Who Killed Teddy Bear? (35mm)

Thursday, September 25 | 7:30pm | SIFF Film Center
Thursday, October 2 | 7:30pm | SIFF Film Center

Presented by Grand Illusion Cinema

The apex of lurid ’60s exploitation movies and a virtual smorgasbord of Hollywood taboos... In sharp contrast to his innocent but equally disturbed Plato in Rebel Without a Cause, Sal Mineo stars as a porno-obsessed, body-building, proto-Travis Bickle, with Juliet Prowse as a go-go dancer/hostess whose seemingly inevitable states of undress are spied on by an unknown Peeping Tom. New 35mm print of the never-before-seen director's cut.

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After one too many X-rated phone calls, it's erstwhile comedian/game show host Jan Murray on the case, as a sex-crime-specializing cop whose research includes re-playing victims’ interviews, while his 10-year-old daughter listens in next door; plus all-too-friendly sympathy from lesbian disco boss Elaine Stritch.

Who Killed Teddy Bear? seethes with a sweatily frustrated libidinousness: as the camera caressingly photographs the faceless voyeur in his jockey shorts, you'd swear you were watching a recent Calvin Klein commercial. Shot on location in New York in a glistening black and white recalling Sweet Smell of Success, Teddy Bear offers a unique documentary record of mid-60s Times Square sex shops, when magazines like Teenage Nudist were displayed alongside books by Frank Harris and William Burroughs.

This new 35mm print of the original director’s cut, unseen in nearly 60 years, includes over 5 minutes of censored material (cut from the 1965 release prints), revealing, among other things, a deeper exploration of the Mineo character’s true sexuality.

“Even without revealing the film’s many twists and turns, the explicit—and yes, exploitative—way 'Teddy Bear' treats many up-until-then taboo issues is a marvel to behold… In sum total, this film is nuts.”—Sankeerthna Vedamtam, MovieJawn