John Cassavetes (director)
Eureka! (studio)
103min (length)
21 July 2014 (released)
22 July 2014
Rarely has the title of a film matched the story as poignant as in director John Cassavetes underrated and almost forgotten Too Late Blues (1961) – by no means a masterpiece and in fact in many ways flawed. But its raw emotional display and engaging central performances by Bobby Darin and Stella Stevens more than make up for it.
Darin plays fiercely ambitious and fiercely idealistic jazz musician John ‘Ghost’ Wakefield, frontman of a combo that just about scrapes by playing in amusement parks and orphanages. Ghost would rather have it that way than, god forbid, compromise his musical mind frame and direction! That is until he takes Jess ‘here comes trouble’ Polanski (Stella Stevens) under his wing, a blonde stunner in the looks- but not in the voice department. When his hard-boiled manager Benny Flowers (Everett Chambers) puts down Jesse’s limited singing abilities during a party, Ghost reckons that he can make something out of the emotionally unstable and deeply insecure girl, who believes that her body has more to offer than her voice. While Ghost is falling hard for her, Jesse reveals that she’s not sure whether she’s capable of love – but this doesn’t stop him from nurturing the minimal talent she has. And so the first half of the film focuses on the combo playing on regardless, and the increasing friction between band and bandleader, courtesy of Jesse’s instalment. A lot of macho attitude displays itself at pool halls, on the rugby field, and a lot of shouting and the occasional fistfights follow. Until Ghost and his musicians get the chance to a recording gig, and suddenly the dream of a career breakthrough draws a little closer. But Ghost’s uncompromising attitude and an outburst in which he accuses his fellow musician of not grasping his superior musical vision spells the end of a golden opportunity. Not only does he lose his band mates that day, but his outburst leaves him estranged from Jess and from his agent, who thinks of him as talented but otherwise can’t stand his guts.
The fallout shifts the mood in the second half of the film to darker still. Our ambitious anti-hero comes to realise that his arrogant attitude and unwillingness to adapt more commercial aspects into his compositions get him nowhere except rock bottom. Begging his agent for another chance, Flowers dryly remarks “the bigger the idealist, the bigger the bum” and hooks him up with rich but ageing socialite The Countess (Marilyn Clark), who has a thing for younger jazz musicians. Not only does Ghost, rather unwillingly, become her gigolo, but her influence lands him exactly where he never wanted to be in the first place: a playing lounge lizard in posh and pretentious cocktail bars.
Finally deciding that enough is enough, Ghost has the ultimate showdown with the Countess as well as his agent, who tells him a bit of home truth! Remorseful and finally waking up to reality, Ghost tries to make amends with those he had alienated: his band mates and Jesse, who by now seems more burnt out than ever. But whether they are willing to forgive him and give him another chance is not revealed in the final scene, though the film’s title suggests no happy ending.
Too Late Blues is in parts remarkably edgy, shot in gritty b/w with often unusual camera angles, however, one suspects that director Cassavetes may have had to endure his own fights with the almighty commercial studio bosses, for the resulting film is an odd combination of ‘avantgarde’ and streamline, which ultimately doesn’t quite work.
Too Late Blues is released for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK, and in a fully stacked release anywhere in the world in a Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition as part of Eureka’s award-winning ‚The Masters of Cinema’ Series.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Gorgeous 1080p transfer of the film on Blu-ray, and progressive encode on the DVD
• EXCLUSIVE Video Essay by Film Historian David Cairns
• EXCLUSIVE Booklet with a new essay and conversation, vintage interview material, rare archival imagery, and more!