Tough-talking Gloria Swenson likes her solo life, but when her neighbor’s family is killed by the mob, she becomes the reluctant guardian of their young son. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, Gloria is streetwise enough to know she’d better get out of New York with the kid.

Gloria not only sees the fiercely independent filmmaker flirting brilliantly with genre, but also features a defiantly tough Gena Rowlands in one hell of a role as a hitwoman. A peculiar gangster flick set on the streets of N.Y.C., this neo-noir potboiler is Cassavetes’ most commercial picture.