King of Hearts
King of Hearts (originally Le Roi de Coeur) is a French film about a town in France that has been evacuated due to a bomb placed by the German army. The town's insane asylum is accidentally unlocked as the Germans are leaving and the inmates take over the town.
Plot summary
Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers
This 1966 film, directed by Philippe de Broca, stars Alan Bates as Charles Plumplick, a kilt-wearing Scottish soldier who is sent by his commanding officer to disarm the bomb. Plumpick, an army ornithology specialist in charge of carrier pigeons, is sent because he is one of the only men in the unit able to speak French.
When Plumpick enters the town, he unknowingly leaves the door to the insane assylum open while being chased by the Germans. When the Germans have left the town, all of the inmates leave the asylum and take over the town, working in the shops and living in the houses.
Having announced earlier to the former inmates that he was the King of Hearts, Plumpick is treated as the king and is subject to kingly duties as he frantically tries to find the bomb before it goes off.
The last scene is the image of Plumpick stading naked in front of the asylum with his pigeon cage, begging to be let in.
Cast
- Jacques Balutin
- Alan Bates
- Daniel Boulanger
- Pierre Brasseur
- Jean-Claude Brialy
- Genevieve Bujold
- Adolfo Celi
- Françoise Christophe
- Madeleine Clervanne
- Marc Dudicourt
- Julien Guiomar
- Micheline Presle
- Michel Serrault
References
- IMDB entry
- http://www.foreignfilms.com/film.asp?film_id=6146
Referenced By
1960s in film | List of 1960s movies | List of movies: J | List of movies: J-R
|
