Shadows

Shadows (Criterion #251).
1959 Castle Hill Productions & Janus Films.
Starring: Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni, Hugh Hurd, Anthony Ray, Dennis Sallas, Tom Allen, David Pokitillow, Rupert Crosse
Director: John Cassavetes
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the John Cassavetes: Five Films box set (Criterion #250).

John Cassavetes made Shadows twice in 1957, and again in 1959. This is the 1959 print that he preferred, and the original film was believed to be lost or destroyed, turned up in 2004 after Boston University professor and Cassavetes scholar Ray Carney discovered it in a box of lost and found objects that had been collected from subway cars and stored away (more information here).

Shadows is the story of an interracial romance between Lelia (Goldoni), a light-skinned African American woman living in New York with her two brothers (Ben, played by Carruthers; and Hugh, played by Hurd), and Tony (Ray), a white man. Ben plays trumpet and spends his days hanging out with friends, while Hugh is an aspiring blues singer who finds himself in the insulting position of introducing chorus girls.

Things between Tony and Lelia are great, until he discovers the truth about her racial heritage, which causes Tony to make a scene as he is asked to leave by Hugh. Tony tries to redeem himself for this, and for the feelings of discomfort he got after discovering Lelia's race, but his gesture to prove he's not prejudiced is seen as merely an empty gesture and not taken seriously.

Shadows, which we are informed at the end was largely improvised by the cast, turned out to be a true milestone in American independent cinema. Highly, highly recommended.