King of the Underworld (1939)

King of the Underworld (1939). 1h 7m | Approved

“The central role in this low-budget crime melodrama really belongs to KAY FRANCIS, and she makes her lady doctor pretty believable. But itu0026#39;s HUMPHREY BOGART who walks off with the show, which is no more than a programmer made on the cheap, by playing up the comic elements of his character.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBogart is an illiterate man who wants his u0026quot;geniusu0026quot; to be known. He kidnaps a man (James Stephenson) with a reputation as a writer in order to tell him his life story and make him the u0026quot;king of the underworld.u0026quot; But Kay Francis spoils all his plans when she has to prove herself innocent of criminal charges pending against her due to a prior event. She fools the hoods into believing they will go blind if they donu0026#39;t let her help them.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story has several implausible script problems and never really comes off as credible. Interesting only to see that Bogart was far more worthy of his early material than the studio realized. And Kay Francis has one of her more believable roles in this crime melodrama.”