Themes: Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance, Military Life, Love Triangles
Main Cast: Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Leora Dana, Karl Swenson
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Adapted by Merle Miller from the novel by Joe David Brown, Kings Go Forth stars Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis as, respectively, a tough army lieutenant and a cocky radio operator. Serving in Southern France during World War II, Sinatra and Curtis vie for the affections of mademoiselle Natalie Wood. Upon learning that Wood's father was black, both men succumb to their inbred prejudices. Sinatra manages to overcome his latent bigotry, but Curtis does not. In fact, he's so vocal in his race hatred that audiences are virtually cheering for his inevitable demise. After the war, Sinatra, who has lost an arm in combat, relocates Wood. The film ends ambiguously, possibly because miscegenation was still a touchy topic amongst Hollywood censors. Kings Go Forth was universally popular - except, perhaps, with those ex-GIs who were still resentful that Frank Sinatra had in real life been spared wartime service due to a questionable physical ailment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ann Codee - Mme. Brieux; Jackie Berthe - Jean Francoise; Marie Isnard - Old Woman with Wine; Mel Lewis - Drums; Red Norvo - Vibraphone; Eddie Ryder - Corp. Lindsay
Credit
Fernando Carrere - Art Director, Leah Rhoads - Costume Designer, Delmer Daves - Director, William B. Murphy - Editor, Elmer Bernstein - Composer (Music Score), Elmer Bernstein - Musical Direction/Supervision, Bernard Ponedel - Makeup, Daniel L. Fapp - Cinematographer, Frank Ross - Producer, Richard Ross - Producer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, Merle Miller - Screenwriter, Joe David Brown - Book Author
Kings Go Forth is a 1958black-and-white World War II film starring Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood. The screenplay was written by Merle Miller from the novel of the same name by Joe David Brown, and the film was directed by Delmer Daves. The plot involves friends of different backgrounds manning an observation post in Southern France who fall in love with the same French girl. She proves to be of American mulatto ancestry. Themes of racism and miscegenation provide the conflict elements between the leading characters, something that was out of the ordinary for films of the time, while the setting during the so-called Champagne Campaign remains unique.
Of his role in Kings Go Forth, Tony Curtis said that it was the "most difficult" of his career, while Sinatra, despite his liberal credentials, said that he "took the part as a performer, not a lecturer on racial problems."
At the US box office, Kings Go Forth was a moderate hit that was received without great adulation from critics, but hardly lambasted.
