
David Samuels Paul Stewart
Dorothy Victor Zohra Lampert
Nancy SteinLaura Johnson
Gus SimmonsJohn Tuell

Credits

DirectorJohn Cassavetes
ProducerAl Ruban
ScreenplayJohn Cassavetes
Associate producerMichael Lally
Sound/Composed musicBo Harwood
CinematographyAl Ruban
Camera operatorsFrederick Elmes and Michael Ferris
EditingTom Cornwell
Art directorBryan Ryman

Disc Features

  • New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound, and enhanced for widescreen televisions
  • New video conversation between actors Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara
  • New video interview with director of photography and producer Al Ruban
  • Audio interview with Cassavetes by film historians Michel Ciment and Michael Wilson conducted after the film’s release
  • Trailers
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Film Essays

Opening Night: The Play’s the Thing

By Dennis LimSeptember 20, 2004

“I’m not acting,” stage star Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) tells her bemused director after a . . . Read more »

Clippings

Grand Opening

March 28, 2011

We never pass up an opportunity to send you over to Blogdanovich, and we have the perfect . . . Read more »


Film Essays

Opening Night: The Play’s the Thing

By Dennis LimSeptember 20, 2004

“I’m not acting,” stage star Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) tells her bemused director after a . . . Read more »