The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

Director:

John Cassavetes

Writer:

John Cassavetes (writer)

Release Date:

8 October 1977 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

A proud strip club owner is forced to come to terms with himself as a man, when his gambling addiction gets him in hot water with the mob, who offer him only one alternative.

Plot Keywords:

Strip Club | Gambling Debt | Murder For Hire | Reluctant Hitman | Neo Noir

Cast

Ben Gazzara	...	Cosmo Vitelli
Timothy Carey	...	Flo (Gangster) (as Timothy Agoglia Carey)
Seymour Cassel	...	Mort Weil (Gangster)
Robert Phillips	...	Phil (Gangster)
Morgan Woodward	...	John (Head gangster)
John Kullers	...	Eddie-Red (as John Red Kullers)
Al Ruban	...	Marty Reitz (Gangster)
Azizi Johari	...	Rachel
Virginia Carrington	...	Betty, the mother
Meade Roberts	...	Mr. Sophistication
Alice Fredlund	...	Sherry
Donna Gordon	...	Margo Donnar (as Donna Marie Gordon)
Haji	...	Haji
Carol Warren	...	Carol
Derna Wong Davis	...	Derna
Kathalina Veniero	...	Annie
Yvette Morris	...	Yvette
Jack Ackerman	...	Musical director
David Rowlands	...	Lamarr
Trisha Pelham	...	Waitress
Eddie Shaw	...	Taxi Driver (as Eddie Ike Shaw)
Sonny Aprile	...	Sonny (as Salvatore Aprile)
Gene Darcy	...	Commodore
Ben Marino	...	Bartender
Arlene Allison	...	Waitress
Vincent Barbi	...	Vince (as Vince Barbi)
Val Avery	...	Blair Benoit
Elizabeth Deering	...	Lavinia
Soto Joe Hugh	...	Chinese Bookie (as Soto Joe Hugh)
Catherine Wong	...	The Bookie's Girl
John Finnegan	...	Taxi Driver
Miles Ciletti	...	Mickey
Mike Skloot	...	Scooper
Frank Buchanan	...	Flo's Friend
Jason Kincaid	...	Parking Lot Attendant
Frank M. Thomas	...	Poker Player (as Frank Thomas)
Jack Krupnick	...	Poker Player
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Pappas	...	Bartender (uncredited)

Directed by
John Cassavetes

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Cassavetes		writer

Produced by
Phil Burton	....	associate producer
Al Ruban	....	producer

Original Music by
Bo Harwood

Cinematography by
Mitch Breit		(as Mitchell Breit)
Al Ruban

Film Editing by
Tom Cornwell

Production Design by
Sam Shaw

Art Direction by
Phedon Papamichael

Production Management
Art Levinson	....	production manager

Art Department
Verna Bagby	....	set construction
Miles Ciletti	....	props
Bruce Hartman	....	set construction
Bryan Ryman	....	assistant art director
Robert Vehon	....	set construction

Sound Department
Bo Harwood	....	sound
Robert Knudson	....	sound mixer (as Buzz Knudson)

Stunts
Craig R. Baxley	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Catherine E. Coulson	....	assistant camera (as Catherine Coulson)
Frederick Elmes	....	camera operator (as Fred Elmes)
Michael Ferris	....	assistant camera
M. Todd Henry	....	assistant camera
R. Michael Stringer	....	assistant camera
Richard Upper	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mary Herne	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Neal Meisenheimer	....	assistant editor
Fran Morgenstern	....	assistant editor
Terri Messina	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Sandy King	....	script supervisor
Connie McFeeley	....	production accountant
Teresa Stokovic	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Faces Distribution

Distributors

• British Film Institute (BFI) (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1977) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Faces Distributing Corporation
• Koch Media (2007) (Germany) (DVD)

Runtime:

135 min | 109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R

Company:

Faces Distribution

Trivia:

Ben Gazzara was unhappy with the role initially, unable to find a way to connect to Cosmo Vitelli. That changed when shooting a scene, Cassavetes spoke to Gazzara about the gangsters in the film as a metaphor for the people who are constantly trying to steal or ruin people's dreams. Cassavetes started to cry and Gazzara saw that playing Cosmo was representing John Cassavetes and the movie was a metaphor for the director's struggles for his own dreams.

Quotes:

Cosmo Vitelli: My mother was very funny. Had a great sense of humor. Yeah, that's right. She was so funny, she ran off with this big, fat butcher.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Imaginationland (#11.10)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

After the Ball

John Cassavetes: a fearless filmmaker

John Cassavetes is widely regarded as being the father of American independent film. Using his fees as an actor in films such as "The Killers" (1964) and "Rosemary's Baby" (1968, he funded his own films away from the interference of Hollywood. In this film, Ben Gazzara plays Cosmo Vitelli, a nightclub owner who lives way beyond his means and manages to get into a massive gambling debt with the mob. This leads to the gangsters putting heavy pressure on Cosmo to perform a hit for them in order that he pays back the debt. The film deals with Cosmo's attempts to extricate himself from these proceedings whilst still keeping his integrity, not to mention his life intact.

The film can be seen as having parables with Cassavetes own dealings with Hollywood studios and his attempts, not unlike those of the films protagonist to keep his integrity and his artistic vision intact. The film is a classic example of 70's American cinema when the old studio system had collapsed and filmmakers had the freedom to make whatever films they liked no matter how personal or non commercial they might seem. This is a truly great film.