Western

Comedy

Mystery

Adventure

The King and Four Queens

Russ-Field Productions

United Artists

United States of America

English

Clark Gable

Eleanor Parker

Jean Willes

Jo Van Fleet

Barbara Nichols

Sara Shane

Roy Roberts

Arthur Shields

Jay C. Flippen

Florenz Ames

Chuck Roberson

Margaret Fitts

Raoul Walsh

Richard Alan Simmons

Wiard B. Ihnen

David Bretherton

Alex North

Victor A. Gangelin

David Hempstead

Renié

Tom Connors Jr.

Robert Tracy

Lucien Ballard

Kay Shea

Martha Crawford

Robert Waterfield

Bill Naylor

Helene Parrish

Joseph C. Behm

Jack Solomon

Donald W. Roberson

Jack N. Young

Frank Prehoda

William Sittel

Louis R. Loeffler

Oscar Rodriguez

Richard Condon

Marjorie Henderson

Hershy Kay

**_Clark Gable and four beautiful women in the Old West_**

An opportunistic man in the Southwest (Gable) travels to a ranch owned by a cantankerous mother of four outlaws, all of whom are dead except maybe one. Their four wives have been without a man for two years and everyone seems obsessed with stolen loot buried somewhere on the property.

“The King and Four Queens” (1956) features a set-up reminiscent of “The Beguiled” fifteen years later. The difference is that Eastwood’s flick is a serious tragedy whereas this one has fun spirit beneath it all, not to mention a wholly contrived story that essentially sinks the proceedings. Yet Gable has his great masculine charisma and was still lean at 55 years-old during shooting. And you can’t beat the colorful Southwest locations, cited below.

Another highlight is the lovely female cast, which includes redhead Eleanor Parker (Sabina) and brunette Jean Willes (Ruby), along with two blondes, Sara Shane (Oralie) and Barbara Nichols (Birdie).

Unfortunately, the glaringly manufactured plot weighs everything down and makes it almost impossible to take the movie seriously. That’s why you’ll never hear this mentioned in the same breath as the great 50s’ Westerns; or even good ones. If you can roll with the contrivances, however, there are entertaining factors.

It runs 1 hour, 24 minutes, and was shot 17 miles northwest of St. George, Utah, in Snow Canyon State Park and at the Santa Clara River, which are in the southwest section of the state, a 2.5 hours’ drive northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. Additional footage was shot in Calabasas, which is a 35-minutes’ drive west of Hollywood, with interiors done at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios.

GRADE: C+

The King and Four Queens ≣ 1956 ≣ Trailer

The King and Four Queens (1956) Original Trailer [FHD]

Best Movies

The King and Four Queens

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Clark Gable

Eleanor Parker

Jean Willes

Jo Van Fleet

Barbara Nichols

Sara Shane

Roy Roberts

Arthur Shields

Jay C. Flippen

Florenz Ames

Box office

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