King's Row

1942 Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, Ann Sheridan, Claude Raines 127 minutes

"A Good Town. A Good Clean Town. A Good Town to Live In and a Good Place to Raise Your Children." So proclaims the billboard on the edge of King's Row, a small Midwest town in the late nineteenth century. We quickly find out, however, that, as is often the case, things are definitely not what they appear.

Serious Parris Mitchell (Cummings), orphaned and reared by his grandmother, wants to be a doctor, while his best friend, Drake McHugh (Reagan) just wants to have fun living off his trust fund. Reclusive Dr. Tower (Raines), father of Parris's childhood friend Cassie, agrees to let Parris study under him, and opens Parris's eyes to the still-new practice of psychiatry. Drake, meanwhile, is busily courting Louise Gordon, daughter of King's Row's other, more revered doctor. Dr. Gordon doesn't think Drake is good enough for his daughter, however, and will not let her marry him. Drake quickly moves on, and starts seeing old friend Randy Monaghan (Sheridan), a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

With Parris away in Vienna studying medicine, Drake, alone except for Randy, has to deal with many personal tragedies that some of the "better" people in town think he deserves as punishment for his carefree lifestyle. When one townsman goes so far as to decide how severe that punishment should be, Drake has to face up to what kind of man he really is. Can Parris, a fledgling psychiatrist, make it back to King's Row in time to help his best friend through the toughest challenge either one of them has had to deal with?

The story of King's Row and its inhabitants were inspired by author Henry Bellamann's hometown of Fulton, Missouri, where the book is still considered scandalous by some. Ronald Reagan rarely gets the recognition he deserved as an actor, and this role, widely considered his best (even by Reagan himself) showcases his talent at its finest. Drake's cry of "Where's the rest of me?" is one of Reagan's most well-known movie quotes and the title of his 1965 autobiography. "King's Row" was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Director, Picture and Black-and-White Cinematography), but in a tough year up against the likes of "Wake Island," "Pride of the Yankees," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," and "Mrs. Miniver," lost in all three categories to "Mrs. Miniver."

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