Kings Row
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Movie Reviews of Kings Row
Movie Review: Unlisted Special Features
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, not so much unlisted as incorretly described. The box and the DVD menu list a theatrical trailer for the film. In fact, there are 5 different, short, teaser trailers for the film featuring the film's 5 leading actors! So when you select "Theatrical Trailer" on the disc, all five play in sequence.Movie Review: Classic Drama
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband saw this movie before I did and was so intrigued by it that I couldn't pass it up. Ronald Reagan at his best. This isn't a typical black & white that puts you to sleep. You'll be on the edge of your seat wanting to know what happens next until the very end.Movie Review: My Favorite Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Anyone that says that Ronald Reagan couldn't act needs to see this movie. It is a sweeping story of friendship, loyalty and hope set in a small town at the turn of the century. Don't think that means that it is sappy, a small town has it secrets and bad times too.Movie Review: Great DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great DVD that most of the older generation would appreciate more than the younger generation.Movie Review: Excellent film, depressing subject matter
Summary: 4 Stars
"Kings Row" is a 1942 melodrama that is permeated by the psychoanalytic culture that had taken over Hollywood and can be seen in so many 1940s films (e.g., "Spellbound", "The Snake Pit", "Home of the Brave", "Possessed", "Conflict")
The film stars Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, and Betty Field with Claude Rains, Charles Coburn, and Ann Sheridan. A great supporting cast includes Dame Judith Anderson and Maria Ouspenskaya.
We think of Robert Cummings as a comedian, in such films as "The Devil and Miss Jones" (1941), "The Bride Wore Boots" (1946), and "My Geisha" (1962) and, of course, TVs "The Bob Cummings Show" (1955-9). But Cummings was equally capable of dramatic roles as he demonstrated in films like "Saboteur" (1942) and "Dial M For Murder" (1954) and he even won an Emmy for his performance in "Twelve Angry Men" (1955). Cummings gives an excellent performance here as the young medical student torn between music and medicine and his childhood love.
Betty Field, as the neurotic incest victim, steals this film as she did with "Shepherd of the Hills" (1941). Field is best remembered for her body of work on Broadway, but she made more than a dozen films including Mae in "Of Mice and Men" (1939), and Nellie in "Peyton Place" (1957).
Charles Coburn plays a sadistic, religiously fanatic physician. He appeared in more than 50 films, from 1933 through 1962. He was nominated for an Oscar 3 times and won once ("The More the Merrier" in 1943). I remember him best as "Piggy" in "Gentlemen Prefer Blonds" (1953). His role as a villain is one of the rare times that Coburn played the heavy. His does it well, especially in one of his final scenes with his daughter, played by Nancy Coleman.
Ann Sheridan was one of the biggest box office stars of the late 30s and 40s and a top pinup girl in WW 2 when she was called "The Oomph Girl". She appeared in such box office hits as "Angels with Dirty Faces" (1938), "They Made me a Criminal" (1939), "Dodge City" (1939) and "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1942). Known for her sex appeal, there is a solid actress underneath and she shows it here, although she doesn't appear until midway through the film.
Harry Davenport has a brief role as a town elder. Between 1914 and 1950 he appeared in more than 150 films, none more memorable that his role as the gracious Colonel Meade in "GWTW" (1939). He was equally proficient as King Louis in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1939) and the old man in "The Ox Bow Incident" (1943). He was the brother-in-law of Lionel Barrymore and in several scenes he appears to be channeling Lionel.
Judith Anderson was nominated for an Oscar for her role in "Rebecca" (1940) and 8 times for an Emmy, winning twice ("MacBeth" in 1961 and "MacBeth" in 1951). In 1960 she was awarded the title "Dame" by Britain's Queen, and is usually called Dame Judith Anderson. Anderson made only a dozen films as she specialized in theatre. Anderson is completely wasted in this film, with few appearances and few lines.
Maria Ouspenskaya was twice nominated for an Oscar ("Dodsworth" in 1936 and "Love Affair" in 1939) but I remember her best as the Gypsy woman in "The Wolfman" (1941) and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" (1943). She plays Cummings' grandmother and puts in her usual touching performance. There is some particularly good camera work surrounding her death. FWIW - in the original novel, her grandson performs a mercy killing.
Sam Wood directs. Wood began his career as an assistant to Cecil B DeMille and started directing films in 1920. He hit his stride in the mid 30s with "A Night at the Opera" (1935), "A Day at the Races" (1937), and "Goodbye Mr. Chips" (1939) for which he received his first of 3 Oscar nominations. He got his second nomination for this film. Among the 80 films he directed "Pride of the Yankees" (1942) and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1943) stand out.
The cinematography is by James Wong Howe, one of Hollywood's best cameramen. Howe's characteristic use of deep focus and dramatic lighting are well in evidence. He also uses many unusual angles which is not as characteristic of his style, but which he uses effectively. Howe was nominated for an Oscar 10 times, including for this film, and won twice ("Hud" and "The Rose Tatoo"), making him one of the most acknowledged cinematographers in film history.
The music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold is haunting. It's so powerful it's almost a central character. Korngold was nominated 2 times for an Oscar ("Sea Hawk" and "Elizabeth and Essex"), and won once ("Robin Hood"). He composed nearly 20 films, many of them with Errol Flynn
It's impossible to view "Kings Row" without reflecting on Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons". Both dealt with the wealthy class in small towns around the turn of the 20th century and both chronicle the passing of an era. Ambersons is clearly the superior picture, although Kings Row has its moments. Interestingly enough both films have a pretty pessimistic view of the future, even if Kings Row ends with an upbeat scene.
As a film, it's hard to endure 2+ hours of incest, insanity, mutilation, larceny, cancer, and more insanity without getting depressed. Film critic Bosley Crowther called it "gloomy". It's a testament to the performance of the main characters that we're able to watch without running for the doors (changing the channel). The film did receive 3 Oscar nominations (Cinematography, Director, Picture).
It's certainly worth watching as a film even if the subject matter is a bit daunting.