Too Late Blues

Cassavetes's first studio film, made with Paramount after the independent method of Shadows. Ghost Wakefield is a jazz pianist playing with his own group, unwilling to compromise, which is why nobody books them anywhere good. Then he meets a singer named Jess. During an incident in a bar Ghost backs down, and that moment breaks both the band and the relationship: he learns something about himself and cannot carry it. In the second half he abandons his music and his friends for work that pays. The film's problem is that the studio system did not fit his method: no improvisation, a cast chosen by the studio, and a result that is neither a proper studio film nor a proper Cassavetes film. Bobby Darin plays Ghost and Stella Stevens plays Jess. Darin was known then as a singer and his performance surprised people. It failed with critics and at the box office; after one more studio attempt Cassavetes went back to working independently. An important link for anyone following Cassavetes completely. Not the place to start with him; Shadows or Faces are better entries.