User reviews

In an effort to elevate Humphrey Bogart's star and get rid of Kay Francis, Warners remade Dr. Socrates, giving the good doctor a sex change and making him Kay Francis instead. However, Bogart gets top billing and Francis' role was reduced. It didn't work; Francis kept plodding along until the end of her contract. Also, I still felt she came across as the star in this.

Francis plays a doctor whose husband starts picking up easy money repairing the wounds of gangsters and not reporting on their illegal activities. Eventually, he is killed in a raid, and the police are convinced that Francis was in on it with her husband. Unless she can prove her innocence, she's going to lose her medical license. When she gets a lead on the gang's whereabouts, she sets up shop in the same town.

It's really hard to believe this movie came out in 1939 - it has the look and feel of something done about five years earlier. Bogart is good as a cocky and violent criminal who trusts no one and is too fast with a gun. Stardom is just ahead for the actor, as well as lots less of films like this.

Francis was past the magic age of 30 by this time, and her big star, big film days were behind her. She would soon fall to second leads and eventually move over to Monogram for several films, and, after a couple of early TV appearances, would retire. Everything about Francis embodies the strong '30s career woman, and it's hard to picture her out of the era. She does a great job in this as a determined, classy woman who has to use her wits to get out of a bad situation. An eminently watchable actress.

Worth seeing for Francis and Bogart just before his great career takes off.

Husband-and-wife doctor team Carole and Niles Nelson are doing modestly well in their careers, but Niles has a gambling problem. His luck changes when he (unknowingly) saves the life of a gangster from Joe Gurney's mob and gets a big bonus from the gangleader himself. Loving his change of fortune (and snazzy new apartment), Niles continues to receive payoffs for patching up other injured members of the gang. Unfortunately, his shady deals come to light in a police raid, which hangs a shadow over his wife's career as well.

At this point the plot comes into focus, as Carole Nelson has to rescue her career before her license is suspended. This involves bringing the gang to justice more or less single- handedly.

This is not a hard-edged gangster picture, but a plot that might have been comfortable on a show like MATLOCK or MURDER SHE WROTE. There is some tension, but the mood is kept light by Bogart's tongue-in-cheek performance of a stupid gangster who imagines himself as the "Napoleon of Crime." His other gang members also function more as stooges than hoodlums. And there's some snappy dialog between Bogart and Francis, especially when she's treating his injuries at his hideout. Of course, as in all gangster flicks, there's a big shootout ending, but with a humorous twist. This is a good short film showing Bogart on his rise to stardom.

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.

Decent remake of Dr. Socrates changes a few things, including the gender of the doctor. In the original it was the great Paul Muni. Here, it's Kay Francis. The real star of this film, however, is Humphrey Bogart. This was made during the period when Warner Bros. still had Bogie playing villainous gangster characters. This is one of the better movies that are considered "lesser" Bogart pictures. He's great fun in the role and steals every scene he's in. The plot is about a falsely-maligned female doctor (Francis) who sets out to prove her innocence by infiltrating Bogart's gang. There's a few holes in the plot but it's a short, smoothly-paced WB gangster flick so you don't really care that much. Just sit back and enjoy some good old fashioned popcorn entertainment.

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.

The hurried approach that Lewis Seiler takes with King of the Underworld establishes a deeper plot, while still maintaining an efficient run-time. One of the clearest examples of this is the transition between poverty and wealth for the married medical couple. The audience is instantly transported from a shanty medical office to a luxurious suite at the city's most prestigious inn. This development is critical to understanding the position the doctors have been thrown into. The story suggests from the intro that these two people are generally happy with providing medical practice to those who are less fortunate. By abruptly cutting from this scenario to the morally conflicting occupation (the mob's personal physician), the viewer is called upon to experience this sudden turn of events. The Nelsons (Kay Francis and John Eldredge) are forcibly employed by Gurney (Bogart) without objections. This stylized notion of organized crime being too influential and powerful to overcome has become a standard component in every gangster picture. The one aspect of this film that raised some questions for me, ironically dealt with the pacing of the story, and that rate at which it was told. I think that character development and social identity can suffer when certain aspects of a story are not fully examined. This paradox happens to be a result of personal taste, in that I think that the movie going experience can be enhanced through rigorous character development. However, for the purposes of this film, I must admit that the rapid action contributes more dynamic flare to the impact of the film.

**1/2 (of ****)

Quickly Made Gangster Movie with Kay Francis vs Humphrey Bogart Central to the Thin Plot. Bogey is a Stereotypical Bully with a Moronic Sense of Humor and an Ego to Match His Hero "Napoleon". Kay Francis, on the other hand is Anything but Stereotypical for the Era.

She Plays a Strong Female Doctor having to use Her Wits and Wiles to Save Her Career and Her Determination and Intelligence is a Refreshing Role for Her Gender in the 1930's.

