Prime Cut (1972)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Michael Ritchie

Writer:

Robert Dillon (written by)

Release Date:

15 September 1972 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

A Chicago mob enforcer is sent to Kansas City to settle a debt with a cattle rancher who not only grinds his enemies into sausage...

Plot Keywords:

Business | Murder | Farm | Kansas City | Corruption

Cast

Lee Marvin	...	Nick Devlin
Gene Hackman	...	Mary Ann
Angel Tompkins	...	Clarabelle
Gregory Walcott	...	Weenie
Sissy Spacek	...	Poppy
Janit Baldwin	...	Violet
William Morey	...	Shay
Clint Ellison	...	Delaney
Howard Platt	...	Shaughnessy
Les Lannom	...	O'Brien
Eddie Egan	...	Jake
Therese Reinsch	...	Jake's Girl
Bob Wilson	...	Reaper Driver
Gordon Signer	...	Brockman
Gladys Watson	...	Milk Lady
Hugh Gillin	...	Desk Clerk (as Hugh Gillin Jr.)
E. Lund	...	Mrs. O'Brien
David Savage	...	Ox-Eye
Craig Chapman	...	Farmer Bob
Jim Taksas	...	Big Jim
Wayne Savagne	...	Freckle Face
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerry Tracey	...	Orphan sold at auction (uncredited)
Judy Williams	...	Orphan sold at auction (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Ritchie

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert Dillon		written by

Produced by
Mickey Borofsky	....	associate producer
Kenneth L. Evans	....	executive producer
Joe Wizan	....	producer

Original Music by
Lalo Schifrin

Cinematography by
Gene Polito		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Carl Pingitore

Casting by
Hoyt Bowers

Art Direction by
Bill Malley

Set Decoration by
James W. Payne		(as James Payne)

Makeup Department
Salli Bailey	....	hair stylist (as Salley Bailey)
Ken Chase	....	makeup artist
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist (as Emil La Vigne)

Production Management
David Salven	....	unit production manager
Les Kimber	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Daves	....	assistant director

Art Department
Alan Levine	....	property master (as Allan Levine)
Terry E. Lewis	....	assistant property master (as Terry Lewis)
Gene Lauritzen	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jack A. Finlay	....	sound effects editor (as Jack Finlay)
Joel Moss	....	dubbing mixer
Barry Thomas	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Logan Frazee	....	special effects

Stunts
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ted White	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Clifford Hutchison	....	gaffer (as Clifford C. Hutchison)
Charles J. Renaud	....	key grip (as Charles Renaud)
Orlando Suero	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ray Summers	....	wardrobe: men

Editorial Department
Herb Steinore	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Ed Forsyth	....	music supervisor (as Ed Forsythe)

Other crew
Charlsie Bryant	....	script supervisor
Betty Gumm	....	production assistant
Les Kimber	....	location consultant
Don Record	....	title designer
Joe Thornton	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cinema Center Films

Distributors

• National General Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Key Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (2009) | Finland:K-18 | Norway:16 (1972) | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Cinema Center Films

Trivia:

Sissy Spacek's feature film debut.

Movie Connections:

References Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)

Lee Marvin was the ultimate in professional torpedoes…

In the Fifties, in "Violent Saturday," he made a little name as the killer who kept using a nose spray while terrorizing Sylvia Sidney and a bank… When Don Siegel made the second version of Hemingway's "The Killers," he was the cool, hard gunman who knew he was being paid to do the job and would definitely do it, come hell or high water…

His "Prime Cut," is a study in professionalism… Before that came "Point Blank," in which again he was the unstoppable force… But watch him in "Prime Cut." Notice the care with which he handles the tools of his trade, the cavalry rifle which takes to pieces and is lovingly kept in a neat executive-style case…

He is a "hit man," a torpedo who can be hired by the new breed of businessman-gangster… Pressured into a job against his will, he is sent to Kansas City to enforce his employer's demands for payment from another gangster-type… From then on, a trail of murder, malice and killing makes the screen run red… If the baddies all come to sticky ends – so does at least one innocent person, whom Marvin involves – as in the case of the truck-driver whose vehicle he hijacks…

"Prime Cut" is a tremendously exciting film, if one disregards its moral values… At the end Marvin, the paid killer who keeps the weapons of his trade in velvet-lined cases, has destroyed all the other villains… yet walks off into the sunset without a hint of retribution…