Kings Go Forth (1958) User Reviews

What's Wrong With This Picture?

[Bob-45 · 7/10 · 27 July 2005]

When I saw the previews to "Kings Go Forth" in 1958, I was excited. This looked like an important picture with big stars (Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood). That I already realized this at the age of 9 still strikes me as fairly remarkable. Later, I couldn't remember much about it after seeing it, except for its climactic battle scene. So, when it showed on Turner in 2005, I decided to watch it again. The interracial theme is certainly dated now, but this was strong stuff in 1958, particularly for someone from the South. After all, at that time southern department stores had separate restrooms for "White" and "Colored," and interracial marriage was ILLEGAL in southern states. However, the interracial theme is really not all that important to the story, as the themes of Sinatra's alienation, Wood's infatuation and Curtis' narcissism are probably elements familiar to MOST of us. Ever pine for a girl/guy friend who fell hard for someone else who was showier or better looking? I would, however, like to touch on what I believe is an unfair criticism of the film; i.e., that Natalie Wood is not convincing as someone of mixed race. Blonde, blue-eyed Cameron Diaz is Swedish and Cuban, and has said in interviews that her father's skin is black and that it is very likely her children would be.

I thought Natalie Wood and Tony Curtis were just great in this movie, as was Leora Dana as Natalie's mother. Wood never received her due as an actress and I thought her French accent was just fine. Curtis is absolutely chilling in his confrontation with Dana and Wood and it is easy to understand why Sinatra would want to kill Curtis. I think Sinatra is somewhat miscast as the "ugly duckling" who pines for Wood. After all, we've all seen too many movies where Sinatra's won the hearts of girls as pretty as Wood (if there ARE any other girls as pretty as Wood). Watching the film again, I couldn't help but wonder what Charles Bronson could have done with Sinatra's role. Nonetheless, given the potentially explosive (at that time) interracial element, it is unlikely "Kings Go Forth" would have been made without Sinatra's participation. Further, the episodic structure of "Kings Go Forth" plays against the sexual tension of a love triangle. Finally, the ending is almost annoyingly noncommittal. It shouldn't be; after all, there are enough clues as to what should eventually transpire between the principals. I think, here, the problem continues to be Sinatra. He is simply too aloof and passionless.

Given my criticisms, you may be surprised to know I really like "Kings Go Forth." I give it a "7". Oh, and for the record, the French ARE, historically, a VERY racially tolerant people. Witness "Cajuns," the French and Indian War, Josephene Baker and their acceptance of Indo-Chinese Eurasian children.

Hollywood's overfed fascination with WWII continues...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 7 May 2008]

Frank Sinatra made an awful lot of World War II pictures, though he never looked terribly convincing dressed in battle uniform (especially the helmet, which covers most of him). Here, he's a no-nonsense Lieutenant with the U.S. Army stationed in France, fighting the Germans as well as Corporal Tony Curtis, an educated, self-assured trust fund kid on the run from his life of privilege. They spar a bit before becoming buddies, but when Curtis quickly and skillfully steals Sinatra's girl away...well, war is hell. The girl is played by Natalie Wood--she's French by way of West Virginia and Philadelphia!--and there's some hesitant talk early on of her being from a white mother and a black father (it gives Frank momentary pause, but Tony thinks of her ancestry as a novelty). The European locations are well-chosen, though director Delmer Daves' staging is sometimes poor (Frank is struck by Natalie the first time he sees her--which is to say, the back of her head!). The battle scenes are also disappointing, hurt mostly by choppy editing, and when Sinatra and Curtis take on a treacherous plan of attack near the end, we're not sure why these two were picked (other than the fact they're the stars). Not a very good movie, but not a boring one either. Wood's accent is for the birds, but Curtis fills the bill nicely and Sinatra does a solid dramatic turn. His narration is overused, and he has more chemistry with the woman playing Wood's mother than Nat herself; but, for a wartime soaper, a fairly interesting occasion. **1/2 from ****

Pleasing and enjoyable story about love , race and war with a great trio : Sinatra , Wood and Curtis

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 1 April 2014]

Loving triangle , hormones and war rage in this sensitive story set against the backdrop of WWII France . The usual premise is the following : Frank loves Natalie who loves Tony ; the plain and simple triangle is interwoven with racism and warfare scenes . The film contains human drama , passion , emotion , tragical events , character description in deep and complemented with a loving triangle and battles . These elements provide the setting for this piece of dramatic deeds , giving it its own special quality and ambient . Toward the end of World War II, two American soldiers 1st Lt. Sam Loggins (Frank Sinatra) and (Cpl. Britt Harris Tony Curtis) fighting in Southern France become romantically involved with a young, American woman called Monique Blair (the role of Monique was originally written with Dorothy Dandridge in mind) . When Sinatra asks for her hand in marriage she refuses because of some secret reasons . She chooses one to love and the other to befriend . Her background will reveal more about them than her . They'd been through the living hell of war , eating dirt , crawling on their guts , but the real was to come when they fell in love with the same girl . As big and brave and bold a love story as has ever been exploded on the screen¡ . At the end the soldiers take on a dangerous assignment behind enemy lines with unexpected consequences .

