Wonderful character development!

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Navy sailor John Baggs Jr. (James Caan) is on a Cinderella Liberty pass when he picks up sexy Maggie Paul (Marsha Mason) hustling pool in the city. She's a prostitute with a son named Doug. His friend former sailor Forshay (Eli Wallach) is a doorman at a bar. Baggs' records are lost and he gets no pay & no orders. He is taken aback when the social worker lets slip Maggie's pregnancy from another guy earlier.Mason got an Oscar nomination. When she got exposed by the social worker, she has a terrific moment of desperation and anger. It's an excellent acting overall. Same goes for Caan. It's a rambling plot but that's not a problem. The actual problem is the kid. Kid actors are often a hit or miss proposition. This one is mostly a miss. He doesn't really have any charisma. It makes it more difficult to develop chemistry with Baggs. This is quite fine and would be great with a better kid.

Depressing film dealing with the subject of human losers. We have Johnny (James Caan) as a sailor who is left behind due to a medical condition and in the process his records are lost placing him in navy limbo. He encounters a tramp, convincingly played by Marsha Mason. Mason reminds me of Susan Hayward in looks and that she often played troubled women. In this picture, it's no different. In another Oscar nominated losing performance, she plays a woman who has been knocked around a lot. In a way, the part was a forerunner for "The Goodbye Girl," a far better picture and performance by her.She has a black child who is street wise and sensitive at the same time. The film depicts the relationship between Mason and Caan. Mason is not an Anna Magnani of "The Rose Tattoo" memory though she tries to be a loving companion one moment only to descend into hysterics at another time.Their one opportunity to find happiness leads to sadness when she gives birth to a child only to lose it a week later. John, desperately trying to show kindness and responsibility is also devastated.Though Mason abandons both Caan and the black child at the end, the film ends when Johnny is able to change places with Eli Wallach, who portrays a naval person who was thrown out of the navy. With the change in identity, John and the boy can pursue Mason to New Orleans where she has gone.The fairy tale of "Cinderella" ended happily. This non-fairy tale ends with some encouragement but we realize the plight of those down on their luck in this society.

This movie was made in 1973, and I thought it was a great movie for several reasons. It depicts the gritty, boring life of a career enlisted serviceman. Military heroics are replaced with human heroics at a time when civilians had a dim view of anyone who spent time in the service. The movie turns all the trite plots about saintly prostitutes and sailors on its head. Caan plays a real sailor, and Marsha Mason, a funny but can't help herself hooker. Her young son by an unknown black father is slowly drawn into a friendship with her mother's "honky" john. This unlikely threesome is what makes this movie worth watching. In my opinion, it is a better movie than "From Here to Eternity", which has too much of the recruiting version of the military. Cinderlla Liberty is stripped raw of the poster Navy. This movie shows life in the real Navy about a real human being, who happens to be a sailor.

I have never forgotten this film for a second after seeing it on VHS years ago. 2 of my favorite actors of the 70s, Mason and Caan....Marsha needs to be better represented on DVD; why isn't this film and "Only When I Laugh" on DVD yet? Who do we complain to? There were so many surprising elements to this film...i was shocked to see the nudity in this film, and also the mixed race of her son, if my memory serves me correctly, and played by an interesting child actor. The movie was just more than i was expecting it to be, a very pleasant surprise. I just read that she beat out Babs for this part, and i really can't see her playing this part the way Marsah did, tho i do love her as well.