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.
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Title: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
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Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Ben Gazzara | ... | Cosmo Vittelli | |
| Timothy Carey | ... | Flo (as Timothy Agoglia Carey) | |
| Seymour Cassel | ... | Mort Weil | |
| Robert Phillips | ... | Phil | |
| Morgan Woodward | ... | The Boss | |
 |
John Kullers | ... | The Accountant (as John Red Kullers) |
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|
Al Ruban | ... | Marty Reitz |
|
|
Azizi Johari | ... | Rachel |
|
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Virginia Carrington | ... | Mama |
|
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Meade Roberts | ... | Mr. Sophistication |
|
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Alice Friedland | ... | Sherry |
|
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Donna Gordon | ... | Margo Donnar (as Donna Marie Gordon) |
| Haji | ... | Haji | |
|
|
Carol Warren | ... | Carol |
|
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Derna Wong Davis | ... | Derna |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (26) »
Storyline
Cosmo Vitelli owns the Crazy Horse West, a strip joint in California. He's laconic, a Korean War vet, and a gambler. When we meet him, he's making his last payment on a gambling debt. Then, he promptly loses $23,000 playing poker at an illegal local casino. The guys he owes this time aren't so friendly, pressuring him for immediate payment. Then they suggest that he kill a Chinese bookie to wipe off the debt. Vitelli and the film move back and forth between the double-crossing, murderous insincerity of the gamblers and the friendships, sweetness, and even love among Vitelli, the dancers, a dancer's mother, and the club's singer, Mr. Sophistication. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords:
strip club | nightclub | nude black woman | female nudity | gambling debt |Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
8 October 1977 (Sweden) See more »Also Known As:
Mordet på en kinesisk bookmaker See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (1978 Re-Release)Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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See more »
(uncredited)
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Performed by Meade Roberts and others
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Lead actor Ben Gazzara has said that he hated the film's original 135 minute cut as it was too long. See more »Quotes
Flo: That jerk Karl Marx said opium was the... religion of people. I got news for him, it's money.See more »
Soundtracks
I Can't Give You Anything but Love(uncredited)
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Performed by Meade Roberts and others
See more »
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Like other (usually US) films The Murder... is disturbing and mesmerizing. The dirty quality of images (in some moments bewilderingly amateurish, ins others incredibly sophisticated), the acting, the disjointed plot, the weirdness of some scenes (like the one in the car parking), Gazzara's sublime acting, the wonderful choice of places and times... it all gives you an impression of the States like they really are, not the sanitized image you find in so many Holy-Wood flicks (not all of them, I admit, but about 85%...). Such a movie is like The Searchers or Taxi Driver or Raging Bull, unfathomable and greater than life, but in some way disturbingly like life. And the character of Cosmo Vitelli is one of those enigmatic figures that leaves you wondering whether you have been shown the story of an idiot or the story of a saint. Unforgettable.