The King and Four Queens

The King and Four Queens
Directed by	Raoul Walsh
Produced by	David Hempstead; Clark Gable
Screenplay by	Margaret Fitts; Richard Alan Simmons
Starring	Clark Gable; Eleanor Parker; Barbara Nichols; Jo Van Fleet
Music by	Alex North
Cinematography	Lucien Ballard
Edited by	David Bretherton; Louis R. Loeffler
Production; company	GABCO
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	December 26, 1956;
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2.25 million[1]

The King and Four Queens is a 1956 DeLuxe Color American Western adventure comedy/mystery film starring Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker in CinemaScope. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the film is based on a story written by Margaret Fitts, who also wrote the screenplay along with Richard Alan Simmons.[2] This film was the first (and last) project from Clark Gable's own production company, GABCO.[3] His partners in the project were movie star Jane Russell and her husband, Bob Waterfield, owners of Russ-Field Productions, and the film is often listed as a Russ-Field-GABCO production.

Plot

The story involves a middle-aged cowboy adventurer (Clark Gable) who learns that a stolen fortune remains buried on a ranch that serves as home to four gorgeous young widows and their battle-axe mother-in-law; the drifter turns on the charm.

Cast

Clark Gable as Dan Kehoe
Eleanor Parker as Sabina McDade
Jean Willes as Ruby McDade
Barbara Nichols as Birdie McDade
Sara Shane as Oralie McDade
Jo Van Fleet as Ma McDade
Roy Roberts as Sheriff Tom Larrabee
Arthur Shields as Padre
Jay C. Flippen as Bartender of Rosebud Saloon in Touchstone
Florenz Ames as Josiah Sweet, Undertaker
Chuck Roberson as Posseman

Production notes

At Clark Gable's request, the film was shot on location in southern Utah because he was familiar with the area, having hunted there for years. Footage was shot near St. George, Utah, in Snow Canyon State Park and at the Santa Clara River.[4] Additional footage was shot in Calabasas, California.

Book version

In 1956, Theodore Sturgeon novelized the original screen story by Margaret Fitts for Dell Books, which published it in December 1956 as a 25-cent paperback.[5]

References

"Top Grosses of 1957". Variety: 30. 8 January 1958.
Shoilveska Henderson, Sanya (1 January 2003). Williams, John (ed.). Alex North, Film Composer: A Biography with Musical Analyses of a Streetcar Named Desire, Spartacus, The Misfits, Under the Volcano, and Prizzi's Honor. McFarland Publishing. p. 221. ISBN 0-786-44333-2. OCLC 937257939.
http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-king-and-four-queens-v27373
D'Arc, James (1 September 2010). When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Movie Making in Utah. Gibbs Smith. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-423-61984-0.
Sturgeon, Theodore (2003). Williams, Paul (ed.). And Now the News...: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon. IX. North Atlantic Books. p. 375. ISBN 1-556-43460-X.

External links

The King and Four Queens at IMDb
The King and Four Queens at AllMovie
The King and Four Queens at the TCM Movie Database
The King and Four Queens at the American Film Institute Catalog

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[1] "Top Grosses of 1957". Variety: 30. 8 January 1958.

[2] Shoilveska Henderson, Sanya (1 January 2003). Williams, John (ed.). Alex North, Film Composer: A Biography with Musical Analyses of a Streetcar Named Desire, Spartacus, The Misfits, Under the Volcano, and Prizzi's Honor. McFarland Publishing. p. 221. ISBN 0-786-44333-2. OCLC 937257939.

[3] ttp://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-king-and-four-queens-v27373

[4] D'Arc, James (1 September 2010). When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Movie Making in Utah. Gibbs Smith. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-423-61984-0.

[5] Sturgeon, Theodore (2003). Williams, Paul (ed.). And Now the News...: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon. IX. North Atlantic Books. p. 375. ISBN 1-556-43460-X.