Clevercell Very disappointing...

BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

alexanderdavies-99382 Humphrey Bogart was tiring of playing gangsters in film after film for "Warner Bros." and sought any kind of variation in such vehicles. In "King of the Underworld," his character has a Napoleon fixation and has aspirations to become just like him. The running time helps to keep this minor movie at a reasonable pace. Kay Francis was once a fairly big star but by 1939, her popularity had gone into decline. She is hardly remembered these days but she was a very capable performer. In this movie, she plays a doctor who has no choice but to leave her city practice and set up shop in the countryside. Bogart isn't quite his usual evil, sneering self and his scenes with Francis are quite good. The film doesn't rise above being ordinary but it isn't a terrible film by any means.

Neil Doyle The central role in this low-budget crime melodrama really belongs to KAY FRANCIS, and she makes her lady doctor pretty believable. But it's HUMPHREY BOGART who walks off with the show, which is no more than a programmer made on the cheap, by playing up the comic elements of his character.Bogart is an illiterate man who wants his "genius" to be known. He kidnaps a man (James Stephenson) with a reputation as a writer in order to tell him his life story and make him the "king of the underworld." But Kay Francis spoils all his plans when she has to prove herself innocent of criminal charges pending against her due to a prior event. She fools the hoods into believing they will go blind if they don't let her help them.The story has several implausible script problems and never really comes off as credible. Interesting only to see that Bogart was far more worthy of his early material than the studio realized. And Kay Francis has one of her more believable roles in this crime melodrama.

Bolesroor "King Of The Underworld" is, without exaggeration, the worst Bogart film I have seen. He plays an impossibly-dim, impossibly-evil gangster with no motivation whatsoever. The screenplay calls for his character to torture Kay Francis and take interest in a hobo/writer he discovers at the side of the road, so that's what he does. Little is explained, and even less makes sense. (Was the character of Carole's mother there only for PURE exposition?) Warner Bros. made legendary crime films in the 30's and 40's, so there is no excuse for this graceless disaster. I love Bogie but he must have been incredibly discouraged by the script: he gives the worst performance of his career and often looks like he just wants the damn film to END. You will too.Bogart's kingpin character Joe Gurney should logically want to murder Dr. Carole Nelson. She's a potential witness who might turn him over to the police in order to clear her name and save her medical practice. And although Bogie had no problem shooting a potential snitch in the back- in cold blood- in the film's opening minutes, the thought of harming Carole apparently never enters his mind, even when he's got her alone with his cronies. Caution: Open Plot-Holes Ahead. Next we have the barely-literate Joe obsessed with Napoleon- kinda. He sees himself as some Napoleon-like figure and drops vague "Napoleonisms" that sound like they were made up on the spot. Since all we know about Joe Gurney is in relation to Carole Nelson's case, this Napoleon sub-plot is incomplete and out of place. (Would the film be any different if he identified instead with Spiderman?) When Carole tells Bogie he's the moronic type Bogart brags to his goons- straight-faced, "Did you hear that, fellas? I'm the moronic type!" That's about the level of wit this film has to offer.The finale, in which Dr. Nelson blinds Bogie and the boys with magic eye drops, would be more at home in a Three Stooges short. If you want great Bogart go see High Sierra, The Big Sleep, Casablanca, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, or The Maltese Falcon. This "King" is a crab.GRADE: C-

boblipton Once again, through no fault of her own, Kay Francis is in trouble and must get out of it through brains and determination. This time it's Bogey, doing a minor variation on Duke Mantee from PETRIFIED FOREST. As in most of Kay's vehicles from this period -- Warner's was pushing Bette Davis as their leading female star at this point -- everyone works hard and gives a performance that makes this hokey weeper watchable.