The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

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R
2h 15min
Crime, Drama
15 Feb 1976 (USA)
Movie

7.3 (14,757)

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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.

Director:

John Cassavetes

Writer:

John Cassavetes

Stars:

Reviews:

Photos and Videos

Trailer for this film from John Cassavetes

Still of Trisha Pelham in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

Still of Catherine Wong (I) in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

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76 photos | 1 video

Complete, Cast awaiting verification

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	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)
	Al Ruban	...	Marty Reitz
	Azizi Johari	...	Rachel
	Virginia Carrington	...	Mama
	Meade Roberts	...	Mr. Sophistication
	Alice Friedland	...	Sherry
	Donna Gordon	...	Margo Donnar (as Donna Marie Gordon)
	Haji	...	Haji
	Carol Warren	...	Carol
	Kathalina Veniero	...	Annie
	Yvette Morris	...	Yvette
	Jack Ackerman	...	Musical Director
	David Rowlands	...	Lamarr
	Trisha Pelham	...	Waitress
	Eddie Shaw	...	Taxi Driver (as Eddie Ike Shaw)
	Sonny Aprile	...	Sonny (as Salvatore Aprile)
	Gene Darcy	...	Commodore
	Ben Marino	...	Bartender (as Benny Marino)
	Arlene Allison	...	Waitress
	Vincent Barbi	...	Vince (as Vince Barbi)
	Val Avery	...	Blair Benoit
	Elizabeth Deering	...	Lavinia
	Soto Joe Hugh	...	Chinese Bookie (as Soto Joe Hugh)
	Catherine Wong	...	The Bookie's Girl
	John Finnegan	...	Taxi Driver
	Miles Ciletti	...	Mickey
	Mike Skloot	...	Scooper
	Frank Buchanan	...	Flo's Friend
	Jason Kincaid	...	Parking Lot Attendant
	Frank Thomas	...	Poker Player
	Jack Krupnick	...	Poker Player
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
	Vincent Di Paolo	...	Hood (uncredited)
	Harry Governick	...	Man at Bar (uncredited)
	James Lew	...	Asian guard (uncredited)
	John Pappas	...	Bartender (uncredited)
	Derna Wylde	...	Dancer (uncredited)

Directed by

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John Cassavetes

Written by

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John Cassavetes

...

()

Produced by

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Phil Burton	...	associate producer
Al Ruban	...	producer

Music by

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Bo Harwood

Cinematography by

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Mitch Breit	...	(as Mitchell Breit)
Al Ruban

Editing by

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Tom Cornwell

Editorial Department

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Robert Heffernan	...	in charge of post production
Craig Holt	...	apprentice editor
Neal Meisenheimer	...	assistant editor
Terri Messina	...	assistant editor
Fran Morgenstern	...	assistant editor
Jack Woods	...	post-production consultant
David Armstrong	...	editor (uncredited)

Production Design by

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Sam Shaw

Art Direction by

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Phedon Papamichael

Production Management

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Art Levinson

...

production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Nathan Haggard

...

second assistant director (as Nate Haggard)

Art Department

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Verna Bagby	...	set constructor
Miles Ciletti	...	props
Bruce Hartman	...	set constructor
Bryan Ryman	...	assistant art director
Richard Upper	...	titles and graphics
Robert Vehon	...	set constructor

Sound Department

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Bo Harwood	...	sound
Robert Knudson	...	sound mixer (as Buzz Knudson)

Stunts

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Craig R. Baxley	...	stunts
Paul Baxley	...	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department

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Mitch Breit	...	in charge of lighting (as Mitchell Breit)
Catherine E. Coulson	...	camera assistant (as Catherine Coulson)
Frederick Elmes	...	camera operator (as Fred Elmes)
Michael Ferris	...	camera operator
Rob Hahn	...	camera assistant (as Robert Hahn)
M. Todd Henry	...	camera assistant
Bruce Knee	...	lighting crew
Don Robinson	...	lighting crew (as Donald Robinson)
R. Michael Stringer	...	camera assistant (as Mike Stringer)
Chris Taylor	...	lighting crew
Richard Upper	...	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department

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Mary Herne

...

wardrobe

Location Management

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David Armstrong

...

location manager (uncredited)

Music Department

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Anthony Harris	...	conductor / music arranger
Jack Sheldon	...	musician: trumpet (uncredited)

Script and Continuity Department

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Sandy King

...

script supervisor (as Sandra King)

Additional Crew

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Steve Brooks	...	operator: Cinemobile
Lanie Heffernan	...	secretary to director
Connie McFeeley	...	accountant
Teresa Stokovic	...	production secretary

