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. 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.

Starring:

Al Ruban, Alice Fredlund, Ben Gazzara, Ben Marino, David Rowlands, Frank Thomas, Gene Darcy, Haji, Jack Krupnick, Jason Kincaid, John Finnegan, John Pappas, Morgan Woodward, Robert Phillips, Seymour Cassel, Timothy Carey, Val Avery, Vincent Barbi

Genre:

Drama, Crime