This wartime movie picture is an enjoyable tale with an interesting characterizing about a few characters , tragic drama and evocative outdoors from French Riviera , including some war scenes . The film utilizes an oft-used storyline of the war movie genre which has two soldiers in love with the same girl . This stirring as well as intimate story is a passionate retelling and a touching triangular drama . The storyline relies heavily on the continued relationship among them ; in spite of , the movie results to be better than average , being surprisingly good and compellingly realized . Based on a novel by Joe David Brown with thought-provoking screenplay by Merle Miller . Nice acting by trio protagonist , all of them give fine performance along with a fine support cast such as Karl Swenson and special mention of Leora Dana as mummy Blair . Thrilling as well as moving Original Music by the maestro Elmer Bernstein . Atmospheric and adequate Cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Delmer Daves , though not particularly satisfying on either race front or the war . Daves was a good professional , he began as a technical adviser on films with a college background . Soon afterward he entered films as an actor, and after appearing in several pictures he began collaborating on screenplays and original stories. He wrote scripts for many of Hollywood's best films of the 1930s and 1940s, including The Petrified Forest (1936) and Love affair (1939) . Turning director with the classic Destination : Tokio (1943), Daves often wrote and produced his own pictures. Of the many films he made, the westerns he did were especially close to his heart ; as a youth he had spent much time living on reservations with Hopi and Navajo Indians . As he was a Western expert such as proved in ¨The hanging tree¨ , ¨3:10 to Yuma¨, ¨The last wagon¨, Jubal , ¨Drum beat¨, ¨Return of the Texan¨, ¨Cowboy¨ and the notorious ¨Broken arrow¨ .

I'm upset about this film

[mikedonovan · 18 March 2002]

I'm still upset about this film. Its been over for 15 minutes and I'm still having bursts of tears and I want to settle down so I can go upstairs to sleep. Its a good war movie and a great love story about a triangle between Wood, Sinatra and Curtis. Sinatra plays the guy a lot of us feel like in high school when the slickster scum (Curtis) moves in on the one you're crazy about. The racial issue is not nearly as important as the basic trianglular struggle, with a not meagre war plot well mixed in. Obviously Wood does not remotely look half black (as she is supposed to be) and her French accent leaves a bit to be desired but she is beautiful, Curtis is handsome and Sinatra plays quite well the man whose beauty lies within. Most of today's movies are 50 cent scripts with 50 million dollar special effects and no class. This movie is the exact opposite on all counts. Super acting, story and heart. Made me cry more than once. This is why I like old movies better than new. A movie that its makers could be proud to offer their maker.

KINGS GO FORTH (Delmer Daves, 1958) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 17 May 2008]

My father owns a paperback edition of the Joe David Brown novel which inspired this film and I recall reading it many years ago. Ever since his Oscar triumph in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953), Frank Sinatra tried to augment his typically light material with heavier stuff: in 1958, he had two of the latter back-to-back (along with Vincente Minnelli’s SOME CAME RUNNING) and, curiously enough, he finds himself with the less showier of the lead roles here.

Tony Curtis’ part as the smooth-talking but put-upon charmer is effectively an extension of his Sidney Falco in Alexander Mackendrick’s SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957). The female roles are equally well filled: a lovely 19-year old Natalie Wood plays a young mulatto American raised in France who comes between Army “buddies” Sinatra and Curtis, while 35-year old Leora Dana is cast as Wood’s proud middle-aged mother (she must have quite impressed Sinatra because she was in SOME CAME RUNNING too – as Arthur Kennedy’s wife).

The film – backed by a fine score from Elmer Bernstein and including a jam session featuring Curtis and real-life jazz musicians – is well enough made scene by scene and certainly well acted, but the effect is slightly diluted by the unnecessary and ultra-soapy coda (Sinatra losing an arm, Dana dying, Wood gathering together and teaching war orphans – but especially the corny children’ song at the very end). The film is much more of a romantic melodrama than it is a war movie, but the few action sequences therein are good and well spread out throughout the film.

Delmer Daves may have been best renowned for his Westerns – but his very first shot as a director had actually come via a war movie, DESTINATION TOKYO (1943), and he eventually returned to the same territory intermittently with PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945), TASK FORCE (1949) and, finally, KINGS GO FORTH itself.

dated, incoherent, but watchable

[hbs · 6/10 · 28 March 2002]

I like movies of this vintage, and I like Frank, Tony, and Natalie, so I liked this movie, but it's a mess. The crux of the drama seems silly these days (at least to anyone who isn't a pathetic loser), but I suppose that it was daring in its day. Also, some key actions seem grossly undermotivated, and there is no emotional coherence to the ending. I can't say anything more without mentioning things that are technically spoilers (although they are mentioned in other reviews here), so I will warn you that this review contains spoilers...............





