Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

King of the Underworld

Play trailer Poster for King of the Underworld 1939 1h 9m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Dr. Niles Nelson (John Eldredge) works in private practice as the on-call doctor for ruthless crime kingpin Joe Gurney (Humphrey Bogart). In the midst of a shoot-out that leads to Gurney's arrest, an errant bullet kills Nelson as he treats the wounded. When the police begin investigating his wife, Dr. Carole Nelson (Kay Francis), the attention ruins her career. Desperate to reclaim her life, Carole skips town and struggles both to clear her name and to avenge her husband's death.

Where to Watch

King of the Underworld

Critics Reviews

View