King of New York
Encyclopedia
- For the Charlie Chaplin film, see A King in New YorkA King in New YorkA King in New York is a 1957 British comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin in his last leading role, which presents a satirical view of certain aspects of United States politics and society. The film was produced in Europe after Chaplin's exile from the US in 1952...
.
King of New York is a 1990 American crime drama film, starring Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
, Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III is an American film and stage actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, as Cowboy Curtis on the 1980's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, and as singer-musician Ike Turner...
, David Caruso
David Caruso
David Stephen Caruso is an American film and television actor and producer, best known for his role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the TV series CSI: Miami. The role that gained him initial significant recognition was the role of Det...
, Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
, Victor Argo
Victor Argo
Victor Argo was a Puerto Rican - American actor who usually played the part of a tough bad guy in his movies.-Early years:...
, and Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Esposito
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
. It was directed by independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
maker Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara is an American film screenwriter and director. He is best known as an independent filmmaker of such films as The Driller Killer , Ms. 45 , King of New York , Bad Lieutenant and The Funeral .-Early life:Ferrara was born in the Bronx of Italian and Irish descent...
and written by Nicholas St. John.
Plot
The film opens with Frank White (Christopher Walken), a wealthy and powerful drug lordDrug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
riding by private limousine into New York over the Queensboro Bridge
Queensboro Bridge
The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge – because its Manhattan end is located between 59th and 60th Streets – or simply the Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City that was completed in 1909...
after being released on parole from Sing Sing
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
from serving time on drug-related charges. Emilio El Zapa (Freddy Howard), a Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n drug dealer enters a telephone booth
Telephone booth
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box or telephone box is a small structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience. In the USA, Canada and Australia, "telephone booth" is used, while in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth it is a "telephone...
where he is almost immediately gunned-down by three assailants. As the hit men
Whitman
-People:* Whitman , including:*Charles Whitman, tower sniper *Charles S. Whitman, New York politician *Walt Whitman, American essayist and poet *Marcus Whitman, was an American physician and Oregon missionary....
leave, one of them drops a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
headline onto Zapa's lap which announces Frank White's release.
Across town, Zapa's partner, King Tito (Ernest Abuse) sits in a hotel room with Jimmy Jump (Fishburne) and Test Tube (Buscemi), a pair of gangsters who are negotiating the purchase of several kilograms of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. The two give Tito a suitcase in payment for the drugs, but Tito discovers that the suitcase is full of tampon
Tampon
A tampon is a mass of cotton or rayon or a mixture of the two inserted into a body cavity or wound to absorb bodilyfluid. The most common type in daily use is designed to be inserted into the vagina during menstruation to absorb the flow of menstrual fluid...
s instead of money. When an anger filled Tito says "What the fuck is this?!" Jump responds with the line: "They're for the bullet holes, Púta!" Jump and Test Tube then shoot Tito and his bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
s to death and steal the cocaine.
A few hours later in the presidential suite at the Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
, Frank White steps out of the shower to discover that Jump, Test Tube and the three phone booth killers are waiting for him. They are revealed to be the main members of his gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
and they welcome him home with a gift of champagne and Zapa's briefcase full of money as well as Tito's leather gloves. Frank leaves to meet two of his lawyers, Joey Dalesio((Paul Calderón
Paul Calderon
Paul Calderón is an American actor.He was born in Puerto Rico. Calderón moved to New York with his family at the age of six, where he grew up on the streets of the Lower East Side and Spanish Harlem...
) and Jennifer (Janet Julian
Janet Julian
Janet Julian , also credited under her birth name Janet Louise Johnson, is an American actress who has starred in film and television.-Biography:...
) for dinner.
After the dinner, Frank expresses his desire to be elected mayor and asks Daley to set up a meeting with Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
boss Arty Clay (Frank Gio). He and Jennifer leave to take a ride on the subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
, where it is revealed that she is one of his many mistresses. Upon being confronted by three muggers (led by Harold Perrineau), Frank first brandishes his gun then gives them a wad of money, telling them to ask for him at the Plaza Hotel if they want work.
