La clé sous la porte

This is a very entertaining film with two great actors, Clark Gable, (Steve Fisk) and Loretta Young,(Clarissa Standish) who performed like magic together in this film. These two actors made this film a great success with lots of laughs, romance and drama. In real life, Clark Gable and Loretta Young had a baby and kept it a secret until many years later. This warm feeling between these two actors made this film even more enjoyable. Frank Morgan, (Fire Chief Duggan) gave a great supporting role and lots of comic fun to this film along with Marilyn Maxwell, (Sheila) who played a sexy role as a platinum blonde who did a balloon dance with the balloons all being exploded. Raymond Burr, (Les Taggart) plays a rough and tough longshoreman who gets into a big fight with Steve Fisk. There is nice old scenes from San Francisco and this is truly a great film classic from 1950.

In this romantic comedy from MGM and director George Sidney, there's a mayors convention in San Francisco, and small town Maine mayor Clarissa Standish (Loretta Young) encounters Puget City mayor Steve Fisk (Clark Gable). Steve is a rough-and-tumble ex-dockworker with a boisterous attitude, while Clarissa is a prim and proper Ivy League graduate and the niece of a famous judge (Lewis Stone). Naturally the two opposites attract, but not before getting into all sorts of trouble, some which will be exploited by Steve's political opponent Taggart (Raymond Burr).

I enjoyed bits of this comedy that often flirts with outrageousness. The assemblage of Gable, Young, Lewis Stone, Frank Morgan, and James Gleason may of seemed like a lineup from a 1930's film. This was Frank Morgan's final film, as he died even before its release, and Lewis Stone didn't look too far away from the end, himself. But everyone puts on their game face and tries to seem like they're having fun, even with the uncomfortable pairing of Gable and Young, given their history that's now public knowledge. I must say that I never expected to see a fistfight between Gable and Raymond Burr. Rhett Butler trading uppercuts with Perry Mason is the stuff of odd dreams.

Ordinary comedy of note more for its cast than any special quality the film itself possesses. Gable and Loretta Young are reunited for the only time after their torrid affair on the set of Call of the Wild resulted in a secret child who was one of Hollywood's most notorious open secrets. This was also Frank Morgan's final completed film, he started work on the disastrous Judy Garland version of Annie Get Your Gun but suffered a heart attack and passed away before the film was restarted with Betty Hutton. As for this picture's story its a bunch of silly nonsense of misunderstandings but the cast give it a game reading and Gable and Young have a good on screen rapport.

Very good movie.Predictable at times, but many interesting characters and scenes. Very well directed and the filming is great. The outdoor shots are a real period piece of that era.The acting is very good,as well as the dialog in the screen play.You never really lose interest with the constant change over in characters. Raymond Burr is excellent as the 'bad guy' of the film. Some very good comedic moments with smart dialog. You really have to listen as it comes smartly and rapid fire at times.Even the predictable tension building scenario's are well done and believable.Great chemistry between Clarke Gable and Lorreta Young.I would watch it again. Really enjoyed this one...............................ML

Key to the City (1950)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Coming fifteen years after teaming up for THE CALL OF THE WILD, Clark Gable and Loretta Young finally made another film together even though both had remained at MGM over the course of time. Their love child from the making of that 1935 film might have had something to do with this but in this film they play Mayors who meet at a convention in San Francisco. At first, naturally, they can't stand one another but soon they begin to fall in love even though Gable is facing some heat in his political job. When you know the troubled history that Gable and Young went through it's somewhat amazing that MGM would force them into this film but what's even more amazing is that they turn in such fine performances and the charm that's on display here is the same that was seen in that 1935 film (which I highly recommend). That's certainly the sign of great actors but it's a shame that the studio, knowing the trouble, wouldn't deliver a better screenplay. This is certainly another example of great actors having to work their tails off to make material seem a lot better than it actually is. This certainly isn't a bad movie because it does have several good moments but with these two stars you'll be hoping there was more here. What does work is naturally Gable and Young, both extremely charming and making the film fun to watch. The two work perfectly well together as both make you believe their characters and makes you believe everything they do. The supporting cast is also quite good with Raymond Burr as Gable's political rival, Frank Morgan (in his final film; he died before this was released) sweet as the fire chief and Lewis Stone. The screenplay makes a few bad mistakes including the silly political stuff that ends with a pretty over the top sequence inside of Gable's office at the end. This political stuff also keeps Gable and Young away from one another, which is another mistake as it's them carrying the film. Fans of the two stars will certainly want to check this out but others will find much better films from the two.