Prime Cut (1972)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Academy Award-winners Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman square off in one of the most explosive screen confrontations ever. Marvin is an underworld enforcer sent to Kansas City to collect money from Hackman, a mysterious mobster who has no intention of paying up. A meat packing plant fronts for Hackman's real business dealings: drugs and prostitution. Before it ends, hoods will be ground into sausages and beautiful women will be sold like cattle. Michael Ritchie's breakneck direction propels the action along with the speed of bullets. From a shoot-out at a country fair to the final cataclysmic showdown. Prime Cut is prime excitement! Punctuated with ruthless performances by Marvin and Hackman, and featuring the in-the-flesh screen debut of Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek, this gangster movie hits hard and cuts deep. - Actors:
- Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, Sissy Spacek, Angel Tompkins, Gregory Walcott, Janit Baldwin, William Morey, Clint Ellison, Howard Platt, Les Lannom, Eddie Egan, Therese Reinsch, Bob Wilson, Gordon Signer, Gladys Watson, Hugh Gillin, E. Lund, David Savage, Craig Chapman, Jim Taksas
- Directors:
- Michael Ritchie
- Studio:
- Paramount
- Genres:
- Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of Prime Cut
Grimy, Mean-Spirited Crime Thriller - Prime Cut review by griggs
Since Gene Hackman’s death, I’ve been exploring some of his lesser-known films, seeking out the deep cuts where he plays a true slimeball villain—not the camp or comedic kind (The Royal Tenenbaums, Superman, The Birdcage), nor the morally grey antihero (The French Connection, Night Moves), but the real nasty pieces of work. Prime Cut fits the bill perfectly.
This is a grimy, mean-spirited little crime thriller, violent in ways that still feel shocking. The opening scene alone sets the tone—human meat ground up like sausages—and it only gets more grotesque from there. Hackman plays Mary Ann, a Kansas cattle baron and pimp who treats women like livestock and revels in his depravity. Opposite him is Lee Marvin, effortlessly cool as a mob enforcer sent to collect a debt. The two are absolute powerhouses, and their clash is electric—Hackman is so gleefully slimy I wish I’d seen this sooner.
Director Michael Ritchie borrows plenty from Hitchcock, most obviously in a North by Northwest-style cornfield chase, but his approach is rougher, more brutal. The film is taut, lean, and stylish, but the script at times is woeful—clunky dialogue and thin character work occasionally undercut the tension. It’s not perfect, but as a cult pulpy, violent thriller, it’s got more than enough to recommend it.