Chicago Joe and the Showgirl
Encyclopedia
Chicago Joe and the Showgirl is a 1990 British crime
drama film
directed by Bernard Rose
and written by David Yallop
. The film was inspired by the real-life Hulten/Jones murder case of 1944, famously known as the Cleft Chin Murder.
), is an American GI who is stalking the black market of London after stealing an army truck and going AWOL. There he meets up with Betty Jones (Emily Lloyd
), a stripper with a deluded fantasy world view formed by watching a steady stream of Hollywood film noir and gangster pictures. Seeing Karl, who claims he is Chicago Joe doing advance work in London for encroaching Chicago gangsters, Betty takes the opportunity to set her fantasies to life as she connives Karl into a crime spree of petty crimes. With luck on their side, the spree keeps escalating, until Betty urges Karl to commit the ultimate crime—murder.
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Bernard Rose
Bernard Rose (director)
Bernard Rose is an English actor and film director most famous for his direction of the 1992 urban horror film Candyman and the 1994 historical romance film Immortal Beloved....
and written by David Yallop
David Yallop
David Anthony Yallop is an agnostic British author who writes chiefly about unsolved crimes. In the 1970s he also contributed scripts for a number of BBC comedy shows...
. The film was inspired by the real-life Hulten/Jones murder case of 1944, famously known as the Cleft Chin Murder.
Plot
In the film, Karl Hulten (Kiefer SutherlandKiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
), is an American GI who is stalking the black market of London after stealing an army truck and going AWOL. There he meets up with Betty Jones (Emily Lloyd
Emily Lloyd
-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
), a stripper with a deluded fantasy world view formed by watching a steady stream of Hollywood film noir and gangster pictures. Seeing Karl, who claims he is Chicago Joe doing advance work in London for encroaching Chicago gangsters, Betty takes the opportunity to set her fantasies to life as she connives Karl into a crime spree of petty crimes. With luck on their side, the spree keeps escalating, until Betty urges Karl to commit the ultimate crime—murder.
Cast
- John LahrJohn LahrJohn Lahr is an American theater critic, and the son of actor Bert Lahr. Since 1992, he has been the senior drama critic at The New Yorker magazine.-Biography:...
... Radio commentator - Emily LloydEmily Lloyd-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
... Betty Jones - Liz FraserLiz FraserLiz Fraser is an English actress, mainly in comedy roles.- Life and career :Her birthdate is usually attributed as 1933, the year she gave when auditioning for her role in I'm All Right Jack, as the Boulting Brothers wanted someone younger for the part...
... Mrs. Evans - Kiefer SutherlandKiefer SutherlandKiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
... Karl Hulten - Harry FowlerHarry FowlerHarry James Fowler, MBE is an English actor in film and TV. He started in juvenile roles, most notably in the first recognised Ealing Comedy Hue and Cry, made in 1947...
... Morry - Keith Allen ... Lenny Bexley
- Patsy KensitPatsy KensitPatricia Jude Francis "Patsy" Kensit is an English actress, singer, model and former child star, known for her television and film appearances. Her films include Lethal Weapon 2 and she has been married to rock stars Jim Kerr and Liam Gallagher, as well as herself fronting the band Eighth Wonder...
... Joyce Cook - Angela MorantAngela MorantAngela Morant is a British actress.She is remembered for playing Octavia Minor in the 1976 BBC television adaptation of I, Claudius and Barbara Harrison in the soap opera Brookside....
... Customer - John SurmanJohn SurmanJohn Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
... Mr. Cook - Janet Dale ... Mrs. Cook
- John Dair ... John
- Stephen HancockStephen HancockStephen Hancock is a British TV actor. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avonin 1929. He is most notable for his role as Ernest Bishop in Coronation Street which he played from 1969 until the character was killed off in 1978...
... Doctor - Hugh MillaisHugh MillaisHugh Geoffroy Millais was a British author and actor known for his film collaborations with director Robert Altman.-Early years:...
... U.S. colonel - Harry Jones ... Taxi driver
- Alexandra PiggAlexandra PiggAlexandra Pigg is a British actress who first came to prominence as Petra Taylor in the TV soap opera Brookside. Her best known film appearances are as Elaine in Letter to Brezhnev , for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award, and as Bridget Baines in A Chorus of Disapproval...
... Violet - John JunkinJohn JunkinJohn Francis Junkin was an English radio, television and film performer and scriptwriter.In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrows Can't Sing...
... George Heath - Gerard HoranGerard HoranGerard Horan is an English actor. Born in Stockport, Cheshire, Horan has appeared in many of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare films, most recently as Denis in the 2006 As You Like It. He has worked extensively in theatre, film and television....
... John Wilkins - Colin Bruce ... Robert De Mott
- Ralph Nossek ... Insp. Tansill
- Roger Ashton-GriffithsRoger Ashton-GriffithsRoger Ashton-Griffiths is a British character actor, screenwriter and film director.He graduated from Lancaster University and the University of East London , and began his career as a singer with English National Opera at the London Coliseum.He has appeared in numerous high-profile films,...
... Insp. Tarr - Richard Ireson ... Reporter #1
- Malcolm TerrisMalcolm TerrisMalcolm Terris is a British actor.He had a lengthy career in a large number of television programmes. Possibly his best known role was in When the Boat Comes In, a popular 1970s series, where he played the part of Matt Headley...
... Reporter #2 - Gary Parker ... Reporter #3
- Karen Gledhill ... Reporter #4
- Niven Boyd ... Reporter #5