Hot Blood
Marco Torino (Luther Adler), king of the gypsies in southern California, is terminally ill. He wants his younger brother to succeed him, but Stephano (Cornel Wilde) is determined to become a dancer instead.
After turning a potential employer against him, Marco arranges a marriage for his brother to Annie Caldash (Jane Russell), a sexy gypsy. Stephano angers her father Theodore (Joseph Calleia) and brother Xano (James H. Russell) by resisting Annie's charms and refusing to marry her. He is in love with a blonde named Velma (Helen Westcott).
Annie comes up with a scheme. Her father wants her to be paid a rich dowry from Stephano's, then run off before the marriage. Stephano's brother is trying to raise money for a trip to "the promised land." She persuades Stephano to stage a phony wedding at which she will faint during the ceremony, whereupon they will split the dowry and teach their greedy relatives a lesson. But it is Stephano she ends up fooling, by going through with the marriage.
An angry Stephano leaves with Velma, finding work in cheap dance clubs. He begins to miss Annie. He returns to the gypsy camp to find Marco and her together, surprisingly happy. Mistakenly believing they are now together and pulling a swindle, Stephano objects, but Marco explains that he is merely enjoying the last precious days of his life. Stephano agrees to become the new gypsy king, with Annie his queen.
romantic