Rosemary's Baby — Page 2

So interesting about Cassavetes. I remember reading the book in high school, awaiting news of the film, and when we heard he had the role, and saw stills (he was not well known), we couldn't believe swarthy older looking Cassavetes would suggest the all-American Guy Woodhouse. And apparently he was no one's first choice in 1967. Yet it's impossible to view the film now and think he's anything but ideal, a perfect fit. He's entirely believable as a NYC stage actor, his career trajectory as listed by Levin even made sense (the part before Abe and Minnie's satanic assist). Watching it now, he is this Faustian narcissist who does the unthinkable. And Cassavetes makes the biggest turns in the character track. Watch him in the third act, when he is trapped with the truth. He squirms, he looks humiliated. A little put-out it's so messy. But also fully complicit at the same time. He has almost no dialog after the party sequence midway, yet in every shot manages to suggest the ways this man makes peace with this unspeakable bargain. It's a more skilled, thoughtful performance than he's given credit for.

Updated On: 10/28/15 at 02:23 PM

THAT picture sums up her brilliance! Both comically eccentric, yet terrifying!