A Woman Under the Influence

"A woman of today, her world, her passions."

1974 2h 35m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

★7.7TMDB · 584

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Mabel Longhetti, desperate and lonely, is married to a Los Angeles municipal construction worker, Nick. Increasingly unstable, especially in the company of others, she craves happiness, but her extremely volatile behavior convinces Nick that she poses a danger to their family and decides to commit her to an institution for six months. Alone with a trio of kids to raise on his own, he awaits her return, which holds more than a few surprises.

“A woman of today, her world, her passions.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Gena Rowlands
Mabel Longhetti
Peter Falk
Nick Longhetti
Fred Draper
George Mortensen
Lady Rowlands
Martha Mortensen
Katherine Cassavetes
Margaret Longhetti
Matthew Labyorteaux
Angelo Longhetti
Matthew Cassel
Tony Longhetti
Christina Grisanti
Maria Longhetti

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Cassavetes
Writers: John Cassavetes
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 155 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $12M — a 12.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Cassavetes, shot by Mitch Breit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bo Harwood. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor David Armstrong shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Cassavetes directs. Mitch Breit behind the camera. Bo Harwood scores. David Armstrong cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 155 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $12M — a 12.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
452 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
6Directed by John Cassavetes, shot by Mitch Breit. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Bo Harwood. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor David Armstrong shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk and Fred Draper carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "A woman of today, her world, her passions.".
11IMDB entry: tt0072417 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Mitch Breit
Original score: Bo Harwood
Editing: David Armstrong
Runtime: 155 min · 2h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $1,000,000
Box office: $12,200,000
Return: 1220% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

John Cassavetes

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-07-19
★ 7/10
“Mabel” (Gena Rowlands) and husband “Nick” (Peter Falk) are happily enough married. He leads a construction team whilst she tries to cope with their three children. “Mabel” definitely burns the candle at both ends. She wishes to come across as a loving mother and wife whilst presenting a life and soul of the party image designed to ensure that all around her are happy. “Nick” knows, however, that many of their friends think her enthusiasm is symptomatic of something more sinister and that just perhaps she might be losing her grip. Gradually, both her husband and this film’s audience start to realise that “Mabel” is on the precipice of something traumatic, and that something will have to be done - a decision that is hastened by an example of recklessness that “Nick” knows he cannot afford to ignore. His solution may well help his wife to get proper medical assessment, diagnosis and to hopefully recover - but it also leaves him trying to juggle his business responsibilities as well as looking after three stroppy and independently-minded youngsters. With his own stress levels increasing and the return of his wife soon looming, the atmosphere reaches a crescendo of temperamental toxicity that involves family and friends alike. The casting of both Rowlands and Falk is inspired, here, She turns in as visceral a performance as you’re ever likely see as she treads an increasingly blurred line between sanity and an illness that all can see coming but her. Meantime, Falk delivers strongly as his character treads a similarly delicate path that sees conflict between love, loyalty and necessity present itself to man whose own grasp on sanity is sorely tested, too. It is also worth noting that the bairns also contribute powerfully here, too. What is distinctly unnerving about this movie is the way in which we are sucked into the plot. So often the photography is intimate and intense, but at other times it seems more designed to support our own more distant, fly-on-the-wall location on the sidelines - yet we never feel that we have missed anything. Suffice to say that there could be a great many “children” here, and they are not all in short pants nor necessarily on the celluloid either. It has moments of humour to it, either deliberately or as a technique from “Nick” to attempt to defuse the increasingly frenzied scenarios “Mabel” is constructing and by the end of this, I felt a degree of uncomfortable exhaustion. This isn’t an easy watch but it’s worth it.

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