|
| • Advanced Search • Help |
Kings Row | Year: 1942 Directed: - Sam Wood Actors/Actresses: - Ann Sheridan - Robert Cummings - Ronald Reagan A grim soap opera with Ronald Reagan's finest performance "King's Row" is the most distinguished film of Ronald Reagan's actor career, for which he drew his best reviews. However, by the time it was released in 1942, Reagan was in the Army and his film career received a fateful interruption that would eventually lead to his shifting to a political career. I remember that when Breshnev was preparing to meet with President Reagan the Soviet leader screened several of Reagan's films, and "King's Row" was the one that impressed him. If you have already seen this film, directed by Sam Wood, you know why. The film focuses on five childhood friends who grow up to complicated lives. Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) has become a medical student, studying privately with Dr. Alexander Tower (Claude Rains), whose daughter Cassandra (Betty Field) is a sheltered neurotic. Louise Gordon (Nancy Coleman) has been raised by harsh parents who warn here away from playboy Drake McHugh (Reagan), who is living off an inheritance. Drake ends up falling for Randy Monoghan (Ann Sheridan), the former tomboy who has grown up in to a most practical working class girl. Things then get very dark. First, when Dr. Tower discovers Cassandra is pregnant he kills her and himself. Then, after losing his fortune and taking a job at the railroad yard, Drake is injured and Dr. Gordon (Charles Coburn) decides to amputate the young man's legs as a punishment for his former hedonism. This is what leads to Reagan's unforgettable scene when he wakes up and discovers what has been done to him. The scene could have become ludicrous, but Reagan pulls it off and it is clearly his finest moment as an actor. "King's Row" is based on the novel by Henry Bellamann, which is a massive story of sadism and thwarted love in what was clearly the "Payton Place" of its day, set in a quiet Midwestern town at the turn of the (last) century. A lot of the novel's elements, such as incest, homosexuality and euthanasia were never going to make it into the film forcing screenwriter Casey Robinson to salvage what he could (e.g., turning the incest between Dr. Tower and his daughter Cassandra into a question of insanity). Robinson also gave the movie a "happier" ending (originally, Drake McHugh dies of cancer after his legs are unnecessarily amputated). Even more radical was the casting, since few in Hollywood were comfortable with Sheridan, Cummings and Reagan having the three lead roles. However, all of them perform admirably, as does Field and the supporting cast of veteran character actors. Reagan would go on to entitle his autobiography "Where's the Rest of Me?" after the famous line he screams when he awakens to discover his legs are gone. Great adaptation of a controversial book "Kings Row" was the "Peyton Place" of the 1940's, and after a few attempts at a script, Warners finally got the censors to approve one. Although it does leave out the controversial elements of the book, it still manages to get the main story across--that of Parris (Robert Cummings), Drake (Ronald Reagan), and Randy (Ann Sheridan), from childhood to adulthood, with lots of twists and turns inbetween. Sheridan is the one who really shines in this film. Given the chance to prove that she was more than just a second lead or wise-cracking girlfriend, Sheridan shows that she can handle drama, especially in the scenes with Reagan (who also is above his usual workman-like performances) after he has his accident and loses his legs. Maria Ouspenskaya, best know as the gypsy in "The Wolf Man," shows that she was a very underrated character actress in her brilliant performance as Parris' grandmother, a queenly and noble woman who instills all of the right values in her grandson. Korngold's score is superb (a precursor of John Williams' score for "Star Wars"), and if you can find a copy of it on CD, I suggest a listen to that as well. It gives the film a real boost, and is one of Korngold's best. In all, one of the best dramas of the 1940's, and one of Warner Bros. best films ever. "King" Size Entertainment I am not a fan of Ronald Reagan on any level, but the one movie I've always heard talk about when discussing Reagan as an actor has been "Kings Row" the movie filmbuffs reserve as one of Reagan's best films. I saw this movie mainly for two reasons. The first being, it's one of my grandmother's favorite movies, the other, the death of the former President. "Kings Row" is quite an accomplised film from director Sam Wood, a man who has directed serval American classics that would take up too much space if I recited them all here, but they include "Goodbye Mr. Chips", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "The Pride of the Yankees", and two Marx Brothers comedies "A Night at the Opera", and "A Day at the Races". "Kings Row" directly and indirectly takes on what must have been a lot of taboo subjects. One of the main ones being fornication. The movie starts off with a shot of a sign that reads; "Kings Row, a great pace to raise your children". From that we are suppose to suspect this is a friendly small town, that to some would seem being. Everybody knows each other and spreads the town's gossip and the people give excited waiting for the local events, but as the film goes on we find out there is much going on behind everyone's back.And the town is not as innocent as it seems. The film's main characters are Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) and Drake McHugh (Reagan) who have remained friends since childhood. Now that both are older they are soon starting to discover the secrets that lie beneath the town and some of its citizens. The movie has a terrific cast including Claude Rains as Dr. Tower, a man who is trying to help Parris become a doctor, he also happens to be the father of Cassie (Betty Field), the love of Parris' life. Then there Dr. Henry Gordon (Charles Coburn) who is known to give usual operations and is the father of Louis (Nany Coleman), the girl Drake plans to marry. And there's Ann Sheridan as Randy Monaghan. Just about everyone in the film does a good job acting wise, but I think it's Cummings' movie all the way, not Reagan. But either way you look at it you have to admit "Kings Row" is an interesting film that holds your interest. Bottom-line: Well made dramatic suspense film notably known as one of Ronald Reagan's best films, but Robert Cummings gives one of his best performances. Well worth seeing. Buy Kings Row at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Kings Row Search with the Priority Search Engine on Kings Row This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
|
