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. Stephano loved the blonde 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 whom 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.

• Jane Russell as Annie Caldash
• Cornel Wilde as Stephano Torino
• Luther Adler as Marco Torino
• Joseph Calleia as Papa Theodore
• James H. Russell as Xano
• Nina Koshetz as Nita Johnny
• Helen Westcott as Velma
• Mikhail Rasumny as Old Johnny
• Wally Russell as Bimbo
• unbilled players include Richard Deacon and Robert Foulk, and Ross Bagdasarian and Les Baxter appear uncredited as gas station attendants

• Hot Blood at IMDb
• Hot Blood at AllMovie
• Hot Blood at the TCM Movie Database
• Hot Blood at the American Film Institute Catalog