As such he composed a classic fanfare reale for the now iconic Main Title, which he decided to keep and develop for his film score. Kings Row did not initially receive critical acclaim, although it did earn three Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography.Įrich Wolfgang Korngold’s Warner Brothers contract gave him first choice of new projects and studio executives asked him to take on “Kings Row”, whose title he construed to concern another royal period piece. The film was a massive commercial success earning $5.1 million or five times its production costs of $1.1 million. We follow him from childhood as he sees the idyllic and pristine veneer of his beloved Midwest childhood town slowly stripped bare before his eyes, revealing a grim and damning social commentary. The story follows hero Parris Mitchell of small-town America circa 1900.
Harriet Gordon and Maria Ouspenskaya as Madame von Ein.Ĭasey Robinson navigated his adaptation of the novel by focusing on the altruism of a young idealistic physician confronted by the harsh realities of a cruel and horrifying world. Wood brought in a stellar cast which included Ann Sheridan as Randy Monaghan, Robert Cummings as Parris Mitchell, Ronald Reagan as Drake McHugh, Betty Field as Cassandra Tower, Charles Coburn as Dr. He rose to the task, and when compared to the novel, the film is tame, as the Joseph Breen, director of the Hays Code censored most of the more sordid and controversial elements of the plot, including all references to incest, nymphomania, euthanasia, sadism, homosexuality, casual sex and nude bathing. Sam Wood was brought in to direct and Casey Robinson was given the unenviable Herculean task of adapting the massive 674-page novel to the screen. Producer Hal Wallis of Warner Brothers saw a powerful social narrative after reading the novel and immediately purchased the film rights for $35,000. In 1940 the publication of Henry Bellamann’s provocative novel “Kings Row” took the American public by storm, soaring to #1 on the best seller list.
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