The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

(1976)

★ 7 IMDb · 302 votes

Genres: Thriller, Crime, Drama

Year: 1976

Runtime: 135 мин

Country: United States of America

Director: Джон Кассаветис

Cast: Бен Газзара, Timothy Carey, Сеймур Кэссел, Robert Phillips, Morgan Woodward, Al Ruban, Азизи Джохари, Haji, Alice Friedland, Derna Wylde

Plot

Cosmo Vittelli, the proprietor of a sleazy, low-rent Hollywood cabaret, has a real affection for the women who strip in his peepshows and the staff who keep up his dingy establishment. He also has a major gambling problem that has gotten him in trouble before. When Cosmo loses big-time at an underground casino run by mobster Mort, he isn't able to pay up. Mort then offers Cosmo the chance to pay back his debt by knocking off a pesky, Mafia-protected bookie.

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.