Prime Cut (1972)

Prime Cut is a 1972 American film produced by Joe Wizan and directed by Michael Ritchie, with a screenplay written by Robert Dillon.

The movie stars Lee Marvin as a mob enforcer from Chicago sent to Kansas to collect a debt from a meatpacker boss played by Gene Hackman. It co-stars Sissy Spacek, in her first credited on-screen role as a young orphan being sold into prostitution, and Angel Tompkins.

The movie 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 in pens being auctioned like beef cattle. It is also noted for its depiction of the beef slaughtering process and for a chase scene involving a combine in an open field.

Synopsis

A slaughterhouse process follows the unloading of cattle to the making of sausages. A wristwatch and a shoe appear on a conveyor line, making it clear that a human cadaver is processed among the cattle. A woman operating the sausage machine is interrupted by "Weenie" (Gregory Walcott), who has timed the machine using his watch. He wraps up a string of sausages, then marks the package with an address in Chicago.

Actors