The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

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The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Cassavetes
Produced by Al Ruban
Written by John Cassavetes
Starring Ben Gazzara
Timothy Carey
Seymour Cassel
Robert Phillips
Donna Marie Gordon
Morgan Woodward
Release date(s) February 15, 1976
Running time 135 min, 108 minutes (1978 re-release)
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is a 1976 gangster film directed and written by John Cassavetes and starring Ben Gazzara.

A rough and gritty film, it is comparable in form to Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973) and indeed Scorsese helped Cassavetes in its inception. The formidable character Gazzara plays was based on an impersonation he did for his friend Cassavetes in the 1970s. The actor and director collaborated for the first time on Cassavetes' film Husbands (1970) where Gazzara appeared alongside Peter Falk and Cassavetes himself. The collaboration of the two men culminated in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, with Gazzara taking the lead role of the hapless strip joint owner Cosmo Vitelli.

The film's original release, at 135 minutes in length, was a commercial disappointment and the movie was pulled from distribution after only seven days. At a May 17, 2008 George Eastman House screening in Rochester, Ben Gazzara said he 'hated' the original cut; 'it's too long', he told Cassavetes.

Eventually, Cassavetes decided to re-edit the film, and it was re-released in 1978 in a new 108-minute cut. The 1978 version is the one that has been in general release since that time, though both versions of the film were issued in The Criterion Collection's John Cassavetes: Five Films box set, marking the first appearance of the 1976 version since its original release.

True to Cassavetes' form, the 108-minute version is not just a simple edit of the 135-minute version. The order of several scenes have been changed, there are different edits of a few scenes, and there are a few segments that are unique to the 108-minute version. The bulk of the cutting in the 1978 version removed many of the nightclub routines that were in the 1976 version.

[edit] Plot

The film opens with Cosmo Vitelli (Ben Gazzara) making the final payment on a longstanding gambling debt to a sleazy loanshark (played by the film's producer Al Ruban). To celebrate his long-anticipated freedom, strip club owner Vitelli has an expensive night out with his three favorite dancers ("Margo", "Rachael" and "Sherry"). The evening culminates in a card game in which Vitelli loses $23,000, effectively returning him to the debtors condition he has just left. Using the debt as leverage, his mob creditors coerce him into agreeing to perform a "hit" on a rival. Vitelli is led to believe that his target is a small time criminal of minor consequence; in fact, he is a major figure in the Chinese mafia. Vitelli, with difficulty, manages to kill the man and several of his bodyguards but is severely wounded.

In addition to the potentially fatal gunshot wound he sustains, Vitelli comes to realize that his mob employers are intent on his death. In fact, they had no expectation that he would survive his assignment. Again forced into a corner, Vitelli manages to kill his assailants. The film ends without any positive indication of whether Vitelli can or will survive his ordeal.

[edit] Trivia

  • At one point in the late-90's a remake was in development which Brett Ratner was to helm. The project was scrapped however when Ratner dropped from it to direct Rush Hour.
  • Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) listed it as his favorite mob film.
  • Is considered a favorite film of directors Paul Thomas Anderson, Harmony Korine and Abel Ferrara.
  • The dancers were in fact real life exotic dancers and not trained actresses.
  • Ben Gazzara said (at the George Eastman House 5/17/2008) that the gangsters in the film were trying to 'steal Cosmo's dream'. As 'artistic director' of the strip club's musical routines, it wasn't much of a dream, BUT it was Cosmo's dream.
  • Casavettes and Gazarra had a long debate one night on whether they should film the killing of the Chinese bookie or leave it to the viewer's imagination. Gazarra said the movie is ABOUT killing a Chinese bookie. You HAVE to. As the crew waited, Cassavetes relented and said 'OK, let's go kill the bookie'. They went up to the set and filmed the scenes.
  • The movie was filmed over eight weeks, according to Gazzara and producer Al Ruban, one of the shortest shoots for a Cassavetes film.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by John Cassavetes

Shadows • Too Late Blues • A Child Is Waiting • Faces • Husbands • Minnie and Moskowitz • A Woman Under the Influence • The Killing of a Chinese Bookie • Opening Night • Gloria • Love Streams • Big Trouble
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