She is Totally Believable in the Part and Matching Her is Bogey's Goofy Gangster and somehow the Bogart Character comes across as a Likable, Brainless Thug like something in a Cartoon.

Overall, some Side Characters like Kay's Mother tend to Grate the Nerves and a couple of Bogart's Gang are very Dated Stock Gangsters. The Film is Entertaining and Enjoyable while Not in the same League as the Best WB Crime Films of the Thirties.

It's a Short, Fast Paced and Compact Movie with enough Playful Panache to Pass as a Lighter than Usual Look at some of the Clichés of the Genre.

Although Humphrey Bogart got star billing in King Of The Underworld, I'm willing to bet he didn't thank Jack Warner for it. In fact this film was one hollow crown.

King of the Underworld was supposedly a remake of the Paul Muni film, Dr. Socrates, but given Humphrey Bogart was in the cast, the character is written more like Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest. He even has an English writer along in the person of James Stephenson.

Kay Francis and John Eldredge are a pair of married doctors and Eldredge pulls off a tricky bit of surgery on one of Bogart's henchmen. Bogey's a man who appreciates good work done on his behalf and gives Eldredge $500.00 and there's more where that came from if he plays his cards right. Eldredge who has a gambling problem sees a good way to get some undeclared income.

But when he's killed in a raid on the gang's hideout, Francis is also thought to be involved by the law and the American Medical Association no matter how much she protests her innocence. It's no good and she and her aunt Jessie Busley move to a small town to get away from the notoriety.

Of course the notoriety and Bogart and an itinerant Leslie Howard like writer in Stephenson all meet up with her again. But Kay is plucky and resourceful to say the least.

Bogart's character was ridiculous, no wonder the poor guy was screaming for better parts. He's a gangster who both shoots down people without mercy and gives his henchmen hotfoots just for laughs. He's concerned about his image and therefore kidnaps writer Stephenson to ghost write his autobiography and of course confesses enough to burn him in all 48 states. And then let's Kay Francis completely outsmart him, hard to believe he was king of anything.

Definitely one of the lesser works for either of the stars.

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.

King of the Underworld (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Warner remake of their 1935 Paul Muni flick DR. SOCRATES has Kay Francis playing a doctor trying to clear her name after her husband got connected to a gangster (Humphrey Bogart). I watched this film for the first time many years ago and found it to be campy fun but this was my first viewing since seeing the original 1935. My opinion on this film here has certainly changed but in the end I think this is still worth seeing if you're a fan of Bogart. That original film was an incredibly smart and tense little gem that should be better known to film fans but this remake, clearly meant to be the second film on a double-feature, leaves out the brains and instead goes with action. The movie runs a fast-paced 67-minutes and for the most part we get to see Bogart chew up one scene after another and this here is clearly fun if you're a fan of his. He's constantly shouting at his men, giving orders or just going around like a madman and we even get to hear him quote a few things from Napoleon. Bogart's maniac-style performance is clearly the stand out here and the reason people should tune in. Francis seems to be rather upset at having to appear in something like this as she pretty much sleepwalks through here role and she certainly brings the film down some. She was certainly a capable actress but you really can't tell that by watching her here. James Stephenson adds nice support in his small role. The ending to the original film worked wonderfully well because they went for suspense but that's not the case here. The ending is pretty wacky and over the top and sure to draw a few laughs. It does lead up to some violent gun play, which is never a bad thing in a Warner movie.

Bogey and Kay Francis; not a very good match for romance, but there is no romantic link between them in the film fortunately. The Francis character actually despises Bogart's character, Joe, for reasons you will discover quickly. Kay Francis is more famous for being on Whats My Line and being voted Box Office Poison Actress #1 than her movie career, which fell sharply in the 1930s. She was just not that sexy an actress, in an age when actresses were supposed to be sexy. Bogart, of course, steals the film, as the role is perfect for him, except for the fact that this small-time gangster could never be the actual king of the underworld; he was too stupid. A major hole in the plot was the lost license threat against Francis unless she could prove her innocence. That might work in a French movie, as you are guilty until proven innocent in the French system, but the US system is just the opposite, and legally the medical board didn't have a leg to stand on. Some good tension in the final scenes. Worth viewing.

... and during the film they literally DO pass each other. Kay on the way up the stairs, Bogie on the way down. Actually, this film is indicative of them traveling in the opposite direction.

Kay and her husband are surgeons who donate some time to the local hospital. One night her husband saves a member of Bogie's gang who is injured badly enough he was expected to die. Bogie comes to the doctor's office when he is alone and gives him 500 dollars in gratitude and says there will be much more if he treats his gang whenever they get injured. Kay's husband is a compulsive gambler, so he can't refuse the opportunity to get more money for an office uptown but he also squanders the money on more gambling.

