Kings Row (1942)

Directed by Sam Wood. Starring Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, Ann Sheridan, Nancy Coleman, Betty Field, Claude Rains, Charles Coburn, Kaaren Verne, Judith Anderson, Maria Ouspenskaya, Ernest Cossart, Harry Davenport, Scotty Beckett, Douglas Croft, Mary Thomas, Ann E. Todd.

Overbaked soaper following the lives of a handful of residents of the title town around the turn of the century, and all the surrounding lust, scandal, insanity, suicides, amputations, as well as a few sordid suggestions that could never be allowed under the Production Code. Certainly not boring, but it’s best remembered for its excited moments of derisive hysteria (“Where’s the rest of me!?”), and the five central actors are all duds—you know you’re in trouble when Reagan outshines the proverbial competition. Redeemed in part by James Wong Howe’s dramatic photography, the thunderously spirited Erich Wolfgang Korngold score (later played at Reagan’s inauguration), and a few solid supporting portrayals from Rains, Coburn, and company (the former has perhaps never been so intense). Produced by Hal B. Wallis, and scripted by Casey Robinson from Henry Bellamann’s seamy bestseller.

62/100