The Killing of a Chinese Bookie [2 Discs] [Special Edition] [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

John Cassavetes takes a contemporary film noir turn (which he would return to in Gloria) after exploring domestic melodrama in A Woman Under the Influence with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Ben Gazzara plays Cosmo Vitelli, the owner of a sleazy Los Angeles strip joint, who loses $20,000 at a mob gambling club owned by a small time gangster (Seymour Cassel). Since Cosmo doesn't have the $20,000, he is forced to murder a Chinese bookie in order to clear his debt to the mob. What Cosmo doesn't know is he's part of a set-up. The bookie is actually a West Coast mob boss protected around the clock by bodyguards. The mobsters figure that Cosmo will be killed in an impossible hit and they can take over his nightclub. But Cosmo proves luckier than the mobsters think -- he manages to kill his target, and now the mobsters have to track down Cosmo and kill him. Initially, at 133 minutes, the movie was subsequently re-edited by Cassavetes to 109 minutes. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 2
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: PCM Mono
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • Disc 1:
  • Restored high-definition digital transfer of John Cassavetes' original 135-minute edit of the film
  • Disc 2:
  • Restored high-definition digital transfer of Cassavetes' 108-minute edit for the 1978 theatrical re-release
  • Video interviews with star Ben Gazzara and producer Al Ruban
  • Audio interview with Cassavetes by film historians Michel Ciment and Michael Wilson, conducted after the films release
  • Stills gallery featuring rare behind-the-scenes production photos
  • Plus: A booklet featuring as essay by Phillip Lopate

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Ben Gazzara - Cosmo Vitelli
       Timothy Carey - Flo
       Azizi Johari - Rachel
       Meade Roberts - Mr. Sophistication
       Seymour Cassel - Mort Weil
       Alice Friedland - Sherry
       Donna Gordon - Margo
       Robert Phillips - Phil
       Morgan Woodward - John the Boss
       Virginia Carrington - Betty the Mother
       John Kullers - Eddie "Red" (Gangster)
       Al Ruban - Marty Reitz
       Soto Joe Hugh - Chinese Bookie
       Vincent Barbi - Vince
       Gene Darcy - Commodore
       Kathalina Veniero - Annie
       Val Avery - Blair Benoit
       Jason Kincaid - Parking Lot Attendant
       Jean - Pierre Cassel
       David Rowlands - Lamarr
       John Finnegan - Cabbie
       Frank Thomas
       Jack Ackerman - Musical director
       Elizabeth Deering - Lavinia
       Hugo Soto - The Chinese Bookie
       Benny Marino - Sonny Venice
       Haji - Haji

• Director:

  John Cassavetes

• Producer:

  Al Ruban

• Screenwriter:

  John Cassavetes

• Cinematographer:

  Al Ruban, Frederick Elmes, Mike Ferris, Michael Stringer

• Composer (Music Score):

  Anthony Harris, Bo Harwood

• Editor:

  Tom Cornwell

• Production Designer:

  Bryan Ryman, Sam Shaw

• Art Director:

  Phedon Papamichael

• Costume Designer:

  Mary Hurne

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Bo Harwood

REVIEW:

• John Cassavetes's elliptical mid-1970s picture walks a fine line between self-indulgent and inventive. Fascinating in its originality, the film is somewhat undercut by an unsteady blend of naturalism and artifice. Originally developed with Martin Scorsese, the movie is ostensibly a gangster film, but the genre is bent into a demented character study. Cassavetes regular Ben Gazzara delivers an absorbing performance as the man forced into a moral quandary and barely aware of it. The movie was originally released in 1976 at 135 minutes, but it was re-edited in 1978 to 109 minutes. ~ Brendon Hanley, Rovi