Kay becomes suspicious of her husband's secretive phone calls and trips at odd hours, so one night she follows him. It is unfortunate that she is parked outside when the police raid the gang and accidentally shoot her husband dead. But Bogie and the gang escape. The DA doesn't believe Kay's story of having no clue of what her husband was up to and charge her with having helped the gang. After a hung jury the DA decides not to retry, but the state is going to pull her medical license if she doesn't prove her innocence in three months. OK, this is the second film I've watched today in which the cops/PTB think it is a great idea for a civilian suspect to prove their innocence by rounding up the actual bad guys. And these films were made 75 years apart. I guess some bad ideas just don't go out of style. But I digress.

She decides to move out to the small town in the area where Bogie's gang is thought to be hiding. The plot from that point, although always keeping a dramatic tone, is more like Kay's Bugs Bunny versus Bogie's Daffy Duck. Bogie is not, at this point, a big star. He was only top billed here as a dig at Kay by Jack Warner who wanted her out, but she refused to leave until her contract was up.

It does have some odd plot devices including a hobo author who doesn't seem to realize the Depression is over, Bogie's gangster character being obsessed with Napoleon, and Kay's own special eye drop formula. And then there is Kay's aunt who suddenly appears and doesn't seem to have any real purpose in the plot. But it is worth a look if it ever comes your way.

Married doctors Niles and Carole Nelson save the life of gangster Joe Gurney after he is shot. Niles secretly becomes the gang's doctor but it leads to his death. When Carole is suspected by the police of being involved with the gang, she has a short time to clear her name or lose her medical licence.

A troubled production with cuts and changes to the original resulting in a running length of just under 70 minutes. Despite that it is an entertaining film with solid performances by Humphrey Bogart, on the brink of becoming a major star, and Kay Francis.

In this theatrical melodrama Humphrey plays a gangster; amazing stretch of the imagination, isn't it? A semi-literate, Bogie (bad guy Joe Gurney) idolizes Napoleon (short guy ego tripper) and quotes le petit emperor on occasion to justify his own actions, such as placing chunks of lead into the physiques of various inconvenient people with the assistance of gunpowder.

He utilizes this method of employee reduction to lay off (without benefits) his doctor, who's wife, Kay Francis (Dr. Carole Nelson), who has just won the Isabella Rossellini look-a-like contest, is also a doctor. She scrams Big City to settle down in a small town to start over, and prove her innocence on a charge of consorting with known actors who play criminals. This is considered highly unprofessional by other doctors, who sent in notes of complaint from the golf course.

Well, wonders never cease as Bogie and his gang show up coincidentally and quite by chance in that very exact identical same town! Of all the burgs in all the world, why did they have to drive into this one? Additionally, the gang has picked up a hitch-hiking writer (James Stephenson) who has become Bogie's biographer, not entirely of his own volition. Nefarious doings evolve, love blossoms, lots of action and shooting, police persons with tommy-guns are attracted; and maybe, just maybe the gangster wins in a 1930's era movie, by special dispensation of the Hayes Office.

Or maybe not. Jeepers, the suspense is killing you, so don't miss this movie if you get a chance! Just remember, the criminals are the ones who use poor grammar and have a tendency to fall down with holes in their bodies. Bogie proves adept at utilizing the vernacular popular amongst persons criminally inclined, as usual. And, I don't mind telling you that there is a modicum of suspense as the fair doctorette bravely faces adversaries on both sides of the law. I actually bit a fingernail. I give this one gun up with a lot of bullets. Hey, it's watchable and it's got Bogie!

Xoxox Mike

KING OF THE UNDERWORLD (Warner Brothers, 1939) directed by Lewis Seiler, stars Humphrey Bogart in one of many crime and gangster dramas, and his only one opposite Kay Francis. Formerly a top-rated actress for the studio (1932-1937), by this time, Francis' career was on the wane and forced to fulfill her studio contract in a series of programmers such as this one. For further humiliation, the opening credits places Bogart's name above the title with Francis coming second under the "With" listing of supporting players. Adapted from the story by W. R. Burnett, it was previously produced by the studio as DOCTOR SOCRATES (1935) featuring Paul Muni (The Doctor), Ann Dvorak (The Drifter) and Barton MacLane (The Gangster). This reworking, with slight alterations to the major characters, is basically the same through plot elements but on a shorter (67 minutes) scale. Capitalizing on title usage listings from Paramount's trio of crime capers as KING OF GAMBLERS (1937), KING OF ALCATRAZ (1938) and KING OF CHINATOWN (1939), this edition has its share of robberies and gunplay as well, with Bogart the sole focus that once belonged to Francis at her prime.

