Prime Cut

Prime Cut
Theatrical release poster by Tom Jung
Directed byMichael Ritchie
Written byRobert Dillon
Produced byJoe Wizan
StarringLee Marvin
Gene Hackman
Sissy Spacek
Angel Tompkins
CinematographyGene Polito
Edited byCarl Pingitore
Music byLalo Schifrin
Production
company
Distributed byNational General Pictures
Release date
  • June 28, 1972 (1972-06-28)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,500,000 (US/Canada theatrical rentals)[1]

Prime Cut is a 1972 American action thriller crime film produced by Joe Wizan, directed by Michael Ritchie from a screenplay written by Robert Dillon, and starring Lee Marvin, who portrays a mob enforcer from the Chicago Irish Mob sent to Kansas to collect a debt from a meatpacker boss played by Gene Hackman. The picture co-stars Sissy Spacek in her first credited on-screen role as a young orphan being sold into prostitution as well as Angel Tompkins[2] and Eddie Egan.

The film was considered highly risqué for its time based on its violence and the hint of a homosexual relationship between two brothers. Its graphic depiction of female slavery includes a scene depicting naked young women (including Sissy Spacek and Janit Baldwin) in pens being auctioned like cattle. It is also noted for its depiction of the beef slaughtering process and for a chase scene involving a combine harvester in an open field.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1972", Variety, 3 January 1973, pg 7.
  2. ^ "Prime Cut (1972)". TCM.com. Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Watch: Revisit 1972's Controversial 'Prime Cut' with Gene Hackman and Lee Marvin (Trailers From Hell)". IndieWire. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Prime Cut (1972) Directed by Michael Ritchie". LETTERBOXD. Retrieved 30 December 2018.