King of the Underworld

The hurried approach that Lewis Seiler takes with King of the Underworld establishes a deeper plot, while still maintaining an efficient run-time. One of the clearest examples of this is the transition between poverty and wealth for the married medical couple. The audience is instantly transported from a shanty medical office to a luxurious suite at the city's most prestigious inn. This development is critical to understanding the position the doctors have been thrown into. The story suggests from the intro that these two people are generally happy with providing medical practice to those who are less fortunate. By abruptly cutting from this scenario to the morally conflicting occupation (the mob's personal physician), the viewer is called upon to experience this sudden turn of events. The Nelsons (Kay Francis and John Eldredge) are forcibly employed by Gurney (Bogart) without objections. This stylized notion of organized crime being too influential and powerful to overcome has become a standard component in every gangster picture. The one aspect of this film that raised some questions for me, ironically dealt with the pacing of the story, and that rate at which it was told. I think that character development and social identity can suffer when certain aspects of a story are not fully examined. This paradox happens to be a result of personal taste, in that I think that the movie going experience can be enhanced through rigorous character development. However, for the purposes of this film, I must admit that the rapid action contributes more dynamic flare to the impact of the film.

**1/2 (of ****)

Humphrey Bogart was tiring of playing gangsters in film after film for "Warner Bros." and sought any kind of variation in such vehicles. In "King of the Underworld," his character has a Napoleon fixation and has aspirations to become just like him. The running time helps to keep this minor movie at a reasonable pace. Kay Francis was once a fairly big star but by 1939, her popularity had gone into decline. She is hardly remembered these days but she was a very capable performer. In this movie, she plays a doctor who has no choice but to leave her city practice and set up shop in the countryside. Bogart isn't quite his usual evil, sneering self and his scenes with Francis are quite good. The film doesn't rise above being ordinary but it isn't a terrible film by any means.

Decent remake of Dr. Socrates changes a few things, including the gender of the doctor. In the original it was the great Paul Muni. Here, it's Kay Francis. The real star of this film, however, is Humphrey Bogart. This was made during the period when Warner Bros. still had Bogie playing villainous gangster characters. This is one of the better movies that are considered "lesser" Bogart pictures. He's great fun in the role and steals every scene he's in. The plot is about a falsely-maligned female doctor (Francis) who sets out to prove her innocence by infiltrating Bogart's gang. There's a few holes in the plot but it's a short, smoothly-paced WB gangster flick so you don't really care that much. Just sit back and enjoy some good old fashioned popcorn entertainment.

Once again, through no fault of her own, Kay Francis is in trouble and must get out of it through brains and determination. This time it's Bogey, doing a minor variation on Duke Mantee from PETRIFIED FOREST. As in most of Kay's vehicles from this period -- Warner's was pushing Bette Davis as their leading female star at this point -- everyone works hard and gives a performance that makes this hokey weeper watchable.

Humphrey Bogart stars in the Warner Bros. Crime melodrama from 1939. A husband & wife doctor team barely make do due the hubby's gambling habits. One night he's approached by one of Bogart's minions to patch up one of his wounded which he does gaining Bogart's favor which helps to elevate the doctors' status as they open up a private office & start living the good life. When the wife, played by Kay Francis, realizes where their good fortune is coming from, she admonishes her hubby, played by John Eldredge, only for him to go off to cater to another of Bogart's fallen which prompts Francis to follow him only to be corralled by a police sting where her hubby buys it. Francis is charged but is given a couple of weeks to prove her innocence (what?) so she follows Bogart's crew out to the sticks hoping the moment will come when he'll need her talents. Meanwhile Bogart meets up w/a out of work Brit novelist , played by James Stephenson, who he takes a fancy to (they share a love of Napoleon) so much so he contracts him to write his biography but when he gets hurt (Bogart's crew robs a bank & the author is shot innocently in the background), Francis volunteers her services to patch him up (the town mistake him as being a member of Bogart's crew) & even extends a hand by giving him some work at the home she shares w/her aunt. When Bogart himself gets nicked in the arm by a gunshot, Francis is only too happy to help out since she's going to use her new friendship w/him to turn him & his gang over to the authorities. Pretty standard fare to be sure but then the ending where Francis convinces Bogart his gunshot wound has infected his eyes (prompting her to bring a solution to indeed blind him temporarily under the guise of some administered medicine) which becomes a nail biting exercise as she gives the tainted eyedrop doses to Bogart & his bunch, even Stephenson (to facilitate an escape), blinding them all while the approaching police hope to catch them. Feeling like a leftover gag from an Our Gang serial, helps put this potboiler over the top by sheer chutzpah if not pragmatic sense.