Customer Reviews

King & Four Queens [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Released in 1956, "The King and Four Queens" provided another role, tailor-made for the "King of MGM", Clark Gable. As the title suggests, Mr. Gable had four leading ladies in this western ( Eleanor Parker, Jean Willes, Barbara Nichols and Sara Shane ),and plenty of opportunity to turn on that famous Gable charm.

Four young women had all married outlaws--three of these men, all brothers, are dead, but a fourth may still live. Somewhere on their property, $ 100,000 in gold lies buried, and they know that the husband who may still be alive will likely return to dig it up. Guarding the four women with a very itchy trigger finger is the mother of the outlaw brothers--Jo Van Fleet, giving us the best acting performance in the film. "Ma" also knows where the gold is buried.

With the smell of gold drawing him like a moth to a flame, Mr. Gable's rascally character enters the women's property, only to be greeted by a bullet from Ms. Van Fleet's rifle ! Of course, over her objections, the four, lonely young women are only too pleased to nurse him back to health, where he is soon "charming" them all in turn.

I like Clark Gable as much as any classic film buff, and Eleanor Parker is one of my favourite leading ladies. However, although the film is handsomely mounted, and directed by Raoul Walsh, I have to say I was disappointed. "That's it ?" I said to myself when it was over. The plot is pretty sparse--apart from the four women competing for our hero's attention under the disapproving eye of Ms. Van Fleet, it is pretty slow going. "Frankly My Dears"--nothing much happens !

The DVD has beautiful, widescreen colour--the sound what you would expect--there are no extras.

I'm sure there are other viewers out there who will disagree with my negative comments, but this surely has to be one of Clark Gable's lesser films. My three star rating is largely based on the Gable charisma, Ms. Parker's attractiveness and Ms. Van Fleet's acting--otherwise, considering the talent involved, this one is quite routine.

This is not about the movie, a true gem if there ever was one - this is about the DVD. Fox has been busy screwing up their releases of MGM movies again : in spite of the mentions on the jacket, there are no subtitles or captions whatsoever on this DVD, not even a menu: so, HoH and foreign customers beware...

Not much action there, true enough, but this tale of the Old West makes for healthy entertainment with quite an unexpectedly moral ending to it, too. I've watched this movie over and over again and still am very fond of it. Whenever you've deserved your cozy little evening, go for it.

This was a fun movie....Gable was his jolly self. I worked on this movie and doubled Gable several times in more of his films. He was a remarkable man.

After co-starring in 1955's "The Tall Men", Clark Gable and Jane Russell (along with her husband) formed their own company, Gabco (in association with Russ-Field Productions). Jane Russell's "The Revolt of Mamie Stover" was one of the first features under the Gabco banner, closely followed by Clark Gable's THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS in 1956.

In THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS (directed by Raoul Walsh), Gable plays con-man Dan Kehoe, who learns of a fortune in gold buried by the four outlaw McDade brothers--three have been killed whilst the fourth is still missing. The treasure is guarded by the brothers' gun-toting mother (Jo Van Fleet) and her four daughters-in-law. Determined to keep everything in order until the surviving brother returns, Ma has forced all four McDade wives to remain at the family property. When Dan arrives to stake his own claim on the McDade gold, the girls (led by Eleanor Parker, Barbara Nichols, Jean Willes and Sara Shane) provide a perfect distraction...

To be honest, the main reason why I picked up this disc was because of Eleanor Parker. Funnily enough this is the third western starring Parker that I've reviewed in the last few weeks (following "Escape from Fort Bravo" and "Many Rivers to Cross"). Whilst she's top-billed with Clark Gable in the credits and delivers fine work, her role is only slightly larger than the other three women. In truth, the biggest part goes to Jo Van Fleet as the crusty old mother; she won the Academy Award that same year for her performance as James Dean's mother in "East of Eden".

The DVD is bare-bones (there isn't even a menu!), but the anamorphic print is in great shape with little damage.

Raoul Walsh, one of the greatest action movie directors ever, must have decided to turn the Western genre, which he knew well, on its ear. The King and Four Queens is not your typical Western, or your typical Walsh film.
Gable plays fugitive Dan Kehoe, who ends up in a town with only five inhabitants, all women. Four are the wives of a notorious group of outlaw brothers who stole a fortune and hid it out somewhere in the town. The fifth woman is the boys' mother, played by Jo Van Fleet. All of the women are waiting for the boys to show up.

The young women are all fighting over Kehoe, while the mother constantly holds him at gunpoint. Kehoe says he just wants to be on his way, but the mother and one of the wives are very mistrustful. Much comedy and maneuvering ensues.

This is not an action western. Instead, it is one of hijinks, quips, and repartee. Gable and Van Fleet are particularly entertaining. If you want gunplay and fisticuffs, stay away, but if you want a solid western comedy, check this film out.

Raoul Walsh, one of the greatest action movie directors ever, must have decided to turn the Western genre, which he knew well, on its ear. The King and Four Queens is not your typical Western, or your typical Walsh film.
Gable plays fugitive Dan Kehoe, who ends up in a town with only five inhabitants, all women. Four are the wives of a notorious group of outlaw brothers who stole a fortune and hid it out somewhere in the town. The fifth woman is the boys' mother, played by Jo Van Fleet. All of the women are waiting for the boys to show up.

The young women are all fighting over Kehoe, while the mother constantly holds him at gunpoint. Kehoe says he just wants to be on his way, but the mother and one of the wives are very mistrustful. Much comedy and maneuvering ensues.

This is not an action western. Instead, it is one of hijinks, quips, and repartee. Gable and Van Fleet are particularly entertaining. If you want gunplay and fisticuffs, stay away, but if you want a solid western comedy, check this film out.

I personally like clark gable...good actor...I still say old classics are to me the best movies yet...

Passion, envy, and inextricable situations and a subtle eroticism embellish this extraordinary bloodless western - something like western for vegetarians -. You 'll love it.

Gable plays Dan Kehoe a weary and jaded conman who wanders into a nearly deserted town ,inhabited only by a woman gunfighter Ma McDade (Jo Van Fleet)and her four widowed daughters-in-law.These are the scheming and intelligent Sabina (Eleanor Parker);the sassy and unscrupulous Ruby(Jean Willes);the naive Oralee(Sara Shane)and the big 'bold and brassy ex chorus girl Birdie (Barbara Nichols).They are the widows of 4 outlaw brothers and kehoe tries to convince them that he was once a member of their gang and thus has a right to a share in the proceeds of a robbery thought to be hidden in the town .
He tries charm ; he tries the "divide and rule"method of setting them against each other but is b;ocked at every turn by the women who outmanoeuvre him with ease and we see it is the conman who is being conned .

The script by Margaret Fitts and Richard Allan Simmons is sharp and cynical ,heaping a degree of scorn on the male hero .This is a deeply revisionist movie for the western genre in that it is women who call the shots and in this respect it is very similar to the cult genre classic Johnny Guitar but without the baroque excesses of tat movie
Well acted by all concerned this is a genuine oddity and a very entertaining picture which is thoroughly recommended even if the Western is not usually your thing