The King and Four Queens

At the age of 55 (nearly twenty years older than Jo Van Fleet who as usual gives the best performance as the gun-toting matriarch) Clark Gable still had the charisma to be ogled skinny-dipping in this charming and mellow yarn set against majestic mountains and with an excellent score by Alex North in which he arrives among a coven of widows. Since one of them is played by by the radiant Eleanor Parker (only three years younger than the woman she calls 'Ma') no prizes for guessing who finally gets him.

On the run from the law, spiffily dressed cowboy Gable rides into town and hears tell about Wagon Mound, a settlement outside of the cosmopolitan urban center, run by the five McDade widows. Yep, there's the old lady who runs the spread with a gnarled and iron fist, Jo Van Fleet, who deserves an oscar every time she plays a stubborn old lady, either for acting or for overacting. Then there's these four young widows, Jean Willis, Eleanor Parker, Barbara Nichols, and Sarah Shane. They all get gussied up just because there's now a man around but Van Fleet will have none of that flirting and frottage and other stuff. She don't hold with it. But why, you -- the discerning viewer ask -- why did Gable want to get into this nest of mixed-up women in the first place. Well, I'll tell you. He done heard in the big city that there was one hundred thousand dollars buried someplace on that land but nobody knew where it was. The widows' husbands stole it but then got theirselves blown up without revealing where they'd kept the stash. One of the McDade boys got away but he's been gone for years. So Gable is now in loco visitor. Just curious, kind of, about the location of all that gold. Van Fleet remains skeptical and keeps a weather eye on Gable but the others get glandular by degrees. Nichols is anxious to hop in the sack with Gable at once. Willis too. She even stops smoking cigars. Shane is girlishly eager. Only Eleanor Parker, using a throaty voice that virtually crackles with hostility, holds back. She and Gable had something in common, too, she being from Cedarville and he from Cadiz, both in the great state of Ohio. Act Two gets a little sluggish and talky. It has Gable investigating the four poor sobbing widows who are overjoyed to see him. He wafts from one to the other, leaving a cloud of pheromones behind him and inquiring about the location of that buried gold. En fin, he discovers it and runs off with Eleanor Parker after seeing to it that the gold is returned to those who earned it. The end is abrupt and strains credulity. I kept expecting the return of one of Ma's "boys" and a final shootout. But no. It was shot around what was then the little town of St. George, Utah. I, an alien gentile, enrolled in the tiny community college not long after the picture was completed and some of the structures still stood -- more or less. The community seemed to take with aplomb the fact that so many Westerns and historical epics had been filmed there. I tried to sign up as an extra for "They Came to Cordura" but was rejected when I expressed doubt about my ability to gallop a cavalry horse. My plea that I was a quick study and that they had so few horses in Newark fell on deaf ears.

As one of the silver screens first super stars, Clark made the same mistake as most to follow in his footsteps. Never try and be Rhett again. Good family fun western...

Below average with a dumb sequence of dance in a living room with no one playing the music. The music was only playing on the soundtrack! Eleanor Parker and Jo Ann Fleet were interesting, not exceptional. Some stunt riding at the start of the film, that had little to do with the story line, was noteworthy.

Four wives and their mother in law hold out in an abandoned mission where they keep close watch on stolen gold. Learning about the presence of the valuable loot, a still handsome Clark Gable arrives, claiming that he ran into one of the supposedly deceased husbands, giving himself claims to stay, find the treasure and cause all sorts of tension with the fiery young women which includes sensible Eleanor Parker, floozy Barbara Nichols, fiery Jean Willed and innocent Sara Shane. Embittered ma Jo Van Fleet keeps the girls under a strict watch (and surprisingly no chastity belts) and continuous religious quotes while Gable makes secret meetings with each of them. Hokey at times, this has several camp moments, especially Van Fleet's constant screeching of Gable's character name, Keyhole, which on occasion sounds like Hee Haw. Van Fleet makes the best of a cold character by giving her a no-nonsense persona and shouting each line as if she was calling in the cattle. She's a slightly better looking version of Marjorie Main and even more theatrical. Gable gets to sing and dance a bit and comes off as a bit tongue on cheek. As for the four wives, they ate all equally filled with list but a ridiculous script gives them varying personalities. A really surprising twist ends the film dramatically. Like a few other Westerns of the 1940's and 1950's, this has a bit of a noir feeling about it, bit the color photography hides it. All in all, not bad but not one that will go on the classic westerns list either.

