being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1994, film critic Leonard Maltin said the film "was considered a watershed in the birth of American independent cinema". 2003 rediscovery The second version of the film, greatly reworked in 1959, is the one that Cassavetes considered to be the final product, and he refused to show the 1958 version. In time, he lost track of the first version's only print, and for decades it was believed to have been lost or destroyed. In the 1980s, Cassavetes said that he may have donated the film to a school far away. In fact, the 16 mm print of the first version had been left on a New York City subway train, taken to the subway's lost-and-found department, and then purchased by a second-hand-goods shop owner as part of a box of unclaimed items. The shop owner saw "Shadows" scratched into the leader on the first reel, but he did not recognize the film's name. The shop eventually went out of business, and the owner retired. The reels of film were stored in an attic in Florida, and in November 2003, they were given by the shop owner's daughter to film professor Ray Carney, who had been searching for the first version's print since the 1980s. A digital copy was shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in late January 2004. Since then, few people have seen this version, as Rowlands and the Cassavetes estate have been involved in a legal dispute regarding Carney's use of the film. See also List of avant-garde films of the 1950s List of cult films: S List of directorial debuts List of drama films of the 1950s List of films set in New York City List of interracial romance films List of racism-related films List of rediscovered films Too Late Blues, Cassavetes' second film from 1961 References Further reading Carney, Raymond Francis, Junior, "American Dreaming: The Films of John Cassavetes and the American Experience," (Berkeley and Los Angeles, California and London: University of California Press, 1985). External links Shadows essay by Ray Carney at National Film Registry Shadows: Eternal Times Square, an essay by Gary Giddins at the Criterion Collection Nick Schager review of Shadows 1961 New York Times review 1958 films 1958 drama films American black-and-white films American independent films 1950s English-language films Films about race and ethnicity Films directed by John Cassavetes Films about interracial romance United