In Little Italy
Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
, Dalesio attempts to set up Frank's meeting with Arty Clay but the crime lord refuses. Clay urinates on Dalesio's shoes and tells him it is a message for his boss. On hearing this, Frank, Jump and several other members of the gang arrive at Clay's social club, where Frank tells Clay that he wants a percentage of all Clay's profits. When Clay refuses and insults him, Frank draws his gun and empties it into the mafioso. As he makes his way out, Frank announces to Clay's henchmen that if they don't want to be robbed by the likes of Clay they can all find employment at the Plaza.
The next night, Frank confronts a councilman about the city's failure to continue the funding of a hospital in a poverty-stricken area of the South Bronx
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
. When the councilman explains that there wasn't enough money in the budget, Frank vows to fund the facility himself. Moments later he is confronted by Detective Roy Bishop (Victor Argo) and his right-hand men, Dennis Gilley (David Caruso) and Thomas Flanigan (Wesley Snipes), three members of the NYPD's narcotics squad, who tell him that they are taking him to police headquarters for questioning. Instead the three drive him to an abandoned lot where they show him the body of Emilio El Zapa in the trunk of their car. When Frank refuses to confess to the crime, Gilley and Flanigan beat him. After Bishop warns Frank that he will be stopped, the cops then drive off, leaving Frank to find his own way home.
Ignoring Bishop's warnings Frank sends Dalesio to Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
to make contact with Larry Wong (Joey Chin), a local Triad gang leader who possesses 100 kilos of cocaine, worth over $15 million on the street. Larry is leery of dealing with Frank, especially after the killing of Arty Clay. He demands that Frank meet him alone on neutral ground to discuss the deal. As the meeting is being scheduled Jimmy Jump and several of Frank's top lieutenants are arrested by Gilley and Flanigan, who reveal that one of Tito's bodyguards is alive and willing to testify against them.
Meeting at the hospital he wants to save, Frank attempts to hammer out a deal with Larry. The Triad demands $3 million up front and another $500,000 after the drugs are sold but Frank counters that since the drugs are worth over five times that amount on the street the two team up, with Larry providing the drugs and Frank providing the dealers, then split the profits evenly. When Frank insists that part of the profits be directed into funding the hospital, Larry turns him down and demands that Frank decide immediately whether he want to buy the drugs for $3.5 million or not at all. Frank declines and the two part ways.
Returning to the Plaza Frank learns of his men's arrest and orders his lawyers to arrange their release. Frank sends his limousine to the police station to pick up Jump and his men and they head directly to Chinatown where they massacre Larry Wong and his gang in a shootout; they then find the stockpiles of Larry Wong's cocaine in large barrels marked for MSG
Monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate or MSG, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the most abundant naturally occurring non-essential amino acids....
in a basement storage.
With the money gained from selling the Triad's cocaine, Frank sets up a fundraiser hosted by singer Freddie Jackson
Freddie Jackson
Frederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson is an American soul singer. He was an important figure in R&B during the 1980s and early 1990s...
to raise funds for the hospital. Witnessing this latest outrage on TV, Gilley, Flanigan and several like-minded officers resolve to use extrajudicial
Extrajudicial punishment
Extrajudicial punishment is punishment by the state or some other official authority without the permission of a court or legal authority. The existence of extrajudicial punishment is considered proof that some governments will break their own legal code if deemed necessary.-Nature:Extrajudicial...
means to get rid of Frank despite Bishop's objections. Posing as drug dealers, they bribe Joey Dalesio into leading them to the nightclub where Frank and most of his men are partying. Catching the criminals unawares, the hit squad bursts in with guns blazing, succeeding in slaying all of Frank's girlfriends and some of his gang.
Fleeing over the Queensboro Bridge, Frank and Jump trade shots with the police, killing all of them except Gilley and Flanigan. After momentarily giving their pursuers the slip the two men split up, with Jump staying behind to deal with the two cops. Sneaking up on Flanigan, Jump shoots him five times in the chest, puncturing his ballistic vest. Gilley shoots Jump several times in the chest and abdomen and after pausing to attempt CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an emergency procedure which is performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person in cardiac arrest. It is indicated in those who are unresponsive...
