Le roi et quatre reines

Stranger Gable hears of a treasure of gold, hidden somewhere in a ghost town and guarded by an old woman and four widows. "Man's man" Gable throws all of his charms in the battle to find out where to find the treasure. As you see, the storyline is very very thin here. Most of the film is about Gable trying to charm the women, using every single trick in the book. There are a few minor surprises near the end, but this is really nothing special. Nice to catch on a rainy afternoon. 6/10

The King and Four Queens is directed by Raoul Walsh and written by Margaret Fits and Richard Alan Simmons. It stars Clark Gable, Jo Van Fleet, Eleanor Parker, Jean Willes, Barbara Nichols and Sara Shane. A CinemaScope/DeLuxe Color production, music is by Alex North and cinematography by Lucien Ballard.

Utterly delightful froth! Plot essentially finds Gable as a crafty drifter who learns about a group of women holed up in a ghost town who are sitting on a hoard of stolen gold. The four beauties, and their tough as old boots mother-in-law, are the wives and mother of outlaw brothers who stole the gold but who are now all presumed dead. Gable romances the four dames with the intention of locating the gold and clearing off first chance he gets, but that is far easier sounding than it is in principal!

It's all a set-up for a tale of sexual frustration and subversion of male dominance. That the Production Code renders much of the narrative to suggestion, choice scripting and fill in the gaps ourselves moments, is unfortunately a given, but it's all played with a glint in its eye and there's still a cheekiness, a sexiness, about the picture that strikes the right chords. Sometimes it's an uneasy blend of drama and comedy, but when it hits its straps, such as a wonderful dance sequence, it has the quality to land the smile firmly on your face. And this even if the final is somewhat an anti-climax.

Production wise it's a beauty. The cast are having a great old time of it, with the four younger ladies revelling in flirting about with the older and distinguished Gable. But it's Van Fleet who owns the movie, her tough old buzzard act is laced with maternal sadness and stoic strength and it underpins the whole story. Ballard's colour photography is gorgeous, with the location filming out of Calabasas, Snow Canyon and St. George proving to be magnificent backdrops, while North's musical accompaniments are pleasingly non obtrusive.

Neither uproariously funny or dramatically potent it's a film caught somewhere in the middle of both. Yet on this occasion it really doesn't matter, it's like a good old glass of bourbon, enjoyably warm while ingested but the buzz soon wears off at closing time. 7/10

Surely stars like CLARK GABLE and ELEANOR PARKER deserved better material at their home studio than this trifle about hidden gold and its effect on The King (Gable struts around like he's just left his throne for some slumming in a western shack), and four Queens (lovely looking ladies who seem out of place in this mock western).

It's a light-hearted romp for all concerned, except JO VAN FLEET who gives a dynamo performance as the tough old westerner who is hiding the loot from a bank robbery committed by her now deceased sons. When Gable comes sniffing around to discover the loot (which he endeavors to do by charming the four widows into revealing where the gold is hidden), it sets up a series of mildly suspenseful scenes where we wonder how the whole thing is going to end.

Since it's all played in rather tongue-in-cheek style with Gable handling the ladies with his usual masculine charm, it makes a rather faint impression when the tale ends without much of a bang and maybe one or two revelations.

Credit has to go to Gable and his co-star ELEANOR PARKER, both of whom share some effective moments in a rather weak tale that comes off as mildly disappointing as they ride off into the sunset together.

Clark Gable dreamed up some sweet con game to do four lovely widows and their mother-in-law out of some stolen loot that their late husbands an outlaw brother gang have robbed.

One McDade brother is still alive, but we're not sure which one. And through force of personality their mother-in-law is keeping them in a ghost town hide out until he returns for what's his. If stolen loot can be considered his.

Gable arrives in town and woos all the women who don't need much encouragement. No male companionship for seven years, got to be tough on a gal. The women are Eleanor Parker, Jean Willes, Sara Shane, and Barbara Nichols.

The King and Four Queens though Clark Gable is billed above the title, this picture really belongs to Jo Van Fleet. 1956 was a good year for her, Jo also turned in an outstanding performance as Doc Holiday's gal pal Kate Fisher in Gunfight at the OK Corral. Her's is the dominant performance of the film. It has to be or the idea that these women wouldn't have just overpowered her and forced Van Fleet to tell where the loot is becomes ludicrous.