Opening in a general hospital where Carole (Kay Francis) and her husband, Niles Nelson (John Eldredge) are surgeons operating on a wounded gangster named Butch. With news reaching gang leader Joe Gurney (Humphrey Bogart) that Butch will recover, he shoots down Slats (John Harmon), Butch's informer to the cops. Rewarding the doctor $500 for saving one of his boys, Niles uses the money to form a new medical office with Carole in a more exclusive neighborhood. By accepting money from Gurney, Niles is committed to treat Gurney's men from gunshot wounds. Having promised Carole he'd no longer bet on the horses to earn extra money, his telephone call from Gurney has him breaking away from both her and his patients for further treatment at Gurney's hideout. As Carole follows by taxi and awaits for Niles downstairs, she soon discovers a police raid where her husband is caught and killed in an ambush as Gurney and his mob make their escape. With her statement unbelieved by the police, Carole faces trial but is given three months to prove her innocence with her connection to Gurney by the medical board. Tracing Gurney's mob to the small town of Wayne Center, Carole, accompanied by her Aunt Josephine (Jessie Busley), decides to set up her medical practice while at the same time to track down Gurney's mob. With her past reputation against her and unable to obtain new patients, Carole finds one with Bill Stevens (James Stephenson), a drifter and author by profession whose bullet wound she treats, causing suspicion from those believing both connected with Gurney's mob. Others in the cast include Arthur Aylesworth, Charley Foy, Joseph Devlin and Charles Trowbridge.

As much as Bogart played similar roles through much of his career, he displays his usual acting skills by making his character both tough and real in style. The directing pace moves swiftly with Francis going along for the ride as crime doctor. Interestingly, John Eldredge, who plays her doomed husband, also enacted in the earlier screen treatment of DOCTOR SOCRATES. James Stephenson (1888-1941), an obscure actor whose career was gathering enough attention by this time, satisfies his support as an author risking himself gathering material for Joe Gurney's proposed biography, "Napoleon of Crime."

Never distributed on home video but available on DVD, KING OF THE UNDERWORLD is one of those long forgotten crime capers that would be of sole interest for either Bogart or Francis who make this agreeable viewing. Look for it next time is shows on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (**)

Humphrey Bogart stars in the Warner Bros. Crime melodrama from 1939. A husband & wife doctor team barely make do due the hubby's gambling habits. One night he's approached by one of Bogart's minions to patch up one of his wounded which he does gaining Bogart's favor which helps to elevate the doctors' status as they open up a private office & start living the good life. When the wife, played by Kay Francis, realizes where their good fortune is coming from, she admonishes her hubby, played by John Eldredge, only for him to go off to cater to another of Bogart's fallen which prompts Francis to follow him only to be corralled by a police sting where her hubby buys it. Francis is charged but is given a couple of weeks to prove her innocence (what?) so she follows Bogart's crew out to the sticks hoping the moment will come when he'll need her talents. Meanwhile Bogart meets up w/a out of work Brit novelist , played by James Stephenson, who he takes a fancy to (they share a love of Napoleon) so much so he contracts him to write his biography but when he gets hurt (Bogart's crew robs a bank & the author is shot innocently in the background), Francis volunteers her services to patch him up (the town mistake him as being a member of Bogart's crew) & even extends a hand by giving him some work at the home she shares w/her aunt. When Bogart himself gets nicked in the arm by a gunshot, Francis is only too happy to help out since she's going to use her new friendship w/him to turn him & his gang over to the authorities. Pretty standard fare to be sure but then the ending where Francis convinces Bogart his gunshot wound has infected his eyes (prompting her to bring a solution to indeed blind him temporarily under the guise of some administered medicine) which becomes a nail biting exercise as she gives the tainted eyedrop doses to Bogart & his bunch, even Stephenson (to facilitate an escape), blinding them all while the approaching police hope to catch them. Feeling like a leftover gag from an Our Gang serial, helps put this potboiler over the top by sheer chutzpah if not pragmatic sense.

When one of his boys is saved by a young doctor, gangster "Joe" (Humphrey Bogart) pays the man a visit and thanks him with $500 and a promise (threat?) of future work. It's at one such consultation that the police swoop, the young man is killed in the melee and his now widow, fellow doctor, "Carole" (Kay Francis) is suspected of complicity. Though acquitted in court, she is given three months to prove her innocence or face being struck off as a physician - and that means she must do a bit of detective work of her own. It's not the most plausible of stories this. The involvement of James Stevenson ("Bill") as a latter day wandering minstrel doesn't help on that front and the ending is really pretty daft, but Bogart adds a charming degree of (very mild) menace to his Napoleon-obsessed character and Kay Francis, though hardly challenged any of this, still has a star quality to bring to the proceedings. Not great, no - but an enjoyable enough hour of cinema.