King of the Underworld (1939)
1h 7m | PG-13
Physician Carole Nelson, suspected of having ties to notorious gangster Joe Gurney, must prove her innocence or the Medical Board will revoke her license. When Gurney seeks her out for treatment after being shot, it could be the break Nelson needs. Now she has a chance to use her medical know-how to outwit Gurney and his goons and reestablish her professional reputation.
Director: Lewis Seiler
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Romance, Crime, Drama
Video: 720p
Cast
Humphrey Bogart
as Joe Gurney
Kay Francis
as Dr. Carole Nelson
James Stephenson
as Bill Stevens
John Eldredge
as Dr. Niles Nelson
Jessie Busley
as Aunt Josephine
Arthur Aylesworth
as Dr. Sanders
Reviews
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.