Pretty Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

A shrewish mother(Ma McDade) is waiting for the return of the last of her 4 outlaw sons, before she reveals the location of the stolen $100,000 gold they buried. The other 3 sons are reported dead and 4th one may or may not be alive. Meanwhile, the widows or girlfriends of her 4 sons are holed up in the isolated family ranch, hoping to eventually obtain some of the hidden loot. Ma's domineering treatment of the widows suggests a similar treatment of her sons. Along comes wandering con man Gable, who is told about the situation on this ranch, and decides to risk being shot by the trigger-happy crack shot Ma, who doesn't want any men snooping around, as if the widows are expected to remain frozen in their status. Gable is shot by Ma when caught trespassing, but Ma decides to let him stay a day until he recovers some strength. The widows are naturally interested in presenting themselves as desirable romantic partners for Gable, despite Ma's interference...Yes, a pretty far-fetched screenplay!I would guess that Ma is modeled on Ma Barker and her 4 criminal sons, who were especially active in the 1920s and 30s.As in most of his films in the '50s and '60s, Gable is playing someone who should be at least 20 years younger, the studio banking on his historic appeal as a sex symbol and his continuing charm to make up for his weathered looks. I knew I had seen a character very similar to Ma somewhere. After checking Fleet's film credits, I discovered why. She played the old, cantankerous, matriarch in "Wild River". Fleet was only 46 in that film, made up to look and act much older, and was 14 years younger than Gable in the present film! Largely because of her dominating presence, both these films are very slow paced, for the most part.Gable and Ma engage in a periodic duel of wits, with Gable finding additional reasons to hold off Ma's demand that he leave immediately. Meanwhile, he gets to know each of the 'queens' better in individual escapades, some including a passionate kiss. It's clear he finds little long term interest in Barbara Nichol's sexy infantile bimbo character. Sara Shane's Oralie, also a striking blond, seems too conventional and lacking in self confidence to be good soul mate material for Garble. On the other hand, brassy Jean Willes, as Ruby, is too sure of her superior sexual talents and too lethally jealous, and Gable is afraid that may be all she has to offer him. Gable gradually comes to the realization that Eleanor Parker's Sabina has the right combination of brains and personality to be a potential compatible mate for him. Skip the rest of this review, if you don't want to hear about the finale.After a leisurely pace for most of the film, things get hectic after Gable and Sabina find and take off with the gold. But, we sense that something will go wrong during their flight. It does. After Ma discovers that they and the gold are missing, she rings the tower bell as a signal for the posse to come. They give chase to the duo in their buckboard, expecting to find her son. Over Sabrina's objection, Gable decides to drop 95% of the gold to the posse, and hope they agree that he deserves the remainder as a reward for finding and delivering the gold. While Sabrina rides off to a prearranged destination, Gable succeeds in concocting a story that the posse swallows. Thus, things work out for a happy ending for some, while Ma and the other widows are left holding the empty bags. But, Ma did achieve a partial victory in forcing Gable and Sabrina to give up most of the gold.This was the only film released by Gable's short-lived production company. He decided to end the company after the disappointing box office response to this film.... The filming locations included several areas in southern Utah that Gable was familiar with....The legendary Raoul Walsh directed 3 Gable-starring films in the mid-'50s, this being the middle one. In contrast to this film, the other two: "The Tall Men" and "Band of Angels" were epic-scale films. This film has the lowest mean rating at this site of any of Gable's '50s and '60s films.

Clark Gable wanders into town and hears about a nasty old lady and her four daughter-in-laws who are supposedly hiding $100,000 in stolen gold but any many who goes near them is shot by this insane matriarch. So naturally, Clark with his suave and sexy ways infiltrates the ghost town in which they live in order to seduce the gold from them.The script for this film was bad...or at least very, very poor. So no matter how much the actors try, the basic plot idea is dull and not particularly believable. But to make matters worse, an aging Clark Gable who looks every bit a man in his mid-50s (or older) is cast as a stud who uses his seductive wiles on four unsuspecting and horny women. In other words, because he is Gable, the women are to chase after him as if he's Gable circa 1939 and it just isn't convincing. My advice is just see one of his other films--most of which are significantly better than this drivel that is only watchable due to Gable--despite the miscasting. A complete misfire--second only to PARNELL as Gable's worst film since becoming a star.

The King and Four Queens marked the fourth time Raoul Walsh tried his hand in directing a motion picture in Cinemascope, the first three of them being Battle Cry, The Tall Man and The Revolt of Mamie Stover the second of them being also the first film out of three in totality that Walsh made with legendary Clark Gable. In The King and Four Queens Gable plays a handsome middle-aged adventurer Don Kehoe, known in the West for his skills in using a gun who comes to a rancho called Wagon Mound with its entire population consisting of five women, four of them being beautiful widows of the McDade gang brothers recently killed while attempting to rob a bank. They are led by a tough middle-aged Ma McDade (Jo Van Fleet) who is quite feared and respected not only by the four young widows under her command but also by a population of all villages and towns a few hundreds miles around the ranch. Promptly upon our hero's arrival, the rivalry among the four sisters as about conquering of Don Kehoe's heart ensues, resulting in many insignificant troubles manly for the old mother-chief. The purpose of Don Kehoe's joining of such a pleasant company nonetheless is a large sum of money that, as a word goes around, is hidden at the ranch and which hiding place he ought to find by any means. Overall the average Western as it is, The King and Four Queens provides much less viewing pleasure then one may expect from an average one, but nonetheless it has its interesting moments and is a worth watching experience for a genre fan. 6/10

Stranger Gable hears of a treasure of gold, hidden somewhere in a ghost town and guarded by an old woman and four widows. "Man's man" Gable throws all of his charms in the battle to find out where to find the treasure. As you see, the storyline is very very thin here. Most of the film is about Gable trying to charm the women, using every single trick in the book. There are a few minor surprises near the end, but this is really nothing special. Nice to catch on a rainy afternoon. 6/10