does anybody know anything about the actress who plays the older woman in the casino, the second person that peter falk talks to, who says she has lots of money? i really liked that scene and thought she was really good. whats her name?
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I think it might be Delores Delmar (The Countess) as listed in the cast credits. What a weird woman!
shareShe's the best thing in the film!! I also think it's got to be Delores Delmar, credited as t
"the Countess", since she's the only one who looks decadently rich enough to be a countess and looks definitely Latin to have a name like Delores Delmar, probably a pun with Dolores del Rio (she had something of Celia Cruz).
Her timing, the way she uses those incredibly bushy fake eyelashes, the things she does with her mouth, her sense of humor: "Girls? Do you want girls? I can get you girls". Falks says no. She adds: "Boys? I can get you boys!" Lol
it's funny that you mention her eyebrows, when you type in the name delores delmar in wikipedia, a showgirl that drowned in 1941 under suspicious circumstances comes up (along with 45000 other entries!) the plot thickens, what a star...
thanks for the replies even if i am over a year late!
Was she the horny old woman who was....doing something to one of the guys under the table or was making the weird faces? I saw this on IFC a while ago, but that one scene really stood out for me, for some reason. I thought it was funny.
"Now, I know I'm pretty, but I ain't as pretty as a coupla titties!"
Well, Hello, Madman. Fancy meeting you here!
Yes, she is the horny older woman who grabs Peter Falk's hand and won't let go. He starts hitting on her when her back is turned, and when she turns to face him, he is shocked and she is very interested. She tells him she's rich and she'll give him anything she wants. He keeps trying to get away, but he can't. It's a very fascinating, hilarious yet disturbing scene that shows how quickly the tables can turn.
The guy who does the commentary on the new dvd says she was a silent film actress.
Dictated, but not read.
In her devastating review of "Husbands", Pauline Kael ends it by expressing her anger/disgust at the way Cassavetes treats our "Dolores Delmar".
I quote:
" What does it [the film] reveal except the paralysis and humiliation of the players? (...) In the past,, Cassavetes has given some erratic evidence of being a compassionate director; I think he forfeits all claims to compassion in "Husbands". A long close-up scene in a London gambling club in which an elderly woman is approached by Peter Falk and coyly propositions him is perhaps the most grotesquely insensitive movie sequence of the year. It's hideous, it's (...) bad acting and a gross conception. (...) Since Cassavetes conveys no sense of illusion -- since he's after the naked "reality" -- we don't think about the role, we think about the actress, and we wonder if she could ever get enough money to compensate for what is being done to her".
Harsh!
I guess Ms. Kael didn't feel like taking the "joke" lightly.
Thank God for Pauline Kael! I had never watched this film before now but I see from your quote that it will be very satisfactory to read Pauline's review because she apparently hated it and so did I.
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Oh God. Pauline Kael...
shareIt was an old man dressed as a woman.
shareHow do you know? I thought so too but as is clear from this thread it's hard to track the actor down.
share___Man or woman, it is a riveting scene. I hadn't seen this film in years, yet I still remembered that scene. I recently viewed just that scene again on YouTube, and it still has that car crash appeal. You want to look away, but cannot, and when it's finished you are a bit shellshocked.
"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend "
I think that's the scene where Falk delivers that hilarious line, "Lady, take your hand off my hand."
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