Kings
Cats: Drama|There are performances that will make you say “oh that is why he (or she) works”.� I call these justification for a career performances.� Kings Row has a few of these career justifiers, in fact more than the usual picture it has some people’s best work.� It was a tremendous risk by Warner Brothers to make such a picture from such a book that they should be commended.�
The film was directed by Sam Wood.� Mr. Wood was an accomplished but in my opinion an unremarkable director.� Lets just say that he was no Hawks, Ford, Capra, Welles or Minnelli.� He made quite a few good pictures but that was partly due to what I call happy accidents of casting and script writing.� Mr. Wood did not get were he got because he was a bad director but I do feel that there was a certain amount of factory like workmanship from him.� He was also a notorious anti-Semite.� When he was working at MGM in the mid 1930’s, Irving Thalberg assigned him to direct A Night At The Opera � starring the Marx brothers.� Legend has it that he had Harpo do 20 takes of the scene when he escapes for the brig on the ship by climbing out on a rope and being dunked in the water several times.� Tensions grew further when Thalberg assigned Mr. Wood to the brothers next feature A Day At The Races. � The brothers, known for their antics on set were one day particularly out of control.� Mr. Wood screamed “ I cannot make actors out of these” to which Groucho replied “you can’t make a director out of wood either”.� Kings Row, however, is his career justifier.�
I have had many arguments over Ronald Reagan and his work in this picture.� Most people feel that Ronald Reagan had nothing to offer acting wise.� We all thank god that he did not get the role of Rick in Casablanca. He was a terrible choice for President of the
Erich Wolfgang Korngold had done 20 or so scores for pictures at Warner Brothers over the years. � He did such notable scores such as Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk and The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex (all starring Errol Flynn).� None of those scores are as dramatic and beautiful as his score for Kings Row.� �
King’s Row follows the lives of 4 kids growing up in an idyllic small American town in the late nineteenth century that of course has a dark underside (don’t they all).� Parris Mitchell (Bob Cummings) is the nicest orphaned upper middle class boy being raised by his aunt (Maria Ouspenskaya) that you ever could meet.� He is dictionary polite.� His best friend is Drake and he attempts to have a friendly relationship with Cassandra (Cassie) Tower, daughter of the mysterious Dr. Alexander Tower.� When another girl deliberately has her birthday party on the same day as Cassie’s, Parris gallantly attends Cassie’s.� When Cassie runs off in despair that no one else came to her elaborate party Parris goes to say goodbye to Cassie’s mother who is ensconced in a bedroom upstairs where she receives no visitors.� He is abruptly stopped by Dr. Tower but is complemented on his politeness.� Cassie and Parris have a friendship that we all know will bloom into young love.� Drake, a Victorian era slacker has become friendly with Randy Monaghan, a friend of his and Parris’ from school but literally a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.�
Time passes and now the kids are grown up.� Cassie and Parris have become closer, Drake has become a Victorian era playboy and when the local sadistic doctor Dr. Henry Gordon (Charles Coburn) carelessly leaves a syringe and a bottle of morphine around, Parris puts 2 and 2 together and figures out that his beloved aunt is dying of cancer.� At the urging and help of Dr. Tower Parris pursues a medical career in the newly emerging field of psychiatry.� Cassie has also begun to act more and more, how shall I say this, crazy.� On the eve of his departure to study with Dr, Freud in
Drake has become reacquainted with Randy who has grown up quite nicely from the tomboyish kid to being Ann Sheridan.� When Drake loses his fortune to a thieving bank manager he has to find a job for the first time. � Cassie’s family of railroad men take him in as one of their own.� Of course he falls for Randy.�
I am not going to go into the whole plot of this picture.� Rest assured it is worth the running time.� There are things that happen in the movie that are a bit vague but things such as incest, sadistic doctors (more than what the movie could allow) and gay characters were not going to make it into a Warner Brothers picture in 1942.� The gay character was cut and anything in the script that is vague to us now was known back then due to the notoriety of the book on which the picture is based.�
Before I end this post I must mention the gorgeous cinematography of James Wong Howe.� Mr. Howe whose career stretched from the silent era through the mid 1970’s had such an influence over the style and look of the pictures at Warner Brothers.� One look at his list of credits will affirm this.
This masterful slice of dark side of
