| Le Roi de Coeur (original French title) King of Hearts (United States) |
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Original U.S. release poster |
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| Directed by | Philipe de Broca |
| Produced by | Philipe de Broca |
| Written by | • Daniel Boulanger (screenplay) • Maurice Bessy (screenwriter) |
| Starring | Alan Bates |
| Music by | Georges Delerue |
| Cinematography | Pierre Lhomme |
| Editing by | Francoise Javet (II) |
| Distributed by | • Les Productions Artistes Associés • United Artists (United States) |
| Release date(s) | December 21, 1966 (France) |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French, English, German |
King of Hearts (original French title: Le Roi de Cœur) is a 1966 French comedy-drama film directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Alan Bates.
The film is set in a small town in France near the end of World War I. As the Imperial German Army retreats they booby trap the whole town to explode. The locals flee and, left to their own devices, a gaggle of cheerful lunatics escape the asylum and take over the town — thoroughly confusing the lone Scottish soldier who has been dispatched to defuse the bomb.
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Charles Plumpick (Bates) is a kilt-wearing Scottish soldier who is sent by his commanding officer to disarm the bomb.
When Plumpick enters the town, he unknowingly leaves the door to the insane asylum open while being chased by the Germans. When the Germans have left the town, all of the inmates leave the asylum and playfully take over the town. The lunatics crown Plumpick King of Hearts with surreal pageantry as he frantically tries to find the bomb before it goes off.
The film ends with the question of who is more insane, those in the asylum or the soldiers on the battlefield.
When it was released in France in 1966, King of Hearts was not especially successful critically or at the box office. However, when released in the United States a year later, it achieved bona fide cult-film status, eventually running for five years at the Central Square Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and other repertoire movie theaters.
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