King, Queen, Knave (1972)

Adopted by his rich uncle from Germany, British teenager Frank falls in-love with his uncle's Italian wife Martha, and has conflicting feelings when she suggests he should kill his uncle in order to have her and the family fortune.

Director:

Jerzy Skolimowski

Writers:

Vladimir Nabokov (novel), David Seltzer

Stars:

David Niven, Gina Lollobrigida, John Moulder-Brown

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
David Niven	...	Charles Dreyer
Gina Lollobrigida	...	Martha Dreyer
John Moulder-Brown	...	Frank
Mario Adorf	...	Prof. Ritter
Carl Duering	...	Enricht (as Carl Fox-Duering)
Christine Schuberth	...	Isolda
Erica Beer	...	Frieda
Felicitas Peters	...	Ida
Christopher Sandford	...	Hofmann
Sonia Hoffman	...	Sonia (as Sonia Hofmann)
Barbara Valentin	...	Optician
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elma Karlowa	...	Hanna
Jerzy Skolimowski
Mogens von Gadow	...	Piffke

Storyline

On the death of his parents, Frank, a romantic teenager, moves in with his aunt and uncle He quickly falls in love with his beautiful, sophisticated aunt, Martha, and begins to fantasize about her. Frank is torn between his adolescent desires and his fondness for his Uncle Charles.

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Plot Keywords:

black comedy | 1970s | british teenager | puberty | sexual fantasy | 

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Taglines:

Based on a Vladimir Nabokov novel.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Niven and director Jerzy Skolimowski planned to re-team immediately on " The Barbary Light " based on the Penelope Mortimer novel, but the failure of " King, Queen, Knave " led to its cancellation.

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Connections

Referenced in Interview mit John Moulder-Brown (2017)

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Soundtracks

Speak To Me
Written and Performed by Tom Winter Jr.
Electronics by Francis Monkman

User Reviews

Funny, Uneven, Surprising

If you can stand the bits of overacting by Mulder-Brown, continuity and the editing problems, the fun plot and charm of Lollobrigida and Niven are simply brilliant. It's a great story line with some silliness especially with Mario Adorf's Professor Ritter's skin invention.

It's a comedic tale of a young half-witted lad trying to make big but with the help of his uncle and more than help of his aunt. So typical for the post-60s sexual revolution, it showcases a bit of raunchiness of its older charming stars. Industrialist Uncle Charles tries to help his orphan nephew Frank on the road to success. However, Frank might be in for more than success as we watch a ménage à trois take course with sexy Aunt Martha ending in a most surprising twist.

Niven is charming, Mulder-Brown is half-witted (but I'll keeping the secret on that) and Gina Lollobrigida is clearly at her sexiest since Solomon and Sheba. Jerzy Skolimowski directed in his typical eccentric style that won't appeal to many but at times it's brilliant and at times poor, quite an uneven balance.

This film has not been digitally restored or produced on DVD so it's a rare gem if you can see it.

Details

Country:

West Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

February 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

King, Queen, Knave

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Film, Maran Film, Wolper Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1