Review of Kings Row (1942) by Stephanie A — 03 Aug 2004

(VHS) (First Viewing, 1st Wood film).

I've wanted to see this for a long while, and while I'm not exactly disappointed, it didn't impress me like I expected it to. I am rather drawn to the material, that of hypocrisy in small rural towns, as I have grown up in a small rural town, and have experienced the havoc wreaked by hypocrisy and small-town politics firsthand. In that light, I did find much that interested me in this film.

Today, [b]Kings Row[/b] is primarily remembered as the film where Ronald Reagan gives his best and most complex performance. And he really does nail it- imbuing his conflicted, wounded character with a sense of bravery and sympathy that rips at the heart strings without getting sappy. It's a terrific performance.

Also notable is that everybody's least favorite actor Robert Cummings manages to save face and give a half-way decent performance, but he can't hold a candle to the young, vibrant Betty Field as the unattainable girl he falls in love with. And Ann Sheridan, as Regan's faithful wife from the wrong side of the tracks (literally), has an earthy quality to her that makes her tremendously appealing. Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the man behind the celebrated scores for [b]Robin Hood[/b] and other swashbucklers, successfully manages to evoke small-scale Americana here with a appropriately delicate score (it's easily my favorite of his work).

An interesting precursor to the crop of small town melodramas ([b]Peyton Place[/b], [b]Picnic[/b]) that would be en vogue a decade or so later that dealt with all the sordid occurances lurking beneath idyllic surfaces. All in all a worthwhile film.