So the big dramatic moment is that Natalie Wood's father was black. When this is comes up in the scene, I really expected the Sinatra character, to whom this revelation was made, to look confused and say "So what?", but of course he didn't (he looks shocked and dismayed, although he gets over it eventually -- it's rather sick-making how the girl's mother acts as if there is some nobility in this: "You reacted like a bigot idiot, but after a week of struggle you have decided to overlook what is at most a disgusting cultural artifact, and I'm sure that the fact that my daughter looks like a young Natalie Wood has nothing to do with it.")

Anyway, Natalie (who is 19) doesn't love Frank (who is 43, but looks older), so when she falls for Tony, Frank steps aside despite his great love for her. Then Tony breaks her heart by dumping her (can't marry an African American woman even if she looks like Natalie Wood), and so Frank decides to see to it that Tony dies (by going on a suicide mission with him). Tony dies, Frank loses an arm, and then comes back an visits Natalie after the war. Mom has died, Natalie is now running a school for orphans, and Frank looks at Natalie in a haunted manner while the orphans sing a song. (Frank is on his way back to LA, where he is a partner in a construction contracting firm, but has stopped to see Natalie for some reason that is never explained -- it's like a pilgrimage, but to or for what?)

I can't figure out what is supposed to be going on here. Why would Frank not warn Natalie about hooking up with an aristocratic no-good from the South? Why would he kill a guy who was his friend just for jilting a woman, especially when Frank is in love with her, and after this jilt she might well be more interested? And why does the ending seem so unmotivated, random, and abrupt?

Well, here's why. In the book, "Frank" doesn't know about the father, just that "Natalie" doesn't love him. He introduces N to T in the hope that it will make him (F) look better (N says that she wants to know more ordinary Americans -- F is an officer -- and so he brings his buddy T, who is a wealthy, Ivy League educated, Southern aristocrat, as a sort of joke) and is surprised when N falls for him. T asks N to marry him (perhaps for real, perhaps just for sex), and then eventually learns that N has a black father. He dumps her cruelly, and she kills herself. F kills T, more or less as in the movie, and tells the mother shortly before she dies (She comes to see him in the hospital). He is badly wounded (losing an arm, and eye, and lots of shell fragments and bullets), and feels terrible about N's death, but is also haunted with guilt about killing T.

The book isn't bad. It's written in a sort of stream of consciousness, and the suicide gives F a motive for killing T (which doesn't exist in the movie, of course, and explains why he's so troubled at the end). I guess they decided that it was too much of a downer having N die (she throws herself in the ocean but is rescued), but without that the motivation for the killing and the remorse and haunting memories just don't make sense.

Why the negative comments? This is a wonderful little film

[jem132 · 7/10 · 2 July 2009]

This film certainly deserves more attention. One of Frank Sinatra's best performances, and certainly very good performances from Tony Curtis and Natalie Wod too. I have heard it flopped considerably in it's day. I guess it's because the original novel (which I haven't read, but which I have heard about) was censored for the screen, or made "happier" (though there's still a fair share of dark moments). Sinatra and Curtis are the American soldiers who both fall for the beautiful French girl Wood (trying an accent on for size), who is also half African-American. Sinatra loves her dearly, but Wood falls for the charming Curtis, with bad results. The film works well as character study of shy, introvert Sinatra and cocky extrovert Curtis. Leora Dana is truly excellent as Wood's mother. While Elmer Bernstein's score tends to overstate the cause at times, this is an involving drama. Unfortunately the war scenes aren't as interesting as the human drama.

A good movie with all the right elements, but...

[Ithiliensranger · 7/10 · 7 June 2006]

Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtiss, and Natalie Wood, make a good trio cast in these roles. The movie, for its day, was a good one, but I think this could be a prime one for a remake. The screenplay had all the right elements in it, but the order was tweaked to make the ending into a Hollywoodish, happier ever after story. The book by Joe David Brown (called Combat Mission) had it end in a much darker way than was acceptable for movies in 1958.

It could be done correctly these days, filmed in a dark nor style in wartime of 1943-44. They only worries I would have is with the current rash of remakes hitting the theaters, it would be done sloppily and the cast would be sub par. I could see a remake done with a low/average budget using good, young, unknown actors in the roles with the emphasis put on the accuracy of the original story. Also, an average amount of CGI in the battle scenes (read no overkill), and I think a remake would redeem itself at the box office.

The Great Champagne Offensive

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 4 October 2006]

Kings Go Forth is one of, maybe the only, film about the Allied offensive in Southern France in late summer of 1944. Several divisions who were fighting in Italy under Mark Clark were sent to invade France from the south. The action as compared to the larger shows movie east from Normandy and north up the Italian peninsula was light as the Germans were retreating to protect their own borders. It was called the champagne offensive because it was as you see it with Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis, fighting one minute, and on a weekend pass the next.

