Hommes sans loi

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.

Husband-and-wife doctor team Carole and Niles Nelson are doing modestly well in their careers, but Niles has a gambling problem. His luck changes when he (unknowingly) saves the life of a gangster from Joe Gurney's mob and gets a big bonus from the gangleader himself. Loving his change of fortune (and snazzy new apartment), Niles continues to receive payoffs for patching up other injured members of the gang. Unfortunately, his shady deals come to light in a police raid, which hangs a shadow over his wife's career as well.

At this point the plot comes into focus, as Carole Nelson has to rescue her career before her license is suspended. This involves bringing the gang to justice more or less single- handedly.

This is not a hard-edged gangster picture, but a plot that might have been comfortable on a show like MATLOCK or MURDER SHE WROTE. There is some tension, but the mood is kept light by Bogart's tongue-in-cheek performance of a stupid gangster who imagines himself as the "Napoleon of Crime." His other gang members also function more as stooges than hoodlums. And there's some snappy dialog between Bogart and Francis, especially when she's treating his injuries at his hideout. Of course, as in all gangster flicks, there's a big shootout ending, but with a humorous twist. This is a good short film showing Bogart on his rise to stardom.

In an effort to elevate Humphrey Bogart's star and get rid of Kay Francis, Warners remade Dr. Socrates, giving the good doctor a sex change and making him Kay Francis instead. However, Bogart gets top billing and Francis' role was reduced. It didn't work; Francis kept plodding along until the end of her contract. Also, I still felt she came across as the star in this.

Francis plays a doctor whose husband starts picking up easy money repairing the wounds of gangsters and not reporting on their illegal activities. Eventually, he is killed in a raid, and the police are convinced that Francis was in on it with her husband. Unless she can prove her innocence, she's going to lose her medical license. When she gets a lead on the gang's whereabouts, she sets up shop in the same town.

It's really hard to believe this movie came out in 1939 - it has the look and feel of something done about five years earlier. Bogart is good as a cocky and violent criminal who trusts no one and is too fast with a gun. Stardom is just ahead for the actor, as well as lots less of films like this.

Francis was past the magic age of 30 by this time, and her big star, big film days were behind her. She would soon fall to second leads and eventually move over to Monogram for several films, and, after a couple of early TV appearances, would retire. Everything about Francis embodies the strong '30s career woman, and it's hard to picture her out of the era. She does a great job in this as a determined, classy woman who has to use her wits to get out of a bad situation. An eminently watchable actress.

Worth seeing for Francis and Bogart just before his great career takes off.

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.

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 ****)