Grade: C+ (** 1/2* out of *****)
| Who Killed Teddy Bear? | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
Written by Arnold Drake and Leon Tokatyan, this deliberatey exploitaion is well directed by Joseph Cates, which may explain why it has been been rereleased theatrically several times before getting VHS and DVD versions, which made it all the more popular. (Drake would go on to co-create the “Guardians of the Galaxy” comics).
The premise is rather simple: The tale follows a New York discotheque hostess, played by the likeable, if not particularly skilled actress, Juliet Prowse, who is stalked by a sexual predator.
Though it contains no graphic nudity, the movie encourahes voyeurism by beginning with a series of close-ups of Mineo in tight white underwear, and later showing Prowse in lingerie.
Initially, it was gay men (and fans of the Out avctor Minmeo) who helped made it a minor cult movie. Later, in 1996, as its reputation grew, it received a limited theatrical re-release. In 2009, the film was released on VHS for the first time by British Network Releasing, a company that also gave the film a Blu-ray transfer in 2018.
Prowse plays Norah Dain, a nightclub dj and aspiring actress living alone in Manhattan, who begins getting obscene phone calls from someone who seems to be watching her on a regular basis. She gets all the more sacred when she finds a decapitated teddy bear in her apartment.
Police detectibve Lt. Dave Madden (Jan Murray), whose own wife had been raped and murdered, takes a bizarrely personal interest in Norah and her case.
Madden himself is engaged in suspicious behavior, suggesting to Norah that he himself could be the caller, secretly recording his discussions with Norah, and listening to tapes of other women talking about obscene phone calls. He is obsessively studying porn and sex perverts, despite the fact that he is exposing his young daughter, only 10, to such adult concepts.
The obscene caller is seen to be Lawrence Sherman (Mineo), a waiter at the nightclub where Norah works. Lawrence lives with and cares for sister Edie, who is unflicted with brain damaged, and the brain and mind of a child.
Edie’s brain damage is apparently the result of an accident, which occurred when she was a little girl and saw her brother Lawrence, having sex with an unidentified older woman; running away in horror, she fell down the stairs.
As for Lawrence, he seems to be unable to have a normal romantic or sexual relationship due to his guilt over the accident and his duty to look after Edie ater their parents’ death. He is upset, when Edie dresses up in an adult dress, high heels and makeup and make advances towards him.
Trying to get rid of his frustration, he begins frequenting adult bookstores by visiting and s;eazy movies in Times Square, but his obsession with watching and calling Norah prevails.
Despite Lt. Madden’s warnings that the caller might be a familiar guy, Norah does not suspect Lawrence until it is too late. She is nt only friendly to him, she is also attracted to him, flattering him on his body at the gym, and offering to stay late after work to teach him dancing.
Marian Freeman, the older manager of the nightclub where Norah and Lawrence work, also takes interest in Norah and tries protect her. She offers to stay overnight with Norah at her apartment so Norah will not be afraid. While Marian is visiting, Norah receives yet another telephone call and Marian consoles her. However, Norah senses that Marian is making a lesbian pass at her and asks her to leave immediately. Marian leaves in a huff, still wearing Norah’s coat, which she had been using as a bathrobe. Outside, Lawrence sees Marian leaving (wearing Norah’s coat), and after chasing her, he kills her.
Lawrence then attacks Norah in the nightclub and rapes her, but does not kill her. Lt. Madden, who has just figured out that Lawrence was watching Norah through the mirror reflection, arrives too late to prevent the rape.
Lawrence runs through traffic in Times Square, imagining he is in Central Park with Norah. In the end, police officers chase and gun him down.
The movie also became notable for showing Times Square and 42nd Street in its seedier era, recalling in imagery Scorsese’s masterpiece, Taxi Driver, made a decade later, in 1976.
Mineo, playing against type as the antagonist, hoped that the film would re-start his career after aging out of the types of roles that had made him famous. He had been nominated twice for the Best Supporting Acor Oscfar, for Nichlas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause, in 1955 (his best-known film) and for Preminher’s Exodus, in 1960.
Undies Impact
A scene of the film implies that he was masturbating, but no nudity could be shown due to censorship (also in its last legs). Mineo had to wear jockey shorts, in what became the first American film showing on-screen.a man wearng tight jockey shorts.
Cast
Sal Mineo as Lawrence Sherman
Juliet Prowse as Norah Dain
Jan Murray as Lt. Dave Madden
Elaine Stritch as Marian Freeman
Margot Bennett as Edie Sherman
Daniel J. Travanti as Carlo (credited as Dan Travanty)
Diane Moore as Pam Madden
Frank Campanella as Police Captain
Bruce Glover as Frank
Tom Aldredge as Adler
Rex Everhart as Rude Customer
Alex Fisher as Michel
Stanley Beck as Sutter
Casey Townsend as Ms. Nielsen
Credits:
Directed by Joseph Cates
Screenplay by Arnold Drake, Leon Tokatyan; story by Drake
Produced by Everett Rosenthal
Cinematography Joseph Brun
Edited by Angelo Ross
Music by Charles Calello
Production: Phillips Productions
Distributed by Magna Corporation; BijouFlix Releasing
Release date: December 8, 1965
Running time: 94 minutes
