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| “ | When the DA's office investigated the sudden death of Arty Clay, they found that he left a $13 million estate--how do you explain that? Then there's Larry Wong, who owned half of Chinatown when he passed away. Larry used to rent his tenements to Asian refugees, his own people, for 800 a month to share a single toilet on the same floor. How 'bout King Tito? He had 13-year-old girls hooking for him on the street. Those guys are dead because I don't want to make money that way. Emil Zappa, the Mata brothers--they're dead because they were running this city into the ground. | „ |
| ~ Frank White to Roy Bishop. |
Francis "Frank" White is the titular protagonist villain in the 1990 crime drama film King of New York.
He was portrayed by Christopher Walken, who also played Max Zorin in A View to a Kill, Bradford Whitewood Sr. in At Close Range, Max Shreck in Batman Returns, Vincenzo Coccotti in True Romance, Gabriel in The Prophecy series, Mr. Smith in Nick of Time, Hickey in Last Man Standing, Colonel Cutter in Antz, the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow, Reed Thimple in The Country Bears, Salvatore Maggio in Kangaroo Jack, Cornelius Hatcher in The Rundown, Master Feng in Balls of Fury, King Louie in the 2016 The Jungle Book live-action remake and Shaddam IV in Dune: Part Two.
Biography[]
Frank White is a drug lord and mob boss who has just been released from behind bars of the Sing Sing Penitentiary and wants to reclaim his drug empire. He starts by having Emilio El Zapa and King Tito, two Colombian drug dealers, killed by his minions. Next, he sends Dalesio, who works for him, to Little Italy to set up a meeting with Mafia boss Arty Clay, but Clay urinates on Dalesio's shoes and tells him it is a message for Frank. On hearing this, Frank, Jimmy Jump and other members of his gang go to Clay's social club, where Frank tells Clay that he wants a percentage of all of his profits. When Clay insults him by calling him a "n!gger-lover," Frank shoots the mafioso. As he leaves, Frank tells Clay's men that they can all find employment with him at the Plaza Hotel, where he's staying.
Frank sends Dalesio to Chinatown to make contact with Triad leader Larry Wong, who has $15 million worth of heroin. Larry demands $3 million up front and another $500,000 after the drugs are sold. Frank counters that the two should team up, then split the profits evenly. Larry turns him down and demands that Frank decide immediately whether he wants to buy the drugs, but Frank declines. Later, he and his men go Chinatown, where they kill Larry and his gang, and take the heroin. With no more rivals, Frank becomes king of New York's criminal underworld.
Against the objections of Roy Bishop, Dennis Gilley, a NYPD detective bent on stopping Frank, forms a plan to go outside the law in order to eliminate Frank. He and his partner Thomas Flanigan bribe Dalesio into leading them to a nightclub where Frank and his men are partying. After one of the officers infiltrates the nightclub as Dalesio's contact, Gilley, Flanigan and other officers, disguised as rival gang members, burst in and begin shooting, slaying several members of Frank's gang. Frank and Jump trade shots with the police, killing all but Gilley and Flanigan. Jump kills Flanigan and Gilley kills Jump with a shot to the head. A few days later at Flanigan's funeral, Frank kills Gilley by shooting him in the head.
After his men kill Dalesio for betraying him, Frank goes to Bishop's apartment, telling him that he has placed a $250,000 bounty on every detective involved in the case. Holding Bishop at gunpoint, Frank explains that he killed Tito, Larry, Clay, and Zapa because he disapproved of their involvement in human trafficking and child prostitution. He then forces Bishop to handcuff himself to a chair.
As Frank heads to the subway, Bishop uses a hidden gun to free himself and corners Frank on a subway car. Frank shoots Bishop, killing him, but the policeman is able to fire a last shot. In a taxi in Times Square, Frank realizes that he has been hit. As police officers surround the car, Frank closes his eyes and goes limp.
Character summary[]
The cool, calculating, cunning, charismatic, classy, and confident. Frank White is a six-foot-tall, middle-aged Caucasian male with a slim physique, fair skin, blue eyes and his ashy-brown hair styled into a choppy-looking pompadour. He prefers to wear the most expensive tailor-made suits that New York has to offer.
His unthreatening and not very intimidating voice and appearance would often fool everyone into thinking Frank is a push-over; whenever angered, Frank instantly proves himself to be the exact opposite such as landing punches on Detective Tommy Flanigan, not hesitating to kill anyone on the spot, and shooting a heavy firearm with just one hand. This is also why his own minions seem to proudly respect Frank.
Quotes[]
| “ | There are some things I don't do. | „ |
| ~ Frank, to his gang. |
| “ | Well, I must've been away too long because...my feelings are dead. I feel no remorse. | „ |
| ~ Frank, to his gang |
| “ | From now on, nothing goes down unless I'm involved. No blackjack, no dope deals, no nothing. A nickel bag gets sold in the park—I want in. You guys got fat while everybody starved on the street. Now it's my turn. | „ |
| ~ Frank |
| “ | I never got away with anything, and I never killed anybody that didn't deserve it. | „ |
| ~ Frank, to Bishop. |
| “ | Well, it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. | „ |
| ~ Frank's response to Bishop's question about being judge and jury. |
| “ | Where's that f-cking phone? | „ |
| ~ Frank, right before ripping Bishop's phone out of the wall. |
| “ | You think ambushing me in some nightclub's gonna stop what makes people take drugs? This country spends $100 billion a year on getting high, and it's not because of me. All that time I was wasting in jail, it just got worse. I'm not your problem. I'm just a businessman. | „ |
| ~ Frank, to Bishop. |
Trivia[]
- When Bishop (Victor Argo) scrolls through Frank White's rap sheet, the bottom line mentions a felony arrest in 1982. One can then assume that Frank has spent 8 years in the Sing Sing Penitentiary up to 1990, the film's release year.
- The rap sheet on the computer also says, Frank's birthplace is listed as Astoria, Queens. In real life, Christopher Walken is from Astoria, Queens.
- Abel Ferrara stated in an interview that he had a script and was intending to make a prequel to King of New York that focuses on Frank White's rise to power before his arrest, but it did not work out.
- Director Abel Ferrara wrote Christopher Walken's famous line: "A nickel bag gets sold in the Park: I want IN."
- New York rapper The Notorious B.I.G. used the moniker "Frank White" in many of his songs.
- The shower scene of Frank White (Christopher Walken) early in the film was shot in a set constructed by the set designer on a NYC rooftop.
- F.W. Murnau's classic silent horror film Nosferatu (1922) is the movie the Chinese gang is watching in the screening room. In addition, there are many references to Murnau's film: The basic plot is similar, Walken appears mostly at night like a vampire and the expressionistic visual style seems to be inspired by Murnau, too. Ironically, lead actor Christopher Walken later went on to play 'Max Schreck' in Batman Returns (1992), named after the iconic lead actor of "Nosferatu".
- Lucille M. Oliver, who plays Frank's hostage on the subway, had never acted before. Christopher Walken prepared her for the scene by telling her "I'm going to do something awful to you, but I will not hurt you."
- According to director Abel Ferrara, many studios including Miramax, refused to distribute the film mainly because of the scene in which Frank White (Christopher Walken) blows off Dennis Gilley's (David Caruso) head during his partner Tommy Flanigan's funeral.