It featured Ben Gazzara as Cosmo Vittelli. I wonder which version I should watch, and if anybody knows which version Cassavetes considered to be the "correct" edit. The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie. One sees more humanity in the 135 minute cut. He was a man who thought he was on top of the world and had everything under control. That's exactly what I was hoping to hear. Ben Gazzara brilliantly portrays a gentleman’s club owner, Cosmo Vitelli, desperately committed to maintaining a facade of suave gentility despite the seediness of his environment and his own unhealthy appetites. watch the 78 version first, cassavetes was rushed on the edit for the 76 version. Opening Night "Cassavetes is a place," Jon Voight remarks in A Constant Forge, a 2000 documentary that rounds out Five Films, a box set of movies directed by John Cassavetes. He owned a strip club, he had beautiful women around him all … It's tighter, it's plays more fluidly than the looser 135-minute version, and the shorter version is the one directly edited by Cassavetes himself and approved by him. At bottom, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is a character study of its grinning, self-estranged protagonist, Cosmo, a small-time, rough-around-the-edges businessman trying to maintain an invented persona of Mr. Lucky suavity and charm. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie was an independent film made by John Cassavetes. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie was an independent film made by John Cassavetes. In an ideal world, I'd say watch both, but if you can only watch one, I'd say that the 1976 cut is better, although the 1978 does move along at a faster pace. It featured Ben Gazzara as Cosmo Vittelli. Teddy’s theme song, “Imagination,” becomes the film’s bleak anthem. In The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Gazzara struts like a polyester peacock, playing a doomed nightclub owner in debt to the wrong people. He was a man who thought he was on top of the world and had everything under control. Directed by Howard Krowitz, Gabriella Krousaniotakis, Marty Marrero. Not an answer, just want to say thanks for the heads up as this has been on my watch list for way too long. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie was an independent film made by John Cassavetes. It featured Ben Gazzara as Cosmo Vittelli. The 135-minute edit has its benefits, but as a Cassavetes fan, it truly shines in the 108-minute edit. THE KILLING OF A Chinese BOOKIE is John Cassavetes fascinating look into the world of Cosmo Vitelli, owner of the Crazy Horse West, a California strip club. When he runs afoul of a group of gangsters, Cosmo is forced to commit a horrible crime in a last-ditch effort to save his beloved club and his way of life. Which version of Killing of a Chinese Bookie should I watch? Del.i.cious. The longer 76 version or the shorter 78 version? It was a dismal bomb, lasting only a week in theatres. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie was an independent film made by John Cassavetes. Mixx. I'm telling him to watch the 108-minute version first, because it's not only the director-approved edition, it's also the tauter of the two. 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. We use cookies on our websites for a number of purposes, including analytics and performance, functionality and advertising. A rough and gritty film, this is the second of their three collaborations, following Husbands and preceding Opening Night. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Press J to jump to the feed. It featured Ben Gazzara as Cosmo Vittelli. As a thumbnail description, it works well enough: Once inside a Cassavetes film, there's no mistaking it for anywhere else. The second version isn't so much a director's cut, therefore, just an alternate cut. I also don't think that Cassavetes hated the original cut, or didn't approve of it; it was Ben Gazzara who did, and who prompted the second version. I wonder which version I should watch, and if anybody knows which version Cassavetes considered to be the "correct" edit. Directed and Written by JOHN CASSAVETES. Overview of Killing of a Chinese Bookie, The, 1976, directed by John Cassavetes, with Seymour Cassel, Ben Gazzara, Timothy Carey, at Turner Classic Movies