they should remain partners and swears to be more flexible. As Lelia and David head out for another date, Tony arrives at the door looking for her. He is disappointed to see her already dating another man, and she walks past him, but Hugh also arrives and they get into an argument over Lelia. A beaten up and more sanguine Ben becomes the arbiter and calms the situation down. Hugh discovers he has a good booking in Chicago and leaves. Ben is the last sibling to leave the apartment and heads down the street. Destination unknown. Cast Lelia Goldoni as Lelia Hugh Hurd as Hugh Ben Carruthers as Ben Rupert Crosse as Rupert Anthony Ray as Tony Dennis Sallas as Dennis Tom Allen as Tom Production The idea for the film came from a classroom exercise. With acting coach Burt Lane (later the father of Diane Lane), Cassavetes was conducting classes for aspiring actors at the Variety Arts Theatre in Manhattan's off-Broadway Union Square neighborhood, the classes listed as "The Cassavetes-Lane Drama Workshop"; this was Cassavetes' attempt to counter the adherents of method acting who controlled much of New York theatre and film. A particular exercise became the core of the film: A young African-American woman who was very light-skinned dated a young white man, but he was repulsed when he discovered she had a black brother. Cassavetes determined to put the scene on film, so he began looking for funding. While ostensibly promoting the film Edge of the City on Jean Shepherd's Night People radio show on WOR in February 1957, Cassavetes said he could make a better film than could director Martin Ritt. He pitched the drama workshop idea to Shepherd's radio audience. Cassavetes was surprised when listeners sent about $2,000 to start the project. Money also came from Cassavetes' friends, including Hedda Hopper, William Wyler, Joshua Logan, Robert Rossen, José Quintero, and Cassavetes' agent Charlie Feldman. Cassavetes hired German cinematographer Erich Kollmar as cameraman, the only crew member except Cassavetes with any experience in film. Using student actors from the Cassavetes-Lane Drama Workshop, shooting started in February 1957 in a largely improvised form. Cassavetes composed an outline for the film, but not a script. Cassavetes and assistant director/producer Maurice McEndree gave detailed instructions to the actors, constraining the situation to guide the story, with the words and the movements improvised by the actors. Cassavetes intended the story