Of all the movies he made, I think The King and Four Queens is the most fitting for Clark Gable. After all, he was dubbed "the King", and throughout the course of the movie, each of the four queens fall prey to his charms. There's a fantastic scene where he tries to warm up to the forbidding mother-in-law, Jo Van Fleet, by getting her to dance. She refuses, but each of her son's widows gladly pass Clark around. At last, we see Jo tapping her feet in spite of herself. The plot of this entertaining western that mixes comedy, drama, and romance revolves around gold. Con man Clark Gable gets chased out of town, and when he overhears men in the town he's passing through talking about a group of bank robber brothers who hid their stash of gold, he decides to stick around. He makes up a phony story about being friends with the sole surviving brother and tries to get the mother and her four daughters-in-law to trust him enough to tell him where the gold is. He's charming, persuasive, and quick-thinking. It's no wonder wise Eleanor Parker, loose Jean Willes, dumb Barbara Nichols, and pious Sara Shane can't resist him! With a fantastically rousing western theme from Alex North that gives Clark Gable a great entrance and puts you in the mood for a fun time, this movie is entertaining from start to finish. Each of the girls contributes to the plot, and Jo Van Fleet is unrecognizable as she once again plays someone far older than her real age. I've always liked Barbara Nichols, and found her to be completely interchangeable with Marilyn Monroe, and it was fun to see Jean Willes give a great Ava Gardner impression. Eleanor Parker can always hold your own, but if it's the King you've come to see, you won't be disappointed. He winds everyone (including the audience) around his little finger!

Raoul Walsh directs Clark Gable in this western comedy which was released thru United Artists. It is an above-average picture with above-average performances and stunning cinematography. In the picture, a con man (Clark Gable) goes to the old homestead of an outlaw gang that has been killed. Supposedly, their widows (the four ladies in the title) know where a stash of gold is buried. Gable wants that gold badly. Of course, during the course of the story, he gets drawn into impossible romantic situations with the gals, including one that is played to a tee by Eleanor Parker. But first, he has to deal with gun-toting, bible- thumping Ma (Jo Van Fleet). She wants him off their property. And she's not bluffing.

It was nice to see Gable and Parker in a film, together. Parker was beautiful and could act; Gable was Gable, perfect for the role. I was making Steak Diane for a lady friend, but took a few breaks and mentioned that 'they don't make them like that anymore.' She agreed. I have a list of alluring actresses and Eleanor Parker is in the top ten; but, when combining beauty with acting, she is #1. This was an entertaining film which I would recommend to any audience. The supporting cast was super and the Technicolor far ahead of its' time. I'm appreciative that TCM aired this film, which I had never before seen.

The King and Four Queens is directed by Raoul Walsh and written by Margaret Fits and Richard Alan Simmons. It stars Clark Gable, Jo Van Fleet, Eleanor Parker, Jean Willes, Barbara Nichols and Sara Shane. A CinemaScope/DeLuxe Color production, music is by Alex North and cinematography by Lucien Ballard. Utterly delightful froth! Plot essentially finds Gable as a crafty drifter who learns about a group of women holed up in a ghost town who are sitting on a hoard of stolen gold. The four beauties, and their tough as old boots mother-in-law, are the wives and mother of outlaw brothers who stole the gold but who are now all presumed dead. Gable romances the four dames with the intention of locating the gold and clearing off first chance he gets, but that is far easier sounding than it is in principal! It's all a set-up for a tale of sexual frustration and subversion of male dominance. That the Production Code renders much of the narrative to suggestion, choice scripting and fill in the gaps ourselves moments, is unfortunately a given, but it's all played with a glint in its eye and there's still a cheekiness, a sexiness, about the picture that strikes the right chords. Sometimes it's an uneasy blend of drama and comedy, but when it hits its straps, such as a wonderful dance sequence, it has the quality to land the smile firmly on your face. And this even if the final is somewhat an anti-climax. Production wise it's a beauty. The cast are having a great old time of it, with the four younger ladies revelling in flirting about with the older and distinguished Gable. But it's Van Fleet who owns the movie, her tough old buzzard act is laced with maternal sadness and stoic strength and it underpins the whole story. Ballard's colour photography is gorgeous, with the location filming out of Calabasas, Snow Canyon and St. George proving to be magnificent backdrops, while North's musical accompaniments are pleasingly non obtrusive. Neither uproariously funny or dramatically potent it's a film caught somewhere in the middle of both. Yet on this occasion it really doesn't matter, it's like a good old glass of bourbon, enjoyably warm while ingested but the buzz soon wears off at closing time. 7/10

i enjoyed this interesting western starring Clark gable.it's not your typical rip roaring action packed western.it's more of a lite comedy/romance.most of it takes place in one setting.a deserted ghost town inhabited by our young widows and their no nonsense gun packing mother in law.manly this is a showcase for the comedic skills of Gable and his co stars.the banter back and forth between the group is the highlight of the piece.oh,there's also 100,000 in stolen gold hidden nearby.add in some romance and a bit of deception and you have the makings of an entertaining little movie.for me,The King and Four Queens is a 6/10