King's Row -- 1942

Another film I watched primarily due to it having Ronald Reagan in it also finds itself ensconsed in the era it was made. An amusing point I found while watching this one was a moment where a pair was walking down the street and a pole crossed between them. The male immediately dipped back with a "whoops", ran back around the pole to the correct side and said "bread and butter." I might have missed this joke had I not seen a Popeye cartoon only days before where Popeye was complaining about Olive Oyl being superstitious and not going out on Friday the 13th. Well, at the tale end of the episode, the punchline was Popeye and Olive walking down the street hand in hand, and a pole crossed between them. With a "whoops," Popeye walked back around the pole with a "bread and butter." Ah, the culture of old...

Anyway, this film is about a small town by the name of King's Row where our characters live. We have an aspiring doctor (Parris) who is in love with the little girl down the street (Cassie). We also have the rich kid who is a no goodnik (Drake) in his own right, and the girl from the wrong side of the tracks that they hung out with as children (Randy). They all grow up and all find trouble in their young adult years. Cassie lives with her father, a doctor, who keeps her mother locked away in an upstairs room. Well, mother eventually dies, but the father starts locking Cassie up as well. When Parris gets older, he studies with her father and learns about psychiatry, eventually going to Vienna to study this new field. Drake ends up losing his family fortune in a banking embezzlement and working in a train depot while living with Randy and her father and brother. When Parris comes back to town, he wants to stay in Vienna, but goings on at home envelope his full attention, and he is forced to try and set things right in King's Row before he can consider whether he wants to return to Vienna or not.

I know that was a short, somewhat confusing synopsis, but this is a film that endeavors to introduce and fill out every character to the point that we get at least a glimpse into most of them and understand where they're coming from. There are a lot more subplots within this narrative that I could scarcely touch on without spoiling something as one plot point flows into another with absolute fluidity.

I will say the movie does get a little confusing now and again because I was trying to keep up with everything, but it's also a case of "wait and see" and once you allow the movie to clear up it's own points, it's very understandable and very satisfying to watch.