The King and Four Queens (1956)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Margaret Fitts (screenplay)
Margaret Fitts (story)

Release Date:

21 December 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Mystery | Western

Tagline:

The King plays the hottest game in the West . . . with four Queens!

Plot:

Smooth cowboy Dan Kehoe arrives at a ranch run by an old widow and her four daughters-in-law. He's been...

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Widow | Beautiful Woman | Fugitive | Matriarch

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Dan Kehoe
Eleanor Parker	...	Sabina McDade
Jean Willes	...	Ruby McDade
Barbara Nichols	...	Birdie McDade
Sara Shane	...	Oralie McDade
Roy Roberts	...	Sheriff Tom Larrabee
Arthur Shields	...	Padre
Jay C. Flippen	...	Bartender of Rosebud Saloon in Touchstone
Jo Van Fleet	...	Ma McDade

Runtime:

86 min | Portugal:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-8

Filming Locations:

Juarez Square, Warner Ranch, Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Russ-Field Productions

Trivia:

Clark Gable formed a production company with his The Tall Men (1955) co-star Jane Russell and her husband Bob Waterfield in order to produce this film. However, the stress of producing took such a toll on the 55-year-old Gable's already guarded health that he never produced another movie.

King & 4 Queens- Royal Flop *

Extremely disappointing western starring Clark Gable, Eleanor Parker and Jo Van Fleet. Despite the great cast, weak writing did this film in.

Finding out that an old woman is staying with her 4 daughters-in-law in a house, and hiding gold-Gable decides to pay the ladies a visit. Seems that the old woman's four sons robbed a bank and three of them got blown up in the process. They're waiting for the return of the surviving son. The wait can be compared to Come Back, Little Sheba.

The film is ridiculous at best. As the old lady, Jo Van Fleet is a pistol-packing grandma type. She has somewhat of a heart but is as nasty as can be while she quotes from the bible. Van Fleet, who made a career of playing much older women, looks like she just came out of playing Katie Roth in the later scenes of the memorable "I'll Cry Tomorrow."

No doubt about it, Gable was aging by 1956. Barbara Nicholls has that sing-song voice which is so inappropriate here. She talks like she is still in a comedy sketch of Wayne and Schuster on the old Ed Sullivan television series.

The one shining point here is Eleanor Parker who is young and vibrant. She together with Gable ultimately fool the rest of the cast, but you can't be fooled by poor writing and not much going on. For a western, we lack complete action. Can you imagine Gable and the girls singing and dancing with a suspicious Van Fleet looking on?