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IMDbPro

Who Killed Teddy Bear

  • 1965
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
934
YOUR RATING
Sal Mineo and Juliet Prowse in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
In New York, a disco hostess is stalked by a sexual predator and she requests help from a vice squad detective who takes a personal interest in the case.
Play trailer2:11
1 Video
30 Photos
CrimeDramaMystery

In New York, a disco hostess is stalked by a sexual predator and she requests help from a vice squad detective who takes a personal interest in the case.In New York, a disco hostess is stalked by a sexual predator and she requests help from a vice squad detective who takes a personal interest in the case.In New York, a disco hostess is stalked by a sexual predator and she requests help from a vice squad detective who takes a personal interest in the case.

  • Director
    • Joseph Cates
  • Writers
    • Leon Tokatyan
    • Arnold Drake
  • Stars
    • Sal Mineo
    • Juliet Prowse
    • Jan Murray
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    934
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Joseph Cates
    • Writers
      • Leon Tokatyan
      • Arnold Drake
    • Stars
      • Sal Mineo
      • Juliet Prowse
      • Jan Murray
    • 32User reviews
    • 40Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:11
    Watch Trailer

    Photos30

    Sal Mineo and Margot Bennett in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Sal Mineo and Juliet Prowse in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Juliet Prowse in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Jan Murray and Juliet Prowse in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Sal Mineo and Juliet Prowse in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Juliet Prowse and Elaine Stritch in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Sal Mineo in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Juliet Prowse and Elaine Stritch in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Juliet Prowse in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Sal Mineo and Juliet Prowse in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)
    Juliet Prowse in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sal Mineo
    Sal Mineo
    • Larry Sherman
    Juliet Prowse
    Juliet Prowse
    • Norah Dain
    Jan Murray
    • Lt. Dave Madden
    Elaine Stritch
    Elaine Stritch
    • Marian Freeman
    Margot Bennett
    • Edie Sherman
    Daniel J. Travanti
    Daniel J. Travanti
    • Carlo
    • (as Dan Travanty)
    Diane Moore
    • Pam Madden
    Frank Campanella
    Frank Campanella
    • Police Captain
    Bruce Glover
    Bruce Glover
    • Frank
    Tom Aldredge
    Tom Aldredge
    • Adler
    Rex Everhart
    Rex Everhart
    • Rude Customer
    Alex Fisher
    • Michel
    Stanley Beck
    • Sutter
    K.C. Townsend
    K.C. Townsend
    • Ms. Nielsen
    • (as Casey Townsend)
    Charles Moore
    • Black Man
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Joseph Cates
    • Writers
      • Leon Tokatyan
      • Arnold Drake
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Available on Blu-ray from Network with the following special features: Trailer, Court Martial (1965) episode, LSD: Insight or Insanity? (1967), Stills gallery and PDF material.
    • Goofs
      During the first scene set at the discotheque, Juliet Prowse puts on a new record after we see the crowd dancing to the first song. However, minutes later, we see the crowd dancing to the first song again.
    • Quotes

      Marian Freeman: I never wore a bra until I was 28. And then for a fast ten minutes. Some quack convinced me it helped firm the muscles. I don't like being fenced in. It's a hang-up of mine.

    • Alternate versions
      The edited version of this film runs at 91 minutes as opposed to the uncut running time of 94 minutes. The 91 minute version deletes some scenes of Sal Mineo working out and swimming at the Gym where he encounters Juliet Prowse.
    • Connections
      Featured in That Man: Peter Berlin (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      Who Killed Teddy Bear?
      (uncredited)

      Written by Bob Gaudio and Al Kasha

      Sung by Rita Dyson

      [Played over both the opening title and credits, and end title card]

    User reviews32

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Mineo heads odd but savvy cast in New York story that's a genuine creepshow
    Every now and again, a movie washes up on the fringes of the industry that's unlike anything else of its time – or any time. Who Killed Teddy Bear (no question mark) certainly qualifies; rarely discussed or even mentioned, it's not quite forgotten, either – it's hard to forget.

    By 1965, the barriers were starting to be breached in what could be shown, or even implied, on the screen (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf dates from that year). But Who Killed Teddy Bear rubs, brusquely and suggestively, against just about every taboo obtaining then or now. It's a New York story, but of the grotty 1960s, when Manhattan led the nation as an example of how American cities were surrendering to crime and vice and ugliness at the core.

    Spinning platters in a seedy discotheque, Juliet Prowse starts getting obscene phone calls then finds a decapitated teddy bear in her apartment. Police detective Jan Murray takes the case, which holds an obsessive interest for him. Four years earlier his wife had been raped and murdered; now the world of perversion and fetishism has become his life, both professionally and privately (despite a young daughter, who listens to him listening to his lurid tapes from her bedroom). Prowse becomes so shaken by the stalking that she can't quite trust him, or for that matter her tough-as-nails boss Elaine Stritch, who, invited home to serve as protection, makes a pass at her. Shown the door, Stritch, in a slip and fur coat, wanders the dark streets and back alleys, where....

    Top billing goes to Sal Mineo, 10 years after his debut as Plato in Rebel Without A Cause, as a waiter in the club. Back home he has a child-like grown sister, whom he locks in the closet when he's making the rounds of the porn shops and peep shows near Times Square. Though his character isn't gay, he's served up like prime, pre-Stonewall beefcake, halfway between raw and blue; towards the end, when Prowse teaches him to dance, he erupts like a go-go boy.

    The movie bears all the marks of a starvation budget, but for once the saturated photography and jumpy cutting seem just right. The odd but savvy cast – even the young Daniel J. `Travanty' makes his debut as a deaf-mute bouncer – brings from Broadway and east-coast television a rough edge that's far from Hollywood's buffed and smooth product. But it's the vision of the TV-reared director, Joseph Cates, and writers Arnold Drake and Leon Tokatyan that makes Who Killed Teddy Bear so hard to shake. Neither a tidy thriller nor a nuanced character study, it nonetheless has a trump card to play: It's the real McCoy,a genuine creepshow.
    helpful•36
    5
    • bmacv
    • Sep 13, 2002

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 14, 1967 (Sweden)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Sexualmördare går lös
    • Filming locations
      • Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(Times Square)
    • Production company
      • Phillips Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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