Gena Rowlands: Films, Rarities & Collectibles
Gena Rowlands is one of the great performers in American cinema, and her collaboration with director John Cassavetes produced some of the most intensely personal films ever committed to celluloid. A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Opening Night (1977), and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) are works of raw psychological honesty that had limited home video runs — making their VHS appearances genuinely rare and deeply valued by film enthusiasts. Her mainstream breakthrough, Gloria (1980), introduced her to a wider audience and earned an Academy Award nomination.
Rowlands' legacy has only grown since her passing in 2024. The Criterion Collection's dedicated work preserving and presenting her Cassavetes collaborations has made her catalog accessible to new generations of film collectors on DVD and Blu-ray. Later work including Night on Earth (1991) and Something to Talk About (1995) and her beloved role in The Notebook (2004) extended her cultural reach well beyond the art-house audiences that first championed her work.
Career Highlights by Era
1968–1980: Faces, Minnie and Moskowitz, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Opening Night, Gloria — the defining Cassavetes-era work, some of the scarcest VHS titles in American independent cinema.
1980–1991: Gloria, Another Woman, Night on Earth — a varied mid-career that saw her work with Woody Allen and Jim Jarmusch alongside continued Cassavetes collaborations.
2000s–present: The Notebook, Broken English, The Skeleton Key — mainstream and independent work that brought her acting to the widest possible audience.
What to Look For at Keystone Crypt
Any VHS copy of A Woman Under the Influence in good condition is among the most collectible American independent titles on tape. The Gloria RCA/Columbia clamshell (1981) is more accessible and a strong starting point. For disc collectors, the Criterion Collection Cassavetes releases — particularly A Woman Under the Influence — are essential acquisitions.