The King and Four Queens (1956)

Why so much hype?

Too much of everything

As Good As It Gets

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

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.

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 marked the fourth time Raoul Walsh tried his hand in directing a motion picture in Cinemascope, the first three of them being Battle Cry, The Tall Man and The Revolt of Mamie Stover the second of them being also the first film out of three in totality that Walsh made with legendary Clark Gable. In The King and Four Queens Gable plays a handsome middle-aged adventurer Don Kehoe, known in the West for his skills in using a gun who comes to a rancho called Wagon Mound with its entire population consisting of five women, four of them being beautiful widows of the McDade gang brothers recently killed while attempting to rob a bank. They are led by a tough middle-aged Ma McDade (Jo Van Fleet) who is quite feared and respected not only by the four young widows under her command but also by a population of all villages and towns a few hundreds miles around the ranch. Promptly upon our hero's arrival, the rivalry among the four sisters as about conquering of Don Kehoe's heart ensues, resulting in many insignificant troubles manly for the old mother-chief. The purpose of Don Kehoe's joining of such a pleasant company nonetheless is a large sum of money that, as a word goes around, is hidden at the ranch and which hiding place he ought to find by any means. Overall the average Western as it is, The King and Four Queens provides much less viewing pleasure then one may expect from an average one, but nonetheless it has its interesting moments and is a worth watching experience for a genre fan. 6/10

Stranger Gable hears of a treasure of gold, hidden somewhere in a ghost town and guarded by an old woman and four widows. "Man's man" Gable throws all of his charms in the battle to find out where to find the treasure. As you see, the storyline is very very thin here. Most of the film is about Gable trying to charm the women, using every single trick in the book. There are a few minor surprises near the end, but this is really nothing special. Nice to catch on a rainy afternoon. 6/10