Some Notable Things About "King's Row"

"King's Row" is a popular 1942 film from Warner Bros. directed by Sam Wood, starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, and Ronald Reagan. It is noted for its juxtaposition of small-town American simplicity and dark, hypocritical undertones. Among other notable factors are its famous score, the conflicts it had with the Hay's Code, and its star, Ronald Reagan. Of the film, Reagan said it was a "slightly sordid yet moving yarn" that "made [him] a star."

1. The music

Anyone who has seen "King's Row" has likely recognized the main melody of Eric Wolfgang Korngold's score to be remarkably similar to arguably John William's most famous score from "Star Wars." While Williams' is deeper and more diverse, especially as the trilogy progressed, it is well-known that the score of "King's Row" served as a chief inspiration for "Star Wars," particularly the first five notes.

2. The Hay's Code

The original 1940 novel by Henry Bellamann featured a number of taboo topics--child nudity, sadism, incest, homosexuality, hypersexuality, and euthanasia--all of which were considered far too controversial for the screen. In fact, many of those involved with the film believed that the Hay's Code, the infamous censorship board from 1930 to the late 1960s, would prevent any possibility of "King's Row" making it to the screen. Joseph Breen, the head Production Code Authority, argued to the producers that putting Bellamann's novel to the screen would be a "very questionable undertaking from the standpoint of the good and welfare of this industry." Supposedly, the script was referred to Will Hays to decide the matter. Thus, as was the case with many films of the Hay's era, such as "Suddenly Last Summer" and "The Manchurian Candidate," these themes are only hinted at or completely disappear.


3. Ronald Reagan

Whether you view Reagan as the conservative messiah or the conservative anti-Christ, you have "King's Row" chiefly to thank. Reagan was a growing star by 1942, but "King's Row" is the one that, even he argued, made him a star. (Perhaps it is a great irony that President Trickle-down plays a crippled man who has been screwed over by the banks.)

It is difficult to argue that Reagan's acting was "good," but, as his son Ron has said, it wasn't bad. Instead, it largely followed the trends of the time--Reagan's performance in "King's Row" shows him laughing and smiling an awful lot and being quite theatrical. To his credit, he supposedly sought out to learn about the experiences of people with disabilities and doctors for his pivotal scene. 1942 was before the new wave of more in-depth acting from actors like James Dean, who acted with Reagan at the very beginning of Dean's career.

Regardless, it is quite interesting to see the former president on the big screen, especially to those generations who never knew Reagan as an actor.