#254: CASSAVETES, John: The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)

JOHN CASSAVETES: FIVE FILMS {Spine #250}

CASSAVETES, John (United States)

The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie [1976]

Spine #254
DVD

John Cassavetes engages film noir in his own inimitable style with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Ben Gazzara brilliantly portrays gentlemen's club owner Cosmo Vitelli, a man dedicated to pretenses of composure and self-possession. When he runs afoul of a small-time gangster, Cosmo is forced to commit a horrible crime in a last-ditch effort to save his beloved club and his way of life. Suspenseful, mesmerizing, and idiosyncratic, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is a thought-provoking examination of desperation and masculine identity.

Original Version 1976

135 minutes

Re-Release Version 1978

108 minutes

Color

Monaural

1:85:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2004

Director/Writer

John Cassavetes was 47 when he wrote and directed The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.

Other Cassavetes films in the Collection:

#251: Shadows (1959)
#252: Faces (1968)
#1029: Husbands (1970)
#253: A Woman Under The Influence (1974)
#255: Opening Night (1977)
#721: Love Streams (1984)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Sixty-eight page booklet featuring essays by Cassavetes, Phillip Lopate, and tributes by Martin Scorsese, Elaine Kagan, and Jonathan Lethem.

Commentary

None.

Video interviews

With star Gazzara and producer Al Ruban.

Audio interview

With Cassavetes by film historians Michel Ciment and Michael Wilson conducted after the film’s release.

Stills gallery

Featuring rare behind-the-scenes production photos.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

By Director
By Spine #