King of the Underworld (1939)

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

George Bricker (writer)
W.R. Burnett (story)

Release Date:

14 January 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Ruthless Killer vs. Lady Doctor ! It's red-blooded action all the way !

Plot:

Niles and Carol Nelson are married doctors who save one of ganglord Gurney's men. Gurney exploits them...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Hospital | Sheriff | G Man | Blindness

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Joe Gurney
Kay Francis	...	Dr. Carole Nelson
James Stephenson	...	Bill Stevens
John Eldredge	...	Dr. Niles Nelson
Jessie Busley	...	Aunt Josephine
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Dr. Sanders
Raymond Brown	...	Sheriff
Harland Tucker	...	Mr. Ames
Ralph Remley	...	Mr. Robert
Charley Foy	...	Slick
Murray Alper	...	Eddie
Joe Devlin	...	Porky
Elliott Sullivan	...	Mugsy
Alan Davis	...	Pete
John Harmon	...	Slats

Also Known As:

Unlawful (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1939) | USA:Approved (PCA #4405)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

Joe Gurney: [Explaining why he shot someone] It says in the book that Napoleon said a good general has got to know when to be just, severe, or mild.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Diese Drombuschs: Abschied im Zorn (#4.1)" (1990)

Soundtrack:

Jezebel

If it weren't for Bogart's performance, this film would barely merit a 4.

This film is a very limp remake of an earlier Warner Brothers film, DR. SOCRATES. While this original film was pretty good, the changes made in the script did NOT improve the story at all and there were so many logical errors that the film is pretty skip-able unless you are a huge fan of Humphrey Bogart and gangster films (like me).

For some odd reason, instead of the original story idea of a doctor being forced to do medical treatment for the mob and being thought by outsiders to be a member of the gang, this time it's been altered a bit. Instead, the man who chooses to be a mob doctor is soon killed and his wife (Kay Francis--who was totally innocent but also a doctor) is unfairly blamed for helping the gang. Although there is no evidence at all that she was involved, the licensing board threatens to take away her license unless she can prove her innocence! This just doesn't make any logical sense--and using a flawed and illogical situation as the basis for the film is a serious problem! Plus what idiots would suggest that she needs to prove her innocence and resort to risking her life!? Now the logical errors don't stop here. For example, when the same gang later comes to Francis and forces her to help them, she doesn't immediately run to the police or FBI but plans on proving her innocence all alone and at a very leisurely pace! Duh! It is only after working with them for some time does she consider telling the authorities and she comes up with a COMPLETELY FAR-FETCHED plan to capture the gang and hand them over to the law! She convinces Bogart that infection in his arm has spread to his eyes (which it had) and he would be blind unless he allowed her to give him a miracle eye medication. This is tough to believe, but plausible. But, when she also says she needs to give it to all the gang members AND they must all keep their eyes tightly shut during the process, this is just stupid. Of course, she gave them something that temporarily blinded them all and they were soon apprehended, but believing these guys all did what she told them was just pushing credibility into the toilet (though I must admit, it was kind of funny to watch).

Now apart from the bad script problems, the film was still pretty watchable for fans of old Warner Brothers gangster films. In particular, Bogart was funny as the dumb gang leader who fancied himself to be the next Napoleon. Plus, he thought he was A LOT smarter than he really was and he thought when the doctor called him "moronic" that it was a complement! Sure, realism was not the trademark of this performance, but it was enjoyable and made me laugh a few times. Also, the very end of the film had a cute ending (after the blindness bit) and was a good wrap-up to the movie. So from a comedic point of view, this was a pretty good drama!