, kills Jump with a single shot to the head. A few days later at Flanigan's funeral, Frank kills Gilley with a single shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
blast to the head.
That night, after watching his surviving henchmen kill Dalesio for ratting out to the cops, Frank shows up at Roy Bishop's apartment, telling him that he has placed a $250,000 bounty on every detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
involved on the case, including Bishop. Holding Bishop at gunpoint, Frank explains that he killed Tito, Larry, Arty Clay, Zapa and their affiliates simply because he disapproved of their business practices, which included the exploitation of immigrants and child prostitution
Prostitution of children
Prostitution of children or child prostitution is the commercial sexual exploitation of children in which a child performs the services of prostitution, for financial benefit. The term normally refers to prostitution by a minor, or person under the local age of majority...
. When Bishop asks: "Did you really think you could get away with killing all these people?" Frank replies with the most often-quoted line of the film: "I never killed anybody who didn't deserve it."
His business seemingly concluded, Frank forces Bishop to handcuff himself to a chair before taking his leave. As Frank escapes down to the subway, Bishop uses a gun from a nearby drawer to free himself and gives chase. Following Frank into a subway car, Bishop corners him causing Frank to take a woman hostage. During the standoff, Frank fires on Bishop killing him but not before the policeman is able to fire a last shot. Escaping from the train car and into a nearby taxi in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, Frank looks down to see that he has been hit. As police officers surround the car, Frank closes his eyes and goes limp in his seat. The last image of the film is his gun falling limply to his side.
Reception
During the film's premiere at the New York Film Festival, many members of the audience including Ferrara's wife walked out of the theater. At the question-and-answer session that Ferrara held after the screening, the first question asked was, "This film is an abomination. Why aren't you giving the proceeds to some drug rehab program?" At a second showing of the film the next day, Laurence Fishburne and Nicholas St. John were booed off the stage. Subsequently, the reaction from critics has been positive, and the film holds a 70% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 23 reviews.
Cast
- Christopher WalkenChristopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
- Frank White - Laurence FishburneLaurence FishburneLaurence John Fishburne III is an American film and stage actor, playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, as Cowboy Curtis on the 1980's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse, and as singer-musician Ike Turner...
- Jimmy Jump - David CarusoDavid CarusoDavid Stephen Caruso is an American film and television actor and producer, best known for his role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the TV series CSI: Miami. The role that gained him initial significant recognition was the role of Det...
- Dennis Gilley - Victor ArgoVictor ArgoVictor Argo was a Puerto Rican - American actor who usually played the part of a tough bad guy in his movies.-Early years:...
- Roy Bishop - Janet JulianJanet JulianJanet Julian , also credited under her birth name Janet Louise Johnson, is an American actress who has starred in film and television.-Biography:...
- Jennifer - Wesley SnipesWesley SnipesWesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
- Thomas Flanigan - Steve BuscemiSteve BuscemiSteven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
- Test Tube - Paul CalderónPaul CalderonPaul Calderón is an American actor.He was born in Puerto Rico. Calderón moved to New York with his family at the age of six, where he grew up on the streets of the Lower East Side and Spanish Harlem...
- Joey Dalesio - Giancarlo EspositoGiancarlo EspositoGiancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is a Danish-born American film and television actor and director.-Early life:Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Italian father and African-American mother. His mother was an opera and nightclub singer from Alabama, who once appeared on the same...
- Lance - Theresa RandleTheresa RandleTheresa E. Randle is an American stage, film and television actress.Randle was born in Los Angeles, California. She began her performing career by studying dance and comedy. She entered Beverly Hills College with a special program for the exceptionally gifted...
- Raye - John TurturroJohn TurturroJohn Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
- Eddie - Frank AdonisFrank AdonisFrank Adonis , sometimes credited as Frank Martin, is an American film and television actor.-Selected filmography:*The French Connection as Bidder*Eyes of Laura Mars as Sal Volpe...
- Paul Calgari