John Cassavetes - The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1978 cut )

Cosmo Vitelli owns the Crazy Horse West, a strip joint in California. He's laconic, a Korean War vet, and a gambler. When we meet him, he's making his last payment on a gambling debt. Then, he promptly loses $23,000 playing poker at an illegal local casino. The guys he owes this time aren't so friendly, pressuring him for immediate payment. Then they suggest that he kill a Chinese bookie to wipe off the debt. DVDrip - Widescreen 720x380 (1.89:1), 23.976 fps, DivX Codec 6.0 ~1494 kbps avg, 0.23 bit/pixel Audio: 48 kHz, AC3 Dolby Digital, 1/0 (C) ch, ~96.00 kbps avg ENG SRT subtitles: brazilian portuguese, spanish, french.

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ex_pat3 (2010-01-13)

FROM IMDB:
Ben Gazzara was unhappy with the role initially, unable to find a way to connect to Cosmo Vitelli. That changed when shooting a scene, Cassavetes spoke to Gazzara about the gangsters in the film as a metaphor for the people who are constantly trying to steal or ruin people's dreams. Cassavetes started to cry and Gazzara saw that playing Cosmo was representing John Cassavetes and the movie was a metaphor for the director's struggles for his own dreams
If you are old enough to know who Ben Gazzara is, then I think you'll agree this sounds like an interesting flick!
Thanks for the UP!

oswald1963 (2010-01-14)

Stuck at 38.9%.

ex_pat3 (2010-01-16)

8 seeds now so you should be unstuck.
OK - watched it - it's a film noir, and an excellent example of the genre. I love these pre-computer-era movies, which I would never get a chance to watch without TPB and good folks like deadmeadow3.

oswald1963 (2010-01-20)

Open Letter to the Evening News
Stuck at 52%.

Andalouse (2010-04-19)

Is this the 135min version ?

cadrega_82 (2010-07-17)

Would anyone be kind enough to seed? It\'s very hard to find the 1978 109 min version.rn

cadrega_82 (2010-07-17)

PleeeeeasSE seEd!!!!!

frogshare (2011-06-10)

There are two versions:
1976 cut (135 minutes)
1978 cut (108 minutes) also known as Director's Cut
The durations may vary depending on DVD's framerate. PAL versions run at 25fps instead of 23.976fps, thus are 4% shorter in total length, but still identical to the NTSC version.
Wikipedia:

"The film's original release, at 135 minutes in length, was a commercial disappointment and the movie was pulled from distribution after only seven days. At a George Eastman House screening in Rochester, Ben Gazzara said he 'hated' the original cut; 'it's too long', he told Cassavetes.
Eventually, Cassavetes decided to re-edit the film, and it was re-released in 1978 in a new 108-minute cut. The 1978 version is the one that has been in general release since that time, though both versions of the film were issued in The Criterion Collection's John Cassavetes: Five Films box set, marking the first appearance of the 1976 version since its original release.
True to Cassavetes' form, the 108-minute version is not just a simple edit of the 135-minute version. The order of several scenes has been changed, there are different edits of a few scenes, and there are a few segments unique to the 108-minute version. The bulk of the cutting in the 1978 version removed many of the nightclub routines that were in the 1976 version."