Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name? (1971)
DIRECTOR: Ernest Pintoff (Dynamite Chicken, Lunch Wagon)
STARS: Red Buttons (Pete's Dragon, When Time Ran Out…), Sylvia Miles, Alice Playten, Conrad Bain (Fury on Wheels), Dick Anthony Williams (The Mack), Sam Waterson (Capricorn One), David Doyle, Ron Carey (High Anxiety), Tony Page (Family Honor), Norman Rose (The Telephone Book)
SYNOPSIS: An ex-boxer becomes obsessed with finding the killer of a lower East Side hooker in New York City circa 1970. Comic legend Buttons, believe it or not, stars as the ex-boxer. To be fair he eschews any of his usual mugging or antics and plays it very straight. He reads about the murder in the newspaper and decides to solve the crime when he realizes that everyone he talks to is indifferent to the death of this "disposable" person. Most of the film has Buttons questioning anyone who knew Mary: prostitutes, clients, bartenders, cops, etc. There's some minor action and a few fight scenes with a pair of bikers causing Buttons some grief. The best aspect of the film is that it appears to have been completely shot on location in NYC: seedy apartments, burned out buildings, dive bars and filthy streets. Miles was practically born to play the part of the streetwise hooker who helps Buttons in his quest. Sam Waterson is impossibly young as an underground filmmaker who was working on a documentary about prostitutes when Mary was killed. At one point we see Waterson inside New York's infamous Elgin Theater ("W.C. Fields Festival / El Topo at Midnight"). Rated PG so don't expect any real bloodletting or nudity.
Fullscreen / Color
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
DIRECTOR: Ernest Pintoff (Dynamite Chicken, Lunch Wagon)
STARS: Red Buttons (Pete's Dragon, When Time Ran Out…), Sylvia Miles, Alice Playten, Conrad Bain (Fury on Wheels), Dick Anthony Williams (The Mack), Sam Waterson (Capricorn One), David Doyle, Ron Carey (High Anxiety), Tony Page (Family Honor), Norman Rose (The Telephone Book)
SYNOPSIS: An ex-boxer becomes obsessed with finding the killer of a lower East Side hooker in New York City circa 1970. Comic legend Buttons, believe it or not, stars as the ex-boxer. To be fair he eschews any of his usual mugging or antics and plays it very straight. He reads about the murder in the newspaper and decides to solve the crime when he realizes that everyone he talks to is indifferent to the death of this "disposable" person. Most of the film has Buttons questioning anyone who knew Mary: prostitutes, clients, bartenders, cops, etc. There's some minor action and a few fight scenes with a pair of bikers causing Buttons some grief. The best aspect of the film is that it appears to have been completely shot on location in NYC: seedy apartments, burned out buildings, dive bars and filthy streets. Miles was practically born to play the part of the streetwise hooker who helps Buttons in his quest. Sam Waterson is impossibly young as an underground filmmaker who was working on a documentary about prostitutes when Mary was killed. At one point we see Waterson inside New York's infamous Elgin Theater ("W.C. Fields Festival / El Topo at Midnight"). Rated PG so don't expect any real bloodletting or nudity.
Fullscreen / Color
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
DIRECTOR: Ernest Pintoff (Dynamite Chicken, Lunch Wagon)
STARS: Red Buttons (Pete's Dragon, When Time Ran Out…), Sylvia Miles, Alice Playten, Conrad Bain (Fury on Wheels), Dick Anthony Williams (The Mack), Sam Waterson (Capricorn One), David Doyle, Ron Carey (High Anxiety), Tony Page (Family Honor), Norman Rose (The Telephone Book)
SYNOPSIS: An ex-boxer becomes obsessed with finding the killer of a lower East Side hooker in New York City circa 1970. Comic legend Buttons, believe it or not, stars as the ex-boxer. To be fair he eschews any of his usual mugging or antics and plays it very straight. He reads about the murder in the newspaper and decides to solve the crime when he realizes that everyone he talks to is indifferent to the death of this "disposable" person. Most of the film has Buttons questioning anyone who knew Mary: prostitutes, clients, bartenders, cops, etc. There's some minor action and a few fight scenes with a pair of bikers causing Buttons some grief. The best aspect of the film is that it appears to have been completely shot on location in NYC: seedy apartments, burned out buildings, dive bars and filthy streets. Miles was practically born to play the part of the streetwise hooker who helps Buttons in his quest. Sam Waterson is impossibly young as an underground filmmaker who was working on a documentary about prostitutes when Mary was killed. At one point we see Waterson inside New York's infamous Elgin Theater ("W.C. Fields Festival / El Topo at Midnight"). Rated PG so don't expect any real bloodletting or nudity.
Fullscreen / Color
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R