Frank Sinatra narrates the story with him as one of the protagonists. He's an army lieutenant and he's just gotten some replacements for his company, one of them being Tony Curtis. Curtis is a spoiled rich kid, a real smooth operator. But he turns out to be a good soldier and he and Sinatra become friends despite Sinatra being an officer and Curtis non-com.

Then the two of them get interested in the same girl, Natalie Wood. She's an American expatriate living with her widowed mother, Leora Dana. Her father was a black man and they left the United States many years before to escape ruling prejudices. Ironic that they escape to France and then France gets occupied by the real prejudice merchants.

The film is divided equally, half of it concerning the war and half of it dealing with the romantic triangle. For the second time in his career, the first being in Sweet Smell of Success, Tony Curtis plays a heel and does it well. Curtis was really coming into his own as a player and not just a pretty face. Kings Go Forth was filmed on the heels of his Oscar nominated performance in The Defiant Ones.

Frank Sinatra gives one of his best screen performances in Kings Go Forth. None of the hipster slang, not the nebbish of his forties musicals, Sinatra plays a really good man trying to deal with his own inner conflicts about what he's been brought up to believe and the feelings he has for Wood. It's something different and Sinatra does it well.

Natalie Wood was as beautiful as they come and Leora Dana as her mother who's seen too much of the world and is determined to protect her daughter has some of her best screen moments. Tony Curtis liked working with Natalie Wood very much in the films they made together, but he does mention in his autobiography it would have really been great if someone like Dorothy Dandridge had been cast in her role. It might have made Kings Go Forth better remembered today, as much as classic as Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.

Elmer Bernstein did the film score and one of the themes was given a lyric by Sammy Cahn and became the song Monique after Natalie Wood's character. Frank Sinatra made a hit record of it though it is only heard instrumentally in the film. It's one of his loveliest ballads.

Viewers should see the film before hearing Sinatra's record of it. The whole premise of the film is the plain Sinatra and the smooth Curtis competing for Wood. You hear old Blue Eyes sing Monique and you'll find it hard to believe why he didn't just sing that song.

Why Natalie would have melted right away in his arms.

Dated script, but good acting

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 14 September 2017]

Am I the only one who sees Natalie Wood as an all-American girl? It's ironic, since she was born Natalia Zakharenko, but I never understood why Hollywood cast her in "mixed" roles. Not to dis West Side Story, but I didn't believe for one second she was Puerto Rican. In Kings Go Forth, Natalie plays a French girl who "passes for white". Yes, I could have phrased it differently, but I was just trying to prepare you for the kind of language that's used in the film; there are some very politically incorrect lines of dialogue used by all three leads.

Anyway, if you can get over the fact that Natalie Wood is supposed to be half-black, feel free to read more of the plot. A soldier on leave, Frank Sinatra meets and falls in love with Natalie, unaware of her parentage. They enjoy a very respectful, chaste courtship, and he's even met her mother—but then Natalie tells him her deep, dark secret. Frank isn't happy about it, and says he needs some time to think.

Enter Tony Curtis, Frankie's pal and fellow soldier on leave. He's a notorious womanizer and also an all-around jerk, so when he starts showing interest in Natalie, the audience knows what mistake it will be if she returns his affections. With all the ridiculously dated parts to the story, I'll bring up an unrelated problem I have with the movie: In this love triangle, it's blatantly written out that Tony is the charming, attractive one and Frankie is not. Then why cast Frank Sinatra, the king of cool? If Frank Sinatra was interested in me, I wouldn't look twice at Tony Curtis.

If you really like any of the three leads, you might want to check this out, because despite the horrifically dated script and Natalie Wood's terrible French accent, the acting is pretty good. But if this is the kind of story you'll find offensive, you might want to rent The Sweet Smell of Success or Some Came Running instead.

Oui! Oui! - And, Nope. Nobody Got The Girl

[strong-122-478885 · 3/10 · 25 May 2014]

You know, from where I was sitting, I thought that this rather oddball, 1958, WW2 drama was really expecting just a little too much of the viewer by asking them to believe that Natalie Wood, as the Monique Blair character, was, in fact, half-black (or "Negro").

I'd say that if Monique's father was, indeed, black (he is never seen in the movie), then, by looking at Natalie Wood who played his daughter, then he must've been the absolute most whitest looking black man on the entire face of the Earth. I kid you not!

To me, the casting of Wood as Monique was a grave mistake, especially in a film whose story was apparently striving for believability. There was no way that she could've have ever convinced anyone that she had even a single drop of Negro blood in her veins.

Had Wood's character been of mixed-race of, say, Japanese heritage, then, yes, I could've been convinced of that. But Negro!? Ha! No way, Jose!

Other than that valid beef, this picture (concerning a decidedly silly, melodramatic love triangle) was corny, clichéd and too predictable (Hollywood-style) to be at all considered worthwhile entertainment.

