"King of the Underworld" Review

 

by Daniel White

Willowy Kay Francis plays Dr. Carole Nelson in King Of The Underworld (1939), a Warner Brothers programmer that has an ending that is so ridiculous, it leaves one stupified at it's inanity. Humphrey Bogart is the King of the title, a vicious gangster named Joe Gurney with a literal Napoleon complex, (as his leading lady is an inch taller and in heels, it's no wonder!).

The movie was meant to be a star vehicle for Francis, but she had been feuding with the studio about the quality of her roles and was on her way out. This would be her penultimate film under her Warner Brothers contract. Conversely, Bogart was on the precipice of super stardom. After close to ten years in Hollywood, his career was about to take off like, well, like gang busters.

King Of The Underworld doesn't do anything for either actor, but it is fun in a goofy sort of way, After Dr. Nelson's husband (also a MD) gets involved with Gurney's gang and is killed in a shoot out, Dr. Carole is put on trial for her suspected involvement with the criminals. Though not convicted, with her reputation sullied, and her medical license in jeopardy, the good doctor decides to track Gurney down, and clear her name.

Hackneyed, inadvertently comical (Gurney's henchmen have names like Slick, Porky, Mugsy, and Slats!), and patently unbelievable, the movie best serves as a chance to look at our stars. Kay Francis had been Warner Brothers' biggest female money maker of the early to mid-thirties but poor vehicles that concentrated more on her wardrobe than plausible plotlines had torpedoed her career. That, and a young upstart by the name of Bette Davis signaled the end was near for the "Wavishing Kay Fwancis" (she had trouble pronouncing her R's).

Humphrey Bogart is vital and alive as the thug, Gurney. He is much, much better than the material; he's just waiting for the right role to catapult him into the stratosphere where he will make cinematic history. It would soon come, courtesy of George Raft, who turned down both High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon.

Dressed by the talented Orry-Kelly, Kay Francis looks chic, sexy, and sophisticated, and it's refreshing to see a woman playing a physician in a Hollywood film from the late thirties. However King Of The Underworld is a second-rate movie that betrays our statuesque star. It's a silly piece of hokum that becomes ludicrous, with our wily doctor disabling Gurney and his gang by administering eye drops that render them blind! Yes, I revealed the ending without posting a spoiler alert, but then everything about this clinker is a bit rancid.

With James Stephenson (the poor man's Leslie Howard) and Jessie Busley as Dr. Carole's fussy Aunt Josephine, King Of The Underworld was directed by Lewis Seiler.

Available on YouTube.