Saturday, July 18, 2009

Kings Row -1942

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I recently watched Kings Row for the first time while my sister was in town visiting. She had just finished reading the novel (written by Henry Bellamann) and was eager to see if the film was any good. According to Grace Metalious, this novel was a huge influence when she wrote Peyton Place some fifteen years later. The story is a similar tale of small town scandal, and the film was actually better than either of us had anticipated, adhering faithfully to the book (except for a crappy Hollywood ending). This is also considered to be the only good film of Ronald Reagan’s acting career (go figure). The musical score was written by Erich Wofgang Korngold and the main melodic motif sounded almost note for note like the Star Wars theme. I don’t know if this was a subliminal lift (unintended identity theft) from John Williams or not (I’m guessing it’s a coincidence), but I’m not the only person to have noticed. Just recently I found this YouTube vid comparing the two themes. Check it out and see for yourself.

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