Set in and around a small town along the French Riviera, this film's attempt at dealing maturely with such issues as racism missed the mark, big-time.

Though it did contain some intense battle scenes (seemingly thrown in for good measure), these, in turn, did nothing to alleviate the overall monotony that prevailed in this trite, little soap opera.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 26 April 2007]

There are some tasty technical credits on offer here; two fine novelists fashioned the screenplay and versatile veteran Delmer Daves, no slouch as a writer himself, was behind the camera. Southern writer Joe David Brown had three of his novels adapted for the screen beginning with Stars In My Crown and ending with Addie Pray which became Paper Moon with this one in the middle. His fine novel was altered in keeping with the climate of the times yet although the girl survives we are still denied a happy ending.

This is one of Sinatra's finest acting jobs and his understated Sam Loggins surpasses the flashier Frankie Machine of The Man With The Golden Arm because he is saddled with the thankless task of portraying basic decency, if not goodness, and not being Jack Lemon, James Stewart or Gary Cooper, all of whom personify the quality before saying a word or doing a thing, Sinatra is obliged to ACT it and makes a first rate fist of it. The Sinatra persona we know is highlighted in the opening sequence; it's 1944 and Sinatra's company are in the South of France marching to a new base camp; Paris has just been liberated and the locals are cheering the arrival of the Americans but one old lady (Maris Isnard) silently offering a drink of wine - probably all she has - is totally ignored and even Sinatra's Lieutenant Sam Loggins passes her by at first but then he pauses, walks back to her and graciously accepts a glass of wine with a smile. They exchange pleasantries then Sinatra leaves and as he does so he gently takes the bottle from her and hands her the glass. Economically the screenplay introduces the second male lead, Sergeant Britt Harris, a replacement radio technician. This is the kind of part that Tony Curtis used to phone in; a brash, arrogant, smarmy,full of himself little s**t; this time around he's rich as well, the spoiled brat who's managed to avoid any dangerous assignments and treats a world war as a glorified night club. In the fullness of time Sinatra meets Monique Blair (Natalie Wood) and is instantly smitten. The following week he meets her mother, Leora Dana, and becomes a regular guest at their large villa on every weekend pass he gets. In nothing flat both mother and daughter are so comfortable with him that they reveal that Monique's father was Black (or, as they used to say in 1958, a Negro). The stage is now set for Curtis to upset the apple cart and he duly obliges when Sinatra foolishly takes Monique into Nice for a night on the town and they stumble into a club where, lo and behold, Curtis turns out to be a dab hand with the trumpet. From then on Sinatra gets less of a look-in than he did previously until the inevitable moment when Curtis informs all concerned that he never had any intention of going through with marriage to Monique on the grounds that he is a bigot but not averse to Black tail. In the novel Monique who had led a sheltered life to say the least - her parents had deliberately moved to France for her birth and Sinatra was the first American she had ever seen - commits suicide and Sam kills Britt but in the movie Sam sees to it that Britt is killed, loses an arm himself and visits Monique for a last farewell before returning to the States; since the death of her mother (for which no explanation is offered) she has taken to running a school for orphans and that's where we leave her. There are two excellent performances from respectively Sinatra and Leora Dana, who was actually some eight years younger than Sinatra and made up to look the forty-something she was meant to be. Curtis is just Curtis, mediocre to fair and Wood is unconvincing as a girl born and raised in France. Jazz buffs are catered for in the nightclub scene where the musos include Red Norvo, Pete Candoli, Mel Lewis and Richie Kamucha but playing the kind of 'modern' jazz more representative of the 1950s - as exemplified by the Chico Hamilton combo in another Curtis movie, The Sweet Smell Of Success - than 1944. On balance a good rather than a great film but more than worth a look.

Weak script and phony war details hurt this film

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 21 February 2017]

This movie had potential as a good wartime drama and romance, with racial overtones. The acting is mostly good but nothing exceptional. Frank Sinatra is 1st Lt. Sam Loggins. Tony Curtis plays Cpl. Britt Harris. They become part of a love triangle with Monique Blair (played by Natalie Wood). Harris is a heel and Loggins is a nice guy whom Blair just doesn't love. Leora Dana plays her mother, Mrs. Blair. Karl Swenson plays the colonel. The movie is in two parts, neither of which is very good. While the acting is okay, the drama script is a little weak and lacks energy. The war aspects are the bad part. In general, they are way out of kilter. Much of the Army stuff lacks pep and seems phony or unbelievable.

For instance, Lt. Loggins and all of the men we see around him are wearing brand new fatigues. We can understand that with Cpl. Harris and the other new replacements. But not the bulk of the troops who were seasoned veterans, with what should have been the worn clothing to match, from fighting in Italy, Sicily and North Africa. It's too bad the studio couldn't find worn combat gear for the actors in this film.

