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''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' is a 1976 film by Creator/JohnCassavetes.
Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara) is the owner of a burlesque nightclub. As the film opens he is handing off his last payment to the Mafia loanshark who helped finance the place. Cosmo is a surprisingly BenevolentBoss who is friendly with all the strippers in his employ; one of them, a tall, gorgeous black woman named Rachel, is his girlfriend.
Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara) is the owner of a burlesque nightclub. As the film opens he is handing off his last payment to the Mafia loanshark who helped finance the place. Cosmo is a surprisingly BenevolentBoss who is friendly with all the strippers in his employ; one of them, a tall, gorgeous black woman named Rachel, is his girlfriend.
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''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' is a 1976 film by Creator/JohnCassavetes.
Creator/JohnCassavetes, starring Creator/BenGazzara and Creator/SeymourCassel.
Cosmo Vittelli(Ben Gazzara) is the owner of a burlesque nightclub. As the film opens he is handing off his last payment to the Mafia loanshark who helped finance the place. Cosmo is a surprisingly BenevolentBoss who is friendly with all the strippers in his employ; one of them, a tall, gorgeous black woman named Rachel, is his girlfriend.
Cosmo Vittelli
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Cosmo, in a celebratory mood after paying off his loan, goes to a high-stakes poker game. This proves to be a major mistake because, quicker than you can blink, Cosmo is once again in debt to the Mafia for $23,000, and he doesn't have it. The Mafiosi, led by a boss named Flo, demand immediate payment in services. Specifically, they demand that he kill a certain Chinese bookie.
Originally released in a 135-minute cut; later edited down to 108 minutes, which was the version most commonly available until Creator/TheCriterionCollection released the original cut on home video.
Originally released in a 135-minute cut; later edited down to 108 minutes, which was the version most commonly available until Creator/TheCriterionCollection released the original cut on home video.
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Cosmo, in a celebratory mood after paying off his loan, goes to a high-stakes poker game. This proves to be a major mistake because, quicker than you can blink, Cosmo is once again in debt to the Mafia for $23,000, and he doesn't have it. The Mafiosi, led by a boss named Flo, Mafiosi demand immediate payment in services. Specifically, they demand that he kill a certain Chinese bookie.
Originally released in a 135-minutecut; cut, it was later edited down to 108 minutes, which was the version most commonly available until Creator/TheCriterionCollection released the original cut on home video.
Originally released in a 135-minute
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* AffablyEvil: The mobsters are extremely polite and professional when shaking down deadbeats for their debts. The most antagonistic mobster is Flo, who is ironically the most favorably inclined toward Cosmo.
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* NoEnding: Nothing is resolved in the end. [[spoiler:He's killed Mort and escaped a mob assassination, but he's bleeding badly, and the mob are presumably still after him]].
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They let Cosmo tear up the contract giving them a stake in the club. If they immediately take over the club of the Triad leader's murderer, it would link them to the murder, which would defeat the purpose of using Cosmo.
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* OpportunisticBastard: After Cosmo is plunged right back into crippling debt by a single bad poker game, Flo sees an opportunity to possibly take out one of his main rivals by sending the hapless sap on a suicide mission to take out the leader of the California triads, and failing that he gets a real nice piece of real estate in Cosmo's burlesque club.
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* OpportunisticBastard: After Cosmo is plunged right back into crippling debt by a single bad poker game, Flo sees an opportunity to possibly take out one of his main rivals by sending the hapless sap on a suicide mission to take out the leader of the California triads, and failing that he gets a real nice piece of real estate in Cosmo's burlesque club. triads.
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* TheUriahGambit: The titular hit; Cosmo is not expected to survive, and if the hit fails, not only do the mob take possession of his night club, they also can't be connected back to it and thus can avoid conflict with the Chinese. When Cosmo succeeds against all expectations, Flo moves to have him killed.
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* TheUriahGambit: The titular hit; hit. Cosmo is not expected to survive, and if die in the attempt, hopefully after at least killing his target, so that the hit fails, not only do the mob take possession of his night club, they also can't cannot be connected traced back to it and thus can avoid conflict with the Chinese. When Cosmo succeeds against all expectations, Flo moves to have him killed. them.
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* ActionSurvivor: Despite being a seemingly peaceful man, Cosmo is shockingly capable in violent situations. Not only does he successfully infiltrate the Triad compound and take out their leader and his bodyguards, he subsequently kills Mort and escapes being hunted through an empty building by one of his goons.
* BigBad: Flo, a violent Italian mobster who coerces Cosmo into a {{Uriah Gambit}} after Cosmo becomes indebted to him.
* BigBad: Flo, a violent Italian mobster who coerces Cosmo into a {{Uriah Gambit}} after Cosmo becomes indebted to him.
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* DarkenedBuildingShootout: The climax follows one of Flo's goons as he chases Cosmo through a darkened construction site, firing wildly into the shadows after losing track of him.
