''The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians'' () is a 1978 Romanian film directed by Romanian director

Dan Pița Dan Pița (; born 11 October 1938 in Dorohoi, Botoșani County, Romania) is a Romanian film director and screenwriter. Career Pița has directed several award-winning films since 1970, including the 1985 hit '' Pas în doi'', which won an Honour ...

. It is the first in a

Red Western The Ostern ("Eastern"; ; or ) is a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films. The word ''Ostern'' is a portmanteau derived from the German word ''Ost'', meaning "East", and the English word ''wes ...

trilogy that also comprises '' The Artiste, the Dollars and the Transylvanians'' and ''

The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians ''The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians'' (, ) is a 1981 Romanian Red Western directed by Dan Pița. It dramatises the struggles of Romanian and Hungarian settlers in a new land, the American frontier. Despite the American setting, including ...

''. The film's dialogue is in English and Romanian.

Plot

The mining town of

Cedar City, Utah Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. Located south of Salt Lake City, it is north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15 in Utah, Interstate 15. Southern Utah University is located in Cedar City. It is the home of the Ut ...

, is ruled by Mr. Walthrope, a

polygamous Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one h ...

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

prophet (

Victor Rebengiuc Victor Rebengiuc (; known in full as Victor-George Rebengiuc; born 10 February 1933) is a Romanian film and stage actor, also known as a civil society activist. Since 1957, he has been a member of the Bulandra Theater company, acting in more t ...

), his son the Marshal (

Gheorghe Visu Gheorghe Visu (; born 2 July 1951) is a Romanian actor. He appeared in more than forty films since 1974. In 2006 and 2007 the actor was chosen by Walt Disney Pictures to provide the Romanian voice of Bagheera in the animated movies The Jungle Boo ...

) and their band of ruffians. John Brad (

Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan (; January 1, 1942 – March 12, 2008) was a Romanian actor known for his work in Romanian film and television roles. However, Moldovan focused almost exclusively on theater and stage roles during the later years of his care ...

) is falsely accused of shooting a gunfighter sent against him by the prophet in the back and has to flee. Meanwhile, a train brings Jeff Groghan (), a gunfighter called by Walthrope, and two

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

n immigrants, Traian (

Ilarion Ciobanu Ilarion Ciobanu (; 28 October 1931 – 7 September 2008) was a Romanian actor. He has been described as "a legend" in the press and the last true Romanian comic. Biography Ciobanu was born in Ciucur, Tighina County, Kingdom of Romania (now Mold ...

) and Romulus Brad (

Mircea Diaconu Mircea Diaconu (; 24 December 1949 – 14 December 2024) was a Romanian actor, writer and politician. First appearing on stage in 1970, and on screen two years later, Diaconu pursued a lengthy career in both formats, working with a series of pro ...

), who come to meet their brother John. Traian speaks only Romanian and Romulus tries to get by with his dictionary. On the station, Grogham is received with a gunfight and Traian has occasion to fire his Turkish gun, booty from the

siege of Plevna The siege of Plevna or Pleven, was a major battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, fought by the joint army of the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Romania against the Ottoman Empire. After the Russian army crossed the Danube at ...

. Upon arrival to the saloon, Traian is invited to play

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

with Groghan, a former

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

officer still in grey uniform and another man. Traian manages to win many dollars and Bob (

Ahmed Gabbany Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

), the slave of the Confederate officer. The fun is interrupted by the arrival of the prophet. With very limited command of English, the Brads tell him that they are looking for John, whose face they see on

wanted poster A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite ...

s. They are judged by the innocuous drunkard Dolittle () who sentences them to

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

but the prophet takes them to his farm, where they toil as farm hands. The Brads and Bob escape and live in a hut under the

Romanian flag The national flag of Romania () is a tricolour featuring three equal vertical bands colored blue (at the flagpole), yellow and red, with a width to length ratio of 2:3. The current version was adopted in 1989 in the wake of the Romanian Revolu ...

where they fish and find gold nuggets. John tries to organize the miners against the prophet who sets the prices and takes their gold away to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, but the miners prefer to let things stay as they are. Later, Walthrope's men assault one man and his daughter that is rescued by John Brad. John and the girl finally reach the Brads' hut. They team together to stop the party that carries the miners' gold stolen by the Mormons. In the ensuing gunfight, the Brads win and successfully defend the miners' camp against the whole Walthrope band. Walthrope is captured and the Brads, Bob and the girl ride into the sunset.

Cast

– Traian Brad *

– Johnny Brad *

– Romulus Brad *

– Ezekiel Waltrope (The Prophet) * – Judge Dolittle *

– Marshal Joshua Waltrope * – Colonel J. Anderson * – Sarah Waltrope * – (a Lady in the train) *– Jeff Groghan * – June Ambler

External links

*
''The Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians''
at CineMagia *

List of Romanian films A list of the most notable films produced in the Cinema of Romania ordered by year of release. For an A-Z list of articles on Romanian films see :Romanian films. 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prophet, the Gold and the Transylvanians, The 1978 films 1970s Western (genre) comedy films 1970s Romanian-language films 1970s English-language films English-language Romanian films Fiction about polygamy The Transylvanians series Films directed by Dan Pița Films about Mormonism Iron County, Utah Films set in Utah Films about prophets 1978 comedy films Mormonism in fiction 1978 multilingual films Romanian multilingual films Foreign films set in the United States English-language Western (genre) comedy films