Production Companies

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Faces Distribution

Distributors

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Faces Distribution (1976) (United States) (theatrical)
Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1978) (France) (theatrical)
Impegno Cinematografico (1980) (Italy) (theatrical)
AFMD (1992) (France) (theatrical)
British Film Institute (BFI) (2007) (United Kingdom) (theatrical)
Cinegate (1979) (United Kingdom) (theatrical)
NEF Diffusion (II) (1977) (West Germany) (theatrical)
Orly Films (2012) (France) (theatrical)
Sandrew Film & Teater (1977) (Sweden) (theatrical)
Team-Film (1977) (West Germany) (theatrical)
BFI Video (2013) (United Kingdom) (Blu-ray) (3 disc limited edition)
BFI Video (2013) (United Kingdom) (DVD)
Castle Hill Productions (United States) (VHS)
Concorde Home Entertainment (2012) (Germany) (DVD) (John Cassavetes Collection)
Faces Distributing Corporation
HBO Max (2020) (United States) (video) (VOD)
Indaco Pictures (2005) (Italy)
Koch Media (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
Leopardo Filmes (2022) (Portugal)
Magnum 3B (Italy) (VHS)
Pioneer Entertainment (United States) (video) (LaserDisc)
Stiftelsen Svenska Filminstitutet, Stockholm (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
The Criterion Collection (2004) (United States) (DVD)
The Criterion Collection (2008) (United States) (DVD)
Touchstone Home Video (United States) (VHS)

Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Cinemobile System (location equipment)
Playboy Limosine (appreciation to)
Todd-AO Studios (sound)

Storyline

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Plot Summary	Cosmo Vitelli owns the Crazy Horse West, a strip joint in Los Angeles. He's laconic, vet, and a gambler. When we meet him, he's making his last payment on a gambling debt, after which, he promptly loses $23,000 playing poker. The guys he owes this time aren't so friendly, pressuring him for immediate payment. When he's not able to do so, they suggest he kill a Chinese bookie to wipe away his 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 Plot Summary
Plot Keywords	nudity pasties female-topless-nudity male-rear-nudity back-stage See All (68) »
Taglines	A film by John Cassavetes. See more »
Genres	Crime Drama Thriller
Parents Guide	View content advisory »
Certification	Australia:M Finland:K-16 France:Tous publics Germany:12 Portugal:M/16 Spain:Not Rated Sweden:15 United Kingdom:AA United Kingdom:15 United States:R

Additional Details

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Also Known As	Le Meurtre d'un joueur chinois (France) Le Bal des vauriens (France) Meurtre d'un bookmaker chinois (France) Mord an einem chinesischen Buchmacher (Germany) El asesinato de un corredor de apuestas chino (Spain) See more »
Runtime	135 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Color	Color
Aspect Ratio	1.85 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix	Mono
Filming Locations	Gazzarri's, 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, California, USA See more »

Did You Know?

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Trivia	David Bowie was often present on set during the filming and can be seen in shots of the crowd at Cosmo's Crazy Horse West. See more »
Goofs	Flo says "That jerk Karl Marx said opium is the religion of the people." While the actual Marx quote is "Religion is the opiate of the masses", this is likely to be an intentional misquote from the gangster, showing a lack of true education. See more »
Movie Connections	Featured in If We Owned a Movie Theater - Overlooked Films: The Conversation, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Real Life, The Green Wall, And Now My Love, Happy New Year (1980). See more »
Soundtracks	I Can't Give You Anything but Love See more »
Crazy Credits	Opening scene has Chinese characters scrolling up, similar to a movie from China or Hong Kong. See more »
Quotes	Cosmo Vitelli: Now, teddy. Teddy. Everything takes work. We'll straighten it out. You know. You gotta work hard to be comfortable. Yeah, a lot of people kid themselves, you know. They-they know when they were born, they know where they're goin'... they know whether they're gonna go to heaven,whether they're gonna go to hell. They think they know that. They kid themselves. Right? But the only people... who are, you know, happy... are the people who are comfortable. That's right. Now, you take, uh, uh, carol, right? A dingbat, right? A ding-a-ling.A dingo. That's what people think she is,'cause that's the truth they want to believe. But, uh, you put her in another situation, right? Put her in a situation that's tough. Stress. Where she's up against something,you'll see she's no fool. Right. 'cause what's your truth... is my falsehood What's my falsehood is your truth and vice versa. Well, look. Look at me, right? I'm only happy when I'm angry... when I'm sad, when i can play the fool... when i can be what people want me to be rather than be myself. See more »

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