* FanDisservice: Elderly triad boss Benny Wu is seen totally nude in his spa, and the man isn't exactly an Adonis.
* FanDisservice: Elderly triad boss Benny Wu is seen totally nude in his spa, and the man isn't exactly an Adonis.
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* KarmaHoudini: Flo just drives away before attempting to have Cosmo killed, and as far as we know never gets killed or arrested.
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* OpportunisticBastard: After Cosmo is plunged right back into crippling debt by a single bad poker game, Flo sees an opportunity to possibly take out one of his main rivals by sending the hapless sap on a suicide mission to take out the leader of the California triads, and failing that he gets a real nice piece of real estate in Cosmo's burlesque club.
* RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: A shining aversion. The dialogue is rambling, tangential, and often difficult to hear over the background sound, leading to an almost documentary feel.
* RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: A shining aversion. The dialogue is rambling, tangential, and often difficult to hear over the background sound, leading to an almost documentary feel.
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* TheUriahGambit: The titular hit; Cosmo is not expected to survive, and if the hit fails, not only do the mob take possession of his night club, they also can't be connected back to it and thus can avoid conflict with the Chinese. When Cosmo succeeds against all expectations, Flo moves to have him killed.
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* ConversationCut: Cosmo goes on a half-hearted search for the bookie in CHinatown, his girls tagging along, not knowing why they're really there. One suggests going to a movie to beat the heat. Cosmo says "Chinese movie? Why not? Get out of this heat, get into some air conditioning." Cut without missing a beat to Cosmo saying "All right, enough, we've seen three pictures," as he and the girls rise from their seats in a movie theater. (From the sound of it, they went to see a kung fu movie.)
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* ConversationCut: Cosmo goes on a half-hearted search for the bookie in CHinatown, Chinatown, his girls tagging along, not knowing why they're really there. One suggests going to a movie to beat the heat. Cosmo says "Chinese movie? Why not? Get out of this heat, get into some air conditioning." Cut without missing a beat to Cosmo saying "All right, enough, we've seen three pictures," as he and the girls rise from their seats in a movie theater. (From the sound of it, they went to see a kung fu movie.)
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* FilmNoir: A dark, gritty example with a man who gets in debt to the mob and is forced to commit murder.
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* ShowerScene: Some more Fanservice in a scene where Rachel is showering at home.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e389a985_2668_4f93_b954_f844dff50088.jpeg]]
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Originally released in a 135-minute cut; later edited down to 108 minutes, which was the version most commonly available until Creator/TheCriterionCollection released the original cut on home video.
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* TrappedByGamblingDebts: Cosmo's extremely foolish action in losing $23,000 that he doesn't have in a poker game hosted by the Mafia leaves him under their thumb.
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''The Killing of a Chinese Bookie'' is a 1976 film by Creator/JohnCassavetes.
Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara) is the owner of a burlesque nightclub. As the film opens he is handing off his last payment to the Mafia loanshark who helped finance the place. Cosmo is a surprisingly BenevolentBoss who is friendly with all the strippers in his employ; one of them, a tall, gorgeous black woman named Rachel, is his girlfriend.
Cosmo, in a celebratory mood after paying off his loan, goes to a high-stakes poker game. This proves to be a major mistake because, quicker than you can blink, Cosmo is once again in debt to the Mafia for $23,000, and he doesn't have it. The Mafiosi, led by a boss named Flo, demand immediate payment in services. Specifically, they demand that he kill a certain Chinese bookie.
----
!!Tropes:
* BittersweetEnding: Cosmo kills all the mafia goons in the shootout and survives--probably. But he seems to have lost Rachel after Rachel's mom, who calls the shots, refuses to let her have anything more to do with Cosmo. And there's still the open question of the bullet in his side and whether or not it still might kill him, since he can't go to the doctor.
* {{Burlesque}}: What Cosmo's nightclub offers, not straight-up pole stripping, but comic burlesque skits in which the girls appear in skimpy clothing while Mr. Sophistication sings songs.
* CampGay: Terry aka "Mr. Sophistication", who appears in the burlesque skits with the strippers. He wears more makeup than they do.
* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Many dark and shadowy shots in the nightclub. One particularly noteworthy shot comes early in the film, with Cosmo in a very dark bar, but lit so that his white sports coat practically gleams.
* CleavageWindow: More than one of Cosmo's women dress in such an outfit during the film.
* ConversationCut: Cosmo goes on a half-hearted search for the bookie in CHinatown, his girls tagging along, not knowing why they're really there. One suggests going to a movie to beat the heat. Cosmo says "Chinese movie? Why not? Get out of this heat, get into some air conditioning." Cut without missing a beat to Cosmo saying "All right, enough, we've seen three pictures," as he and the girls rise from their seats in a movie theater. (From the sound of it, they went to see a kung fu movie.)
