The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

Directed by: John Cassavetes | 135 minutes | drama, crime | Actors: Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, Seymour Cassel, Robert Phillips, Morgan Woodward, Jhn Kullers, Al Ruban, Azizi Johari, Virginia Carringon, Meade Roberts, Alice Fredlund, Donna Gordon, Haji, Carol Warren, Derna Wong Davis

‘The Killing of a Chinese Bookie’ has been released in two versions, both in theaters and on DVD: the version watched for this review is the longer version, which was initially released in 1976. It is John Cassavetes’ commercially least successful film, reportedly the film was already taken out of the cinemas after a week. Cassavetes’ director’s cut, which went into circulation two years later, was not only cut by about half an hour, but the film was also re-edited. Unfortunately for the idiosyncratic filmmaker, this version was not a success either. And that’s actually not right.

The film is a wonderful character study of nightclub owner Cosmo Vitelli. Throw all your preconceptions about a boss in a striptease club overboard, because Cosmo is without a doubt the opposite of what you expect. He is not a shady underworld figure, but just a small independent entrepreneur, who is apparently very in his element. He feels comfortable everywhere, has respect for his female employees, loves them sincerely and even discusses business with them. It is true that he is inseparable from his whiskey on the rocks at the nightclub and has just paid the last installment of his gambling debt, but Cosmo is a charismatic man, whom you cannot really dislike.

To celebrate the happy fact that he is free of his debt, he invites three of his “ladies” for a night out. He was recently invited by Mort (Seymour Cassel), a guest at his nightclub, who also runs a club himself. Despite his girlfriend Rachel (Playmate June 1975 Azizi Johari) warning him, Cosmo makes a mistake again and his new gambling debt quickly rises to $23,000. Sky-hearted grievance Cosmo brings his girls home after this exciting night and tells his girlfriend that he is going to pay off the debt. Not long after, the creditors show up at Cosmo’s door and make him an offer. When Cosmo kills a Chinese bookmaker, his IOU will be destroyed. However, Cosmo has principles and refuses under the promise that he would rather pay the money back, but the mobsters don’t want to hear about that. Under duress, Cosmo is sent on his way and the film’s title becomes true. When he returns from his mission wounded, it soon becomes apparent that he is no longer sure of his own life.

When you know that Ben Gazzara thought the film was way too long, you can imagine which scenes he thinks should have been deleted. The coffee shop girl audition, the nightclub gigs, the outing to the cinema; they are scenes that have little to do with the story itself. Yet these are indispensable for the image of the character Cosmo Vitelli and set the atmosphere of the film very strongly. Gazzara masterfully portrays Cosmo, carries almost every scene. Cassavetes regularly zooms in on the actor, who portrays a self-assured man with great facial expressions, who does not think about dubbing about his life, but later, when the gangsters get a grip on him, despair sets in. Gazzara is a joy to watch and it is his acting that keeps the film captivated for so long. The way he talks to his employees, when they seem to be giving up before the show, is memorable.

Cassavetes is known for not making plot-driven films and it must be said that the story of ‘The Killing of a Chinese Bookie’ certainly contains illogicalities. Why would those mobsters, who were already afraid to kill the high-security Chinese, let an amateur do the dirty work? Wouldn’t it be much better to collect the money? Yet this fact is not a nuisance in the film. From the moment Cosmo tears up his IOU in the mobsters’ car, the tension is ramped up. The squeaky tires on the highway scene, for example, go to the bone. A nail-biting scene is also where Cosmo tries to outwit the gangsters one by one in an abandoned building. Overall, however, ‘The Killing of a Chinese Bookie’ isn’t thrilling enough to appeal to those expecting an action movie or thriller. The pace is too slow for that, they will find the intervening scenes in the nightclub a visitation. However, Det does not alter the fact that John Cassavetes’ reading of a film noir is captivating to the core.