King of the Underworld *** (1939, Humphrey Bogart, Kay Francis, James Stephenson) – Classic Movie Review 5,067

‘EXCITEMENT…WITH THE SILENCERS OFF!’ Director Lewis Seiler’s 1939 Warner Bros thriller film stars Humphrey Bogart and Kay Francis and is based on the story Dr Socrates by W R Burnett.

Francis stars as Dr Carol Nelson, the hospital doctor seeking revenge on hoods after seeing her gambler husband Dr Niles Nelson (John Eldredge) murdered while working for mobsters as their surgeon.

Despite a solid turn from movie king Bogart as gangster Joe Gurney, who has killed Eldredge, mistakenly believing he ratted on him to the cops, this revision of Dr Socrates (1935), with an intriguing role swap as Francis takes over Paul Muni’s part, never fully takes off. Seiler’s direction is not nearly as adroit and exciting as the yarn needs.

But the film is still interesting vintage entertainment with a good underworld atmosphere and some exciting scenes. The clichés of a script (George Bricker and Vincent Sherman) riddled with unspeakable dialogue are balanced out by the good yarn, fast pace and the very short running time of 70 minutes.

Warner Bros studio jitters brought some post-production retakes, deleted sequences removing some roles, the short running time, and rising star Bogart’s promotion over Francis as the film’s top-billed star. Forgotten star Francis does not even appear on the poster, marking the decline in her career, overtaken by Bette Davis as ‘Queen of Warner Bros’.

Kay Francis (1905–1968).

Also in the cast are James Stephenson, Jessie Busley, Arthur Aylesworth, Raymond Brown, Harland Tucker, Murray Alper, Charles Foy, Ralph Remley, Joe Devlin, Elliott Sullivan, Alan Davis, John Harmon, John Ridgley, Richard Bond, Pierre Watkin, Charles Trowbridge, Edwin Stanley, Sidney Bracey, Jack Mower, Nat Carr, Clem Bevans, Edgar Dearing, William Gould, Stuart Holmes, Richard Quine, Paul Panzer, Janet Shaw, Tom Wilson, Lottie Williams, Doc Stone, Charles Sullivan, Al Lloyd, and Jimmy O’Gatty.

King of the Underworld is shot in black and white by Sidney Hickox, produced by Bryan Foy, scored by Heinz Roemheld and Leo F Forbstein, and designed by Charles Novi.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5,067

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