Vitals

Ben Gazzara as Cosmo Vitelli, strip club owner and emcee

Los Angeles, Fall 1975

Film: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Release Date: February 15, 1976
Director: John Cassavetes
Wardrobe Credit: Mary Herne

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

John Cassavetes re-teamed with his friend and frequent collaborator Ben Gazzara for The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, a gritty neo-noir originally released 50 years ago today on February 15, 1976. The original cut ran over two hours, but feedback from audience—and Gazzara himself—resulted in Cassavetes recutting it down to a tighter 108-minute version that was re-released in 1978, maintaining its tone and ambiguously bleak ending.

“My name, if you don’t know it by now, is Cosmo Vitelli, and I own this joint,” Gazzara’s scrappy cabaret owner announces to his audience. “You know, they say everything is sex; sex is everything. Here at the Crazy Horse West, we give you a lot more than that.” Continue reading →