Grade: C-
Synopsis: After her husband gets mixed up with a gangster (Humphrey Bogart), a doctor (Kay Francis) seeks revenge.
King of the Underworld isn’t a great film, but it could have been a lot worse had Warner Brothers not used it as a means to humiliate Kay Francis. Francis, who a few years prior had been the top female star, was now considered box office poison, yet she still commanded a high salary due to her contract. In an attempt to get her to quit and thus void her contract, Warners gave top billing in this film to Humphrey Bogart and beefed up his part, at the expense of Francis’.
Unfortunately, beefing up Bogart’s part basically consists of him playing the same low-rent hood he’d been playing at Warners for most of the decade, with the addition of a new hook: his character is obsessed with Napoleon. Still, Bogart’s entertaining, and carries his scenes well. For her part, Francis is the consummate professional, never letting any off-camera friction show on screen.
Probably the best thing going for the film is its length. At only 67 minutes, the plot flies by and the finale, though someone ludicrous, is at least memorable and well-cut, making King of the Underworld a worthy investment for fans of either Bogart or Francis.
