EyeAskance Pretty, young Juliet Prowse is a NYC discotheque DJ being stalked by sex-psycho Sal Mineo in this flawed but ahead-of-its-time shocker, a film which might appeal to enthusiasts of Sam Fuller's contemporaneous work.With art-house application to grindhouse material, WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR should have a broader appeal than it does. Performances are strong by the most of the cast(especially Elaine Stritch as Prowse's inured lesbian boss, Jan Murray as the solicitous investigator, and Mineo...a deeply disturbed but ultimately pitiable predator). Unfortunately, the film is marred significantly by the comically written and overplayed character of Mineo's little sister, doomed to eternal childhood as the result of a tragic accident.Though there is intermittent creative camera-work at hand, the overall production values are pretty low. Fortunately, the tawdriness of the whole affair calls for just that, and WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR succeeds, perhaps despite itself. It's a gripping, stark, and quite depressing meditation on obsession, loneliness and perversion which touches bravely on every taboo in the book. Nonetheless, this rife lurid sensationalism feels strangely at-odds with the customary sleaze that exploitation cinema celebrates...the tone here is otherwise rather cautionary, perhaps propelled by the whiling fears of 60s-era reactionaries. The times, they were a-changing, and many at the far-right felt the nation's moral compass had become a pinwheel in the wind.7.5/10. Classic of its kind.

christopher-underwood Uneven, not very well paced and with some poor elements, this low budget piece of sleaze is still a good example of what can be done with a good idea, some decent actors and some balls. Great location shooting around Times Square/42nd Street clashes somewhat with some very flat interior sequences but all the electrifying disco scenes are excellent. Prowse really can dance and if Sal Mineo thinks he's auditioning all over again for Rebel Without A Cause, who can blame him with that physique. Lots of tasteless matters are gleefully paraded before us and even within the movie the lieutenant takes his dirty phone call research home never minding that his daughter is listening in. As others have mentioned, Scorsese must have seen this and in any event this would make a great double bill with Taxi Driver, also one would have to say that this is more sleazy and less glamorised than the more well known film. On a final note, how times change; completely rejected by the UK censors in 1965 is now released with 15 certificate.

bkoganbing According to a recent biography of Sal Mineo he was going through a lot of professional and personal angst at the time he was making Who Killed Teddy Bear. Professional because he was no longer the teen idol of the Fifties and roles were getting scarce. He was in the early Sixties discovering the fact he was indeed gay. Maybe the role of the sexually confused busboy might do something or maybe it was the best he could get.Whatever it was Teddy Bear might have been the low point of his career and a few others in the cast. No one comes out of this with any glory. Juliet Prowse is a disc jockey at a disco and of course she takes her turn on the floor as well. She's picked up a stalker and when she turns to the police for help she gets a cop with issues.That would be Jan Murray, late of the borscht belt and of the television game show Treasure Hunt which I first remember seeing him in. His wife was brutally killed in a sex crime homicide and he now quite obsesses on the subject of sexual predators. He's also feeling a little lustful towards Juliet.And he's not the only one. The owner of disco Elaine Stritch would like to make a little time with her. Normally I might applaud the fact that lesbianism even got a hint on the screen, but in such a crass and a exploitive film as Who Killed Teddy Bear.It's one weird film, shot totally on location in New York with what looks like someone's Bell&Howell home movie camera. Production values are near zero.Skip this trash by.

jpbrinkman206 Hard to believe and very sad to realize that we are coming close to the 30th anniversary of the death, in February-1976,of the brilliant, beautiful, enigmatic, and influential talent of Sal Mineo. He was one of the original 50's heartthrobs who debuted with his poetic performance in the now legendary James Dean classic, Rebel Without a Cause. Later, Mineo became known for his talent and his courage in his art and in his life. He would tackle much more difficult roles and become the first actor to declare his homosexuality, unapologetically. Teddy Bear is Mineo at his most brilliant, most haunting, most daring and most heartbreaking. Coming at a time in his career when he was frustrated with very little roles to choose from, came this harrowing film from director Joseph Cates. It is important to note, and upsetting to say that Teddy Bear is mostly regarded as a "cult classic" and sometimes viewed as a late night schlock/camp film. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here is a film that was not only ahead of its time in subject matter, as well as actors pushing the envelope, but also influencing Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver(1976) and Alan J. Pakula's Klute (1971).First, it is important to note how much "Teddy Bear" resembles the great Italian films from the late '50's, early'60's. Another great feat for Joseph Cates, is showing the remarkable influence from Michaelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse. This is another film dealing with the issues of disillusionment with life and society. Antonioni films Italy as though the surroundings of the characters are being consumed by their environment, a constant theme in Cates' Teddy Bear. Even more remarkable, one can see similarities between Monica Vitti in L'Eclisse and Sal Mineo in Teddy Bear. Both actors never indicating, but truly feeling the confusion, the sadness, and despair with their lives and what they have amounted to. Cates is the one director who beat all others to the punch before imitation of Italian cinema in America became the norm. Joseph Cates dared to show New York as it sadly sometimes can be, a dark, hedonistic, and self absorbed web of sex, self satisfaction and ultimately personal confusion turning to crisis. And he found the perfect actor to personify this as well in the form of the lead character. Mineo never compromises from film's beginning to end. It is a performance of the kind James Dean would have probably played had he lived. And Mineo plays it with all of the same courage, energy and longing that James Dean himself did in Kazan's East of Eden. Alas, Mineo himself had surpassed Dean in some ways with this performance and still, it is ignored. By watching Mineo in this performance, one sees the influence for Robert De Niro's historic Travis Bickle character. A decade earlier Mineo created a character who becomes a victim of an uncaring society, sexual disfunciton and a New York spiraling into hell. Mineo's character certainly would have made movie legend, like DeNiro had done with Driver, if Teddy Bear had been accepted by theatergoers in the first place. Joseph Cates' brilliant directing is overlooked as well. One is reminded of Scorsece's Taxi Driver throughout. The parallels are very easy to see. Cates had made the first movie to address some very upsetting and complicated issues that apparently no one wanted to see on the screen in 1965. Cates treats each character it seems as though they have lost all sensiblility in some cases and are detached from any kind of emotion. Sadly, when each character comes close to any kind of connection, they become even more bitter or face a confusion they can't comprehend or would even want to. Cates also did a brilliant job in creating the other characters through through the other actors in the film. Juliet Prowse as a jaded but still hopeful actress who desperately seeks independence. Jan Murrey as a soul sick cop. And last but not least, the stunning,incandescent Elaine Stritch who steals every scene that she's in and showing a vulnerability and human frailty that would still surprise people in 2006. Teddy Bear has yet to be available on DVD in wide release. It is the last in a series of insults to Cates' vision and Sal Mineo's heartbreaking talent. How soon we forget and overlook an actor of such talent, grace and beauty as Sal Mineo. After seeing his shattering performance in Who Killed Teddy Bear he will be even more greatly missed.