Lots of sexual innuendo in this film, very much a precursor to the adult TV westerns that were to come soon. One of the more interesting of Clark Gable's post World War II films.

Here the King out-blazes the desert sin in one of the hottest westerns ever made . Seducer adventurer , ex-con and fast-on-the-draw gunman called Dan Kehoe : Clark Gable arrives in a small town saloon , there he meets Bartender (Jay C. Flippen) of Rosebud Saloon in Touchstone and hears stories of the four villains McDade Brothers . Three of the career outlaws were murdered on their last heist while one escaped , being his identity unknown. Hearing that the gold is buried at Wagon Mount, Kehoe ignores dangerous warnings and ingratiates himself with an old woman : Jo Van Fleet with a fake tale about meeting her surviving son in a prison cell . Meantime , 4 tempting widows have stayed with their cantankerous mother-in-law for the past two years , and Dan seduce them : Oralie cried , Birdie teased , Ruby fought , Sabina waited for him with a smile . Each widow : Sabina McDade : Eleanor Parker , Ruby McDade : Jean Willes , Birdie McDade : Barbara Nichols , Oralie : Sara Shane hoping that her husband is the surviving son and sole claimant to the money : $50,000 cache of stolen gold that is hidden somewhere on the family ranch .The King plays the hottest game in the West . . . with four beguiling Queens!





Hilarious Western comedy in which smooth-talking Clark Gable playing an ex-con who is a crack-shot shows his particular talent , acting in his stereotyped role , as he uses his charm on four ladies and he also dances wonderfully with them . This is a battle of sexes and six-guns ; it includes humor , songs , sprawling , almost primitive action teeming across the screen . The plot is plain and simple , a seductive and opportunistic con man named Dan ingratiates himself with the cantankerous mummy of four outlaws and he seduces 4 beautiful widows in order to find their hidden gold . A rip-roaring Western/comedy /romance in which the conventions of the Wild West are turned upside down . This funny picture has comedy , diverting situations and concentrating on humor along with nice inventive bits , skilfully combining the entertainment with the amusement . Clark Gable runs away with every cowboy cliché and even arranges to wind up with the girl . Important appearance by Hollywood veteran Clark Cable gives a sympathetic acting as the opportunistic con man, on the run when meets 4 beautiful as well as captivating woman. Jo Van Fleet provides a sensational performance as the feisty mother, who dislikes visitors , but she was actually 14 years younger than Gable ; furthermore she guards her daughter-in-law's chastity as tightly as the hidden gold ; finally , he realizes that with Kehoe, she has let the fox into the henhouse. And the four gorgeous man-hungry McDade widows marvelously played by the attractive Eleanor Parker , the busty as well sultry Barbara Nichols , Sara Shane ,and sassy , sweetie Jean Willes . In addition , some notorioues secondaries in brief interventions as Roy Roberts , Arthur Shields , Chuck Robertson and Jay C. Flippen .



The motion picture produced by Clark Gable himself , he formed a production company with his Tall Men (1955) co-star Jane Russell and her husband Robert Waterfield in order to produce thiis movie , being well directed by Raoul Walsh by relinquishing creative control , though being an inferior work . From his starts in the silent cinema Walsh achieved successful films until the 50s and forward , early 60s , when he was less dominant , but is still stayed lots of lusty adventure , stories of comradeship and friendship , and Raoul makes the most of plentiful action scenes . Walsh was an expert director of all kind genres but with penchant in Western as ¨Colorado territory¨this interesting Western and action film makes it of the finest of Raoul Walsh genre entries , following other essencila titles as ¨They died with their boots on¨, ¨Along the great divide¨, ¨Saskatchewan¨, ¨King and four queens¨ , ¨The sheriff of fractured jaw¨, ¨A distant trumpet¨ ; Adventure as ¨Thief of Bagdad¨, ¨Captain Horatio Hornblower¨, ¨World in his hands¨, ¨Blackbeard the pirate¨ , ¨Sea devils¨ ; Warlike as ¨Objetive Burma¨ , ¨Northern pursuit¨, ¨Marines let's go¨ ; and Noir film as ¨White heat¨, ¨High Sierra¨, ¨They drive by night¨, ¨The roaring twenties¨ and his last one : ¨The sheriff of fractured jaw¨ . Rating : 5,5/10 ; fairly straightforward movie and passable Western comedy . This average Western film makes it of the lesser interesting of Raoul Walsh genre entries. Rating : Fairly straightforward movie and average .