The Killing of A Chinese Bookie (John Cassavetes, 1976)

About the Show

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE

Co-presented by 564 Presents

Enjoy a short curated pre-show before the film.

John Cassavetes’ love letter to the art of theater, inside a neo-noir take on the sleazy ‘70s Southland! 

In what other film would a waitress from famed post-hippie L.A. restaurant The Source take her morning break next door to audition for Ben Gazzara’s bizarro performance-art strip club? When his high-flying lifestyle owes debts to a sinister syndicate (led by Seymour Cassel and a wonderfully mushy Timothy Carey), he’s given a tough choice: knocking off a Chinese “bookie” or losing his beloved theatre.

Cassavetes renders all of this with a hallucinatory eye, subverting genre conventions with his unsettled rhythms and a sweetly absurdist tone. Likewise, Gazzara perfectly embodies the fractured, contradictory persona of a character as much filled with frailty and vice as he is with ambition and integrity.

Secure Paid Parking is available at 5301 Sierra Vista Ave.

The Fine Print:
Tickets are valid only for the listed film, date, and showtime. All sales are final—no refunds or exchanges unless the event is canceled or rescheduled.

Management reserves the right to deny entry or remove disruptive guests—this includes phone use, texting, talking, or anything else that ruins the experience for others.

No outside food or drinks allowed into the theater.