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Simply A Masterpiece

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A long out of circulation cult film, Who Killed Teddy Bear is a kind of stepping stone between Hitchcock's excavation of the warped mind in psycho, with its final psychiatric classification of Norman Bates, and Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, with its disturbed lonely man lost amongst the newly permissive urban landscape.The primary focus of Joseph Cates' 1965 film is a sometime dancer and barmaid (Juliet Prowse) who has been receiving obscene and threatening phone calls from an unknown person. Yet as the case unfolds, the film becomes more intrigued by the characters surrounding her – the possibly lesbian manageress of the bar (Elaine Stritch), the investigating detective who is obsessed by abnormal psychologies (Jan Murray) and the disturbed busboy who turns out to be the caller (Sal Mineo). Each of the characters seems alone and immersed in the modern urban condition. Throughout the film, a preponderance of mirror shots (the "solving of the case even involves a mirror) suggests a world in which everyman and everywoman's sickness reflects everyone else's. The detective seems to have become so obsessed with his quarry that he almost crosses the line into psychosis himself, the manageress might have her own sexual agenda in wishing to help her victimized employee and each of them seems as much of a threat as the unknown caller. Prowse does not know who to trust, even whether to trust herself, and although the film descends into a "get the culprit" finale, even this traditional end fractures into a private turmoil lost in an alienating environment.The film offers a series of very strong character studies, all remarkably well acted, but often seems concerned to conjure the feel and sound of the times through montages to music, of dancing, working out and wandering, and its black and white footage cut to pop hits makes it seem like a greyscale Kenneth Anger at times. One of the montages involves Mineo drifting through the fleshpots, bookshops and cinema foyers of Times Square, an eerie presentiment of Travis Bickle. Mineo is particularly strong in the role of the tormented busboy, tortured on a rack between the unfettered expression of carnal nature he sees all around him (and has the potential for within) and the last psychotic jerks of a Puritan sexual consciousness. Mineo proves here what a remarkable actor Hollywood wasted when it underused him, and his physical presence – often showing his toned body in swimming trunks or flaunting his butt in the tightest of Chinos – suggests a missing link between mainstream Hollywood and underground stars like Warhol's Joe Dallesandro and Pink Narcissus' Bobby Kendall.Who Killed Teddy Bear isn't a perfect film – there's something missing structurally and a tendency towards melodrama – but its picture of a world fallen from a childhood Eden into an adulthood of sticky and strange sexual dramas, it was way ahead of its time and still stands head and shoulders above most of the so-called sophisticated cinema of today.

The story of an obscene phone caller, herein given the technical term: "The Telephone Psychotic"; who, it is suggested, follows the natural course taken by these individuals, and becomes a homicidal killer. That does seem like a stretch, but the content of the calls certainly points in that direction. And, some of the discourse rings true. The (believable) fact that the obscene caller probably knows his victim makes it a more frightening. There are a lot of problems with the story; mainly, it really isn't about an obscene "Telephone Psychotic" caller; rather, it is about a stalker who uses to phone.Sal Mineo (as Lawrence "Larry" Sherman) creates an interesting character; but, his considerable abilities as an actor do not equate with the inferior material. Mr. Mineo is, of course, the stalker. The film's structure seems to "tease" a little about the stalker's identity; but, it is fairly obvious from the opening credits. Could the very fit young man, clad in tight briefs, possibly be co-star Jan Murray (as Dave Madden)? Mineo's well-defined body is displayed very prominently throughout the film. And, he is photographed in a manner usually reserved, relatively speaking, for attractive female performers.The climax for Mineo watchers will be the pool scene occurring after his gym workout. Be sure to look for uncut prints, because the scene is trimmed in cut versions. Not to be left out, beautiful Juliet Prowse (the object of his affection) has a couple of sexy underwear scenes of her own; but, they are not as lovingly shot as Mineo's. After the camera admires Mineo's body, so does Ms. Prowse; and, she tells him, point-blank, that he has a great body. The two of them, although they are supposed to be in cinematic opposition (stalker/victim) are great together. Whether flirting, dancing, or struggling, they display great synergy. Elaine Stritch (as Marian Freeman) is another in the cast who deserved a better production. Ms. Stritch has been quoted as explaining, "I was a lesbian owner of a disco who fell in love with Juliet Prowse and got strangled on 93rd Street and East End Avenue with a silk stocking by Sal Mineo. Now who's not going to play to play that part?" Stritch gets to tell Prowse, "I dig soft things," and makes a small pass at the young woman (her employee, by the way). Prowse's character overreacts, which leads directly to Stritch's death.Also disturbing (probably intentionally) is officer Murray's 10-year-old daughter listening in on her father's sex tapes. When she sees Prowse, she asks her dad, "Is she a hooker?" This parallels a situation in Mineo's home. In fact, Mineo, Murray, and Stritch's characters are related to each other in symbolic ways; and, they all desire Prowse (who desires Mineo). At least, the story is an interesting failure. The New York City locations are great; the movie brought Michael Chapman to filmdom. The dancing of Sal Mineo and high-heeled Juliet Prowse during the "It Could Have Been Me" song is a swimming classic (or, should have been). ******* Who Killed Teddy Bear (9/65) Joseph Cates ~ Sal Mineo, Juliet Prowse, Elaine Stritch, Jan Murray

'Who Killed Teddy Bear' is far better than its kitschy-exploitation reputation would suggest. The script is admittedly pretty bad, with some terrible dialogue, and some of the more clichéd 'swinging-sixties' scenes are laughable to modern audiences. However, the relatively frank discussion of psycho-sexual deviancy, excellent performances from Mineo and Stritch, and striking cinéma vérité photography, lift the movie well above the drive-in norm. Taking visual cues and a raucous jazz score from French New Wave, and predating the Times Square Sleaze of 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'Taxi Driver' by several years, 'Who Killed Teddy Bear' is a thoroughly bizarre time capsule offering both a rare and fascinating glimpse into the sleazy porno subculture of sixties New York and an early cinematic attempt to provide a psychological motivation for mental instability.A movie well worth seeking out that captures a disturbing time and place that is genuinely lost forever.

This film is truly a work of art of the highest magnitude and no, I am not kidding. Shot in glorious, high-contrast black-and-white, it reeks of exploitation from the note of the cheesy theme song all the way through the strobe-cut ending and every horn-blaring, high-heeling, hip-grinding moment in between. Sal Mineo plays a busboy obsessed with aspiring actress/club DJ Juliet Prowse (and Prowse is at her foxiest in this one, with her pencil skirts, kitten heels and cat eyes), coming off like a perverted puppy dog.The obscene phone call bits--all heavy breathing, bulging tighty whiteys and sweat--will make you want to leave the theatre and take a shower. Or, if that isn't nasty enough for you, how about the scene with bulldyke Elaine Stritch fondling Prowse's fur (so to speak), or the retarded kid sister locked in the closet or the policeman obsessively playing audio tapes of various twisted criminal's confessions as his daughter listens wide-eyed from the other side of the door? Or how about the "twist lesson" that brings the film to it's climax (no pun intended)? Another asset of this great piece of cinema are its New York City location shots, especially when Mineo goes walking the city at night, looking for filth in scenes that must've influenced "Taxi Driver" (also love the W.S. Burroughs titles in the window of the "dirty bookshop"). I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. It's not available on video (Curses!), so if it's ever screened at the theater or on TV in your area, be there.