* {{Fanservice}}: There are some really good-looking women appearing in Cosmo's club semi- to mostly naked.
* FanserviceExtra: InUniverse, as Cosmo gets his girls to accompany him to the poker game for no reason other than to make him look like a big shot.
--> '''Mook''': This entourage of biscuits follow you wherever you go?
* LensFlare: Seen a couple of times with the spotlight in the club. There's lens flare in the scene where Cosmo is auditioning the waitress, the one that's interrupted by a jealous Rachel. Later, when Cosmo is having a tense conversation with Flo, there's lens flare from a red spotlight, which bathes everything in red, making the nightclub look like Hell.
* TheMafia: Cosmo makes the galactic error of getting himself in hock to the mob ''right after'' he paid his way out of loan shark debt to the mob.
* SeinfeldianConversation: Cosmo is given to wandering into the dressing room and shooting the breeze with the strippers. One scene has him nattering on about a news report he heard about two women in Kentucky who caught and ate gophers and contracted botulism.
* SexyBacklessOutfit: Worn by Cosmo's strippers as they accompany him to the card game.
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: It turns out Cosmo was double-crossed. The bookie he was dispatched to kill wasn't a bookie, he was the west coast head of the Chinese mafia.
* YouCanLeaveYourHatOn: Cosmo's club, although it's really more burlesque than stripping.
--> '''Cosmo''': This is a strip club, and no one takes their clothes off!
Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara) is the owner of a burlesque nightclub. As the film opens he is handing off his last payment to the Mafia loanshark who helped finance the place. Cosmo is a surprisingly BenevolentBoss who is friendly with all the strippers in his employ; one of them, a tall, gorgeous black woman named Rachel, is his girlfriend.
Cosmo, in a celebratory mood after paying off his loan, goes to a high-stakes poker game. This proves to be a major mistake because, quicker than you can blink, Cosmo is once again in debt to the Mafia for $23,000, and he doesn't have it. The Mafiosi, led by a boss named Flo, demand immediate payment in services. Specifically, they demand that he kill a certain Chinese bookie.
----
!!Tropes:
* BittersweetEnding: Cosmo kills all the mafia goons in the shootout and survives--probably. But he seems to have lost Rachel after Rachel's mom, who calls the shots, refuses to let her have anything more to do with Cosmo. And there's still the open question of the bullet in his side and whether or not it still might kill him, since he can't go to the doctor.
* {{Burlesque}}: What Cosmo's nightclub offers, not straight-up pole stripping, but comic burlesque skits in which the girls appear in skimpy clothing while Mr. Sophistication sings songs.
* CampGay: Terry aka "Mr. Sophistication", who appears in the burlesque skits with the strippers. He wears more makeup than they do.
* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Many dark and shadowy shots in the nightclub. One particularly noteworthy shot comes early in the film, with Cosmo in a very dark bar, but lit so that his white sports coat practically gleams.
* CleavageWindow: More than one of Cosmo's women dress in such an outfit during the film.
* ConversationCut: Cosmo goes on a half-hearted search for the bookie in CHinatown, his girls tagging along, not knowing why they're really there. One suggests going to a movie to beat the heat. Cosmo says "Chinese movie? Why not? Get out of this heat, get into some air conditioning." Cut without missing a beat to Cosmo saying "All right, enough, we've seen three pictures," as he and the girls rise from their seats in a movie theater. (From the sound of it, they went to see a kung fu movie.)
* {{Fanservice}}: There are some really good-looking women appearing in Cosmo's club semi- to mostly naked.
* FanserviceExtra: InUniverse, as Cosmo gets his girls to accompany him to the poker game for no reason other than to make him look like a big shot.
--> '''Mook''': This entourage of biscuits follow you wherever you go?
* LensFlare: Seen a couple of times with the spotlight in the club. There's lens flare in the scene where Cosmo is auditioning the waitress, the one that's interrupted by a jealous Rachel. Later, when Cosmo is having a tense conversation with Flo, there's lens flare from a red spotlight, which bathes everything in red, making the nightclub look like Hell.
* TheMafia: Cosmo makes the galactic error of getting himself in hock to the mob ''right after'' he paid his way out of loan shark debt to the mob.
* SeinfeldianConversation: Cosmo is given to wandering into the dressing room and shooting the breeze with the strippers. One scene has him nattering on about a news report he heard about two women in Kentucky who caught and ate gophers and contracted botulism.
* SexyBacklessOutfit: Worn by Cosmo's strippers as they accompany him to the card game.
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: It turns out Cosmo was double-crossed. The bookie he was dispatched to kill wasn't a bookie, he was the west coast head of the Chinese mafia.
* YouCanLeaveYourHatOn: Cosmo's club, although it's really more burlesque than stripping.
--> '''Cosmo''': This is a strip club, and no one takes their clothes off!
