King of Hearts (1966 film)

Plot

Charles Plumpick (Bates) is a kilt-wearing French born Scottish soldier who is sent by his commanding officer to disarm a bomb placed in the town square by the retreating Germans.

As the fighting comes closer to the town, its inhabitants—including those who run the insane asylum—abandon it. The asylum gates are left open, and the inmates leave the asylum and take on the roles of the townspeople. Plumpick has no reason to think they are not who they appear to be—other than the colorful and playful way in which they're living their lives, so at odds with the fearful and war-ravaged times. The lunatics crown Plumpick King of Hearts with surreal pageantry as he frantically tries to find the bomb before it goes off.

Theatrical releases

When it was released in France in 1966, King of Hearts was not especially successful critically or at the box office with only 141,035 admissions.

However, it achieved bona fide cult-film status, when United States distribution rights were picked up by Randy Finley and Specialty Films in Seattle in 1973. It was paired with Marv Newland's Bambi Meets Godzilla and John Magnuson's Thank You Mask Man and marketed under the heading "The King of Hearts and His Loyal Short Subjects." During the mid 1970s it was seen in repertory movie theaters across the United States, eventually running for five years at the now defunct film house, the Central Square Cinemas (2 screens) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Main cast