King of the Gypsies (1978)

Director:

Frank Pierson

Writers:

Peter Maas (book), Frank Pierson (written for the screen by)

Stars:

Sterling Hayden, Susan Sarandon, Judd Hirsch

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sterling Hayden	...	King Zharko Stepanowicz
Shelley Winters	...	Queen Rachel
Susan Sarandon	...	Rose
Judd Hirsch	...	Groffo
Eric Roberts	...	Dave
Brooke Shields	...	Tita
Annette O'Toole	...	Sharon
Annie Potts	...	Persa
Michael V. Gazzo	...	Spiro Giorgio
Antonia Rey	...	Danitza Giorgio
Stephen Mendillo	...	Adolf
Daniel Spira	...	Zio Miller
Joe Zaloom	...	Rui Ilanovitch
Lou Cevetillo	...	Pete Stepanowicz
Zvee Scooler	...	Phuro (as Svee Scooler)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

grandson | heritage | psychological drama | father son relationship | generation gap | 

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Taglines:

HIS time is here and he must carry on the tradition of ruling with vengeance!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 February 1979 (France)

Also Known As:

A cigányok királya

Filming Locations:

Hillside, New Jersey, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dino De Laurentiis Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Bogdanovich was offered the opportunity to direct.

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Soundtracks

"Ridin'"
By Pegasus and Rick Galaher
Performed by Pegasus

User Reviews

Only The Gypsies Know

You will get a wide and varying reaction as to the veracity of what Peter Maas wrote about the Romany culture in his non-fiction book, King Of The Gypsies. The information from that source yielded a screenplay with both Hamlet and Oedipal like qualities in it about the succession in leadership to a gypsy clan.

The title role in King Of The Gypsies is played by Sterling Hayden and he and his Queen Shelley Winters have as much responsibility to their clan as the Corleones do. But they've got a son in Judd Hirsch who has the worst qualities of Fredo and Sonny Corleone in one package. This is not a guy you want running the clan.

Hayden pins his hopes on his grandson Eric Roberts. But Roberts has walked away from gypsy life and now is even courting a nice all American girl in Annette O'Toole. He's a singing waiter at Mama Leone's which is no more.

Hirsch of course has no desire to be John of Gaunt in his family, son of one king and father of another. This sets up the conflict within the clan that goes active when Hayden dies.

Eric Roberts made his screen debut here and does fine, but the guy to really watch in this film is Judd Hirsch. You can hardly believe that the amiable Alex Reiger from Taxi is played by the same actor. Hirsch's part of Grozzo should be his career role. Had it been played by someone like Al Pacino and would have had King Of The Gypsies come to the screen some 15 to 20 years later it might have gotten an Oscar nomination. At this point Pacino would have been cast in the Roberts part. How Hirsch was overlooked is a mystery that only the gypsies know.

For an insight into a part of human society overlooked, King Of The Gypsies is highly recommended.