Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Kings Go Forth Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 2, 2016

Stephen Colbert hasn’t been shy about talking about how difficult it’s been to fill the shoes of someone as iconic as David Letterman, but what about that poor schlub who had to fill Colbert’s old timeslot on Comedy Central? Larry Wilmore’s show was originally supposed to be called The Minority Report, an obvious reference not just to Wilmore's race but to the overall focus of the series, but evidently both Minority Report and the (apparently) short-lived television series of the same name put the kibosh on those plans for either logistical or actual legal (or legalistic) reasons. Wilmore’s show has regularly offered piquant commentary on race relations, as might be expected, and while the show has been nowhere near as popular as the late, lamented The Colbert Report, it has often reached significant comedic heights as it has examined various sociopolitical currents sweeping our often fractious nation. One of the renamed Nightly Show’s best moments came during the Rachel Dolezal fracas. For those with short memory spans, Dolezal was the Spokane woman who headed that city’s NAACP chapter until it was revealed that she was not in fact African American as she had claimed for some time, but utterly Caucasian. Wilmore and ebullient contributor Holly Walker unapologetically skewered this odd news story, with Walker offering an absolutely hilarious take on an addled woman who had been tracking “incognegroes” for years. Walker offered a laugh out loud “archival” video of just such an “incognegro” wandering through a sylvan glade, a la that old snippet that supposedly caught Bigfoot traipsing around the great outdoors. While the bit was intentionally outrageous, it helped to humorously expose how black folks see both themselves in their own communities as well as ostensible interlopers who want to claim the mantle of minority status for themselves, especially once other Nightly Show contributors jumped into the fray and started arguing that Dolezal was simply a “convert” to being black, a pioneer of sorts who should be embraced, not disparaged. The very fact that a television show could address these inherently contentious issues is perhaps a sign of at least a little progress in thinking about race that has accrued over the years, and it’s enlightening to contrast this sort of whimsy with the deadly earnest attempts to explore ideas of both interracial relationships as well as mixed race status for individuals that showed up in a number of films in the mid 20th century. 1949’s Pinky famously detailed a light skinned black woman “passing” for white, offering a somewhat florid melodrama that also included an interracial romance angle. There’s something a bit similar going on in 1958’s Kings Go Forth, albeit couched in a supposed war drama that finds an American soldier falling for an expat woman who turns out to be half black.

Kind of interestingly, Kings Go Forth was based on a novel by Joe David Brown, the writer who also gave the world the unlikely combo of a father daughter team of grifters whom Peter Bogdanovich brought so memorably to life in Paper Moon. There’s very little of Addie Pray’s whimsy on display in this cinematic adaptation, as should perhaps be expected of a film supposedly plying the roiling waters not just of “miscegenation” (as it used to be termed) but World War II itself. It must be stated, though, that the epochal global conflict that engulfed the planet during the thirties and forties seems almost like an afterthought throughout Kings Go Forth, especially considering the perhaps unexpectedly scenic environs that Lieutenant Sam Loggins (Frank Sinatra) and Corporal Britt Harris (Tony Curtis) find themselves in as they supposedly attempt to dislodge some stubborn Nazis from a nearby fortification.

Instead, the film focuses more intently on the stumbling romantic relationship between Loggins and Monique Blair (Natalie Wood), a pretty young woman Loggins meets while the soldier is on a bit of R & R in Nice. The relationship is uneven from the get go, with Loggins obviously feeling more amorous toward Monique than she does toward him. When the slick ladies’ man Harris enters the picture, Loggins finds himself in a “third wheel” status, though Monique’s “big secret” threatens to derail any nascent love affair.

Kings Go Forth obviously wants to offer social commentary, but it’s couched in such an odd (and frankly underdeveloped) setting that things never really rise to much more than standard melodrama. Loggins looks on as the potentially smarmy Harris wines and dines (and plays trumpet for) Monique, while Monique’s angst over her mixed race status seems to exist only to keep her from wanting to fully commit to falling in love. The World War II angle predictably enters the story more deliberately in the third act, providing an easy out that solves the love triangle issue in a formulaic manner. The performances here are generally decent enough, though no one really has to stretch very far. (What was it about Wood that made her the choice for a “mixed race” role like this, a character at least tangentially similar to the part she had then fairly recently played in The Searchers?) Curtis never quite convinces as either an almost Sergeant Bilko-esque wheeler and dealer or a gung ho man of action, but Sinatra manages to deliver some heartfelt moments as a guy who is commendably “color blind”.

Kings Go Forth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kings Go Forth is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Fans of deeper catalog items from the (in some cases former) major studios have come to expect a certain heirarchy in high definition quality, with Sony-Columbia usually taking the top spot and 20th Century Fox coming in neck and neck in many cases. That has left the former MGM catalog looking a bit lackluster at times, at least relatively speaking, but Kings Go Forth is really one of the nicer looking efforts we've seen from the studio, one with an impressively organic look that offers rich contrast, suitably deep blacks, and excellent detail. Elements are in very good condition, with only very minor instances of dirt and other speckling. Grain resolves naturally and there are no compression anomalies of any note. There are some very minor fluctuations in sharpness and clarity which are at least partly attributable to things like outdoor location photography versus studio bound interior sequences.

Kings Go Forth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kings Go Forth features a workmanlike DTS-HD Master Audio mono track which capably supports the film's dialogue, effects and Elmer Bernstein's excellent score (given a somewhat fuller treatment in the isolated score option included on the Blu-ray). There are some very minor issues with distortion and/or damage present, especially with regard to a couple of noisier set pieces, but generally speaking fidelity is excellent.

Kings Go Forth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 3:00)


• MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (1080p; 2:06)


• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and also contains some sound effects.

Kings Go Forth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kings Go Forth ends up being too turgid for its own good, never exploiting the World War II angle viscerally enough to work up any real tension, and also tending to keep the romantic triangle in a pretty melodramatic rut. Wood is as charming and emotional as usual, and Sinatra does fine in a pretty undemanding role (despite the supposedly shocking subtext). Curtis is the odd man out here (in more ways than one), never really connecting with a character who has to be a heel and a hero at various moments. Technical merits are generally excellent for those considering a purchase.