Loggins has just received a battlefield commission, so he should be a 2nd Lt., not a 1st Lt. Then, there are the frequent daily and weekend passes for these guys. Where and when in the war did troops on the front line of combat get such individual passes – and to where? Here they seem to be just a short distance from Nice. And they are stopped by a German force not too far away from Nice for more than two months. But there's no record of anything like that in the Allied invasion of southern France. And, that's enough to detract a great deal from the film.

It's too bad because the movie is based on a 1956 novel by Joe David Brown (1915-1976). Brown was a journalist and novelist who based much of his writing on personal experiences. That included his service in World War II. He was a paratrooper in the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion that jumped near Le Muy, during the invasion of southern France from Aug. 15-28, 1944. He received a battlefield commission as a 2nd Lieutenant and was wounded. So, he probably tailored the Loggins character after himself. But beyond that, too many of the details in this film don't fit the reality of the campaign, time and place. Either Brown fictionalized that as well as the drama-romance, or Hollywood revised it – or both.

The setting for this movie is mostly along the French Riviera. The time is about two weeks after the Allied assault on southern France in Operation Dragoon (initially, Anvil). That began on Aug. 15, 1944. Paris was liberated on Aug. 25 by Allied forces from the June 6 D-Day landings at Normandy. Less than two weeks after the start of Dragoon, the German army had been routed from southern France as far as Grenoble, nearly 200 miles away. The French units had liberated Toulon and Marseilles by Aug 28.

The paratroop forces of Operation Hydra had spearheaded Dragoon with drops in all directions around Le Muy. They now had moved to the Var River valley north of Nice. They were to take on any remaining Germans that may be in the Maritime Alps to the east of there. The only others were a German mountain division at Grenoble and a division at Cannes- Nice – both of which were to withdraw east into Italy to pass over to Field Marshall Kesselring's command. As the airborne units moved east, the Germans fled into Italy. So, Nice and the whole Cote d'Azur is freed of Germans.

That's the real, historical military and war situation when this movie opens. Unfortunately, what follows in the movie doesn't fit this. The wartime drama and romance aspects are a big part of this movie, along with the scenery around Nice, France. But, the highly inaccurate portrayal of the wartime action detracts from an otherwise interesting story. The on-site scenes along the French Riviera gain this film one extra star.

The best scene in this film is in the opening when the American troops are marching through a village in the mountains (some distance north of Nice – who knows where?). Loggins stops in front of an old woman who is offering the G.I.s a drink of wine. He takes a glass of wine from the woman, and their exchange of dialog is memorable. Loggins, "Bonjour, madame!" Woman, "Bonjour, monsieur! Vive l' Amerique!" Loggins, "Vive la France!" Woman, "Vive le President Roosevelt!" Loggins, "Vive le General de Gaul!" Woman, "Vive le Radio City Music Hall!" Loggins, "Vive les Folies Bergere!"

There's an occasional comedy line in the film. Sam is going to drive Mrs. Blair to her home. Sam, "How do you feel about riding in a jeep?" Mrs. Blair, "It's one of the several experiences I promised myself before I die. Another is jumping out of a parachute." Sam, "No, dear. You jump out of a plane. You hold onto the parachute."

Fair war film boasts good performances

[Fantomas-4 · 5/10 · 29 January 1999]

Mediocre WW2 film slowed down by soap opera-ish subplot involving love interest Natalie Wood's " passing " for white. Its best features are the performances by Sinatra, in top form, and Curtis. The acting saves this film.

A movie to cry and be glad about--a wrapping up of love beyond war

[secondtake · 9 August 2011]

Kings Go Forth (1958)

I shouldn't have loved this movie as much as I did. But it touches on those basics of love and life and rivalry and goodness I couldn't help be manipulated. And it's set in Villefranche, one of my favorite places in the world, and it's set during WWII, when life for Europe was its most on fire. And there I was, crying and loving it.

"Kings Go Forth" is actually a slightly late in the game WWII flick that shifts attention at first to luxuriating soldiers in the south of France just as the war was ending. It's not as much about war (though there are some remnants of fightings which are tense). It's more about a bunch of decent guys, two of them in particular, and their misunderstandings. And it's about love. The south of France and the Mediterranean is about as decent a setting for romance as you get. It's idealizing (everyone loves the Americans in their Jeeps, which must be half true, but not entirely), and it's all sunny weather and champagne. Except that love is never easy, and it gets more and more intense, sad, and profound. Yes, profound.

Tony Curtis is terrific as usual. As Brit Harris he is charming, funny, and clever. Natalie Wood in one of many great roles between "Rebel Without a Cause" and "West Side Story" is rather perfect, except maybe her French accent. But she represents, as Monique Blair, something perfectly innocent and yet ravaged by war. The other lead, the main character Sam Loggins, is played by Frank Sinatra, and Loggins also loves Blair. At first Loggins is noble and lets Harris win the girl's heart, but then it gets complicated.

There is a fabulous last war scene for the climax, featuring a special mission needing just two men--our leads, now enemies and distrustful. But in the heat of their battle, Harris gives some real wisdom about character, and Loggins shows true compassion. It's war, the worst and the best of it. And it's the worst and best of love, too, with an ending just slightly hanging in mid-air.

Director Delmer Daves pulls off a lot of great, nicely felt films. They often lack an edge of innovation or of real probing triumph, but this is one of those that brings a lot of issues, including racism at its simplest, to a believable story. Don't brush this movie off. And don't be put off by the first twenty minutes or so when the establishing scenes seem like just another good war film. This one goes places, at least for the romantic.

Gem of a Film To Enjoy

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 8 July 2008]

This film takes place during WW II in Southern France in 1944 almost at the end of the war. However, the Americans and German's were still fighting with each other in the fancy French Reveria where one minute it is calm and peaceful and the next minute there is a complete war going on with the Germans. Frank Sinatra plays the role as a First Lt. Sam Loggins who is a war veteran and he is given a new assignment to try and destroy and remove the Germans in Southern France. Sam hires a new Cpl. Britt Harris, (Tony Curtis) as a communications expert who will travel along with Sam and these two eventually get along with each other. Besides fighting the war, Sam Loggins goes on leave in town and meets a charming young gal who he seems to fall in love at first sight, this gal's name is Monique Blair, (Natalie Wood) who is an American but has lived most of her life in Southern France. Britt begins to take an interest in Monique and this is when the story gets very interesting and some secrets are uncovered in the life of Monique Blair. This is really a great Classic and a film you will not want to view. Enjoy.

Slow war melodrama

[esteban1747 · 6/10 · 15 May 2003]

The plot is easy to follow although some elements are artificially included in it. It does not make any sense to show Monique Blair (Natalie Wood) very much impressed when he met Lieutenant Sam Loggins (Frank Sinatra) for the first time, then without any justification she said that she did not like him as a lover. The reasons given to him by her mother (Leora Dana) were weak. I am sure that if a man loves a woman, he would not pay too much attention to the fact that her father was a black man. Then Monique met Britt Harris (Tony Curtis) for the first time, and here the real love started. Curtis was a shameless person able to seduce any lady because of his beauty and manners. They decided to marry, i.e. she wanted to marry Britt, but he lied until he is discovered by Sam. In that moment, Britt, non logically to me, explained that he had not intention to marry to a lady of black origin. In any case, I agree that the film is watchable, acting is acceptable in all cases, and the happy end is also reasonable.

Sinatra starting to get socially conscious

[nomoons11 · 6/10 · 10 October 2011]

I think around this time is when Sinatra was big pals with Sammy Davis Jr. so getting involved in a film a subject matter like this was probably something he thought he should do.

Basic premise is Sinatra gets to liking a girl in town, when he's on liberty in France, but she's hesitant to getting involved with him. She finally tells him that's her father was a black man. She tells him the basic background of her father and white mother and why they came to France. Back in those times it was it was a common site over there (like Josephine Baker). He takes his time and finally decides he's OK with it but a problem occurs by-way-of Tony Curtis. He's a spoiled little rich kid who gets into the army. He basically has a way with women and gets whatever he wants. He meets Sinatras girl and decides he loves her. This causes issues of course.

I won't talk about the big "gasp" in the movie but needless to say, whether you believe in miscegenation or not, you'll probably agree at what Tony Curtis has comin to em at the end.

This one is certainly not an award winner but all in all...a decent film

Melodramatic war

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 9 September 2018]

Saw 'Kings Go Forth' as part of my Tony Curtis completest quest after being recommended many of his films here in the recommended for you section. It was not something that was intended initially but actually it has proven to be a generally worthwhile experience, even with a couple of missteps.

While there were and are better actors about and he didn't always look comfortable in his early films, Curtis was always immensely likeable and had a charming charisma with many good and more performances under his belt. The cover and premise (haven't admittedly read the source material) were great and further talent like Natalie Wood and Frank Sinatra were ingredients enough to want to see 'Kings Go Forth'.

For me, 'Kings Go Forth' is uneven but quite decent, although remembered fondly by other reviewers here it is generally better than given credit for.

Its weak link is the far too melodramatic and soapy ending, while the script is not without its contrivances, over-explanatory moments and parts that are interesting for its time but don't necessarily hold up.

While there is some hard-hitting action the war scenes are too few and they are out of kilter with the racial melodrama.

However, 'Kings Go Forth' is carried by its sterling cast with Frank Sinatra giving one of his best film performances and Tony Curtis bringing charm and intensity to one of his better dramatic roles. Lorea Dana is superb as the mother and Karl Swenson is a suitably authoritative Colonel. Natalie Wood's French accent and being black may be a stretch, but it does not stop her being fetching and touching. The romantic chemistry resonates emotionally and rings true. The direction is more than competent and paced well, even if not the most inspired.

Visually, 'Kings Go Forth' is nicely shot and atmospheric. Elmer Bernstein's score is sensual and rousing, and hearing the beautiful "Monique" was a sheer delight. Other parts of the script are thoughtful and sincere. The racial melodrama aspect of the story avoids being heavy-handed just about, for such a heavy and difficult subject, and is genuinely moving, despite falling into soap opera towards the end. The film didn't feel dull to me.

Overall, decent. 7/10 Bethany Cox

While this film might have been better with Dorothy Dandridge, it is excellent.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 6 December 2016]

This film is set in Europe during WWII and concerns a couple of American soldiers who fall for the same French girl. However, while the notion of two guys falling in love with the same person isn't particularly novel, how this is handled is.

The movie is narrated, at times, by Frank Sinatra and is told from the viewpoint of his character, Sam. Sam is in charge of a unit of soldier and when they are in France, he falls hard for a gorgeous French lady (Natalie Wood). Unfortunately, this is not reciprocated as although Sam is very nice, she only sees him as a friend. Unfortunately for her, however, she soon falls for Britt (Tony Curtis)...and Britt is a grade-A heel and only is interested in using this sweet girl.

This is a very good film. However, you really wonder how much better it might have been if the studio had been brave and cast the black actress, Dorothy Dandridge in the lead (as they originally intended). I am NOT complaining about Miss Wood's performance...she was EXCELLENT as a French woman. But the idea of having an obvious interracial romance would have made the film much more interesting and brave. As it is, Wood is supposed to be biracial but she really doesn't look it...and the film loses some of its punch. But it's still a good film and well worth your time...just not quite what it could have been. Sinatra is great in the movie, by the way...really, really good. And, Curtis plays an excellent fast- talking heel. Well written and unforgettable.

Sinatra wants Natalie Wood who could be his daughter!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 2 May 2019]

Perhaps I'm suspicious to do a review about a Sinatra's movies, due he finds himself a "bigger than life" as a person, he thinks that the world spin around him, in this picture he played a US's soldier sent to France when Allies already invaded by Normandy and his mission is just extinguish some places where the German still control on French Riviera, meanwhile he falling in love for an young girl played by Natalie Wood, actually could be his daughter, but she has afraid to tell that his dead father was an African American descendent, Sinatra stays shocked by such revelation, but accept later, when the couple fortuitously meets the handsome Tony Curtis in the role as Corporal Britt Harris all things changes, the young girl falling in love to him on first sight, knowing the past life of his bon vivant and maladjusted subordinate, he decided that him marry her immediately, valuable picture over prejudice, guilt and sorrow, if we forget some mismatch about young girls that wants oldest guys, which presuppose happened on Sinatra real life, much possible attracted by his money and fancy life!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

Outdated Interracial love story

[angelsunchained · 5/10 · 10 October 2020]

Controversial for its time, but outdated today. Natalie Wood looks beautiful, but over acts as the bi-racial girl; her French accent is a disaster. Tony Curtis also overdoes the acting and only Sinatra seems legit and not forced. Downbeat and sad film with little to choose from.

Among my favourite war melodramas

[searchanddestroy-1 · 9/10 · 13 March 2022]

And also one of my Delmer Dave's favourite's movie too, though he was not specialized in war dramas. But this feature is really worth seeing, especially for Frank Sinatra's performance. The scheme is not new at all, but that doesn't matter, it remains very poignant, moving and helped by an awesome directing.

EVEN THESE STARS CAN'T SAVE THIS ONE...!

[masonfisk · 6/10 · 13 March 2022]

A film at odds w/itself. During World War II, a pair of soldiers meet up w/a young Parisian woman (played by Natalie Wood). Both men fall in love w/her but when her racial background is found out, one still wants her (who in turn she rejects) while the other can't come to terms w/the revelation. The soldiers, played by Frank Sinatra & Tony Curtis, let the reveal determine the trajectory of their relationship which comes to a head when they're assigned a deadly mission to destroy a German weapons depot. Having enough plot for 2 films, you can see how the story elements grind to a halt when one half takes over from the other. Delmer Daves does a fine job here in direction but the story elements still feel unresolved.

did this movie play in the South?

[skiddoo · 3/10 · 15 June 2010]

Does anyone know if the racial story that turned out with no one getting the girl allowed it to be played in the South? Was the fact that Natalie really wasn't part black and was a big name make sure it was shown there? I think viewers today underestimate what it was like then and why they wouldn't want to risk profits by hiring a woman not thought to be totally white for a romantic role with men thought to be totally white. Putting it into the past, as in Show Boat, and far away also made it seem more remote and potentially less threatening. That was then but this is now, sort of thing.

For some modern viewers it would have been horrible to see Natalie Wood act dead from drowning, knowing that's how she really died. For a woman who was afraid of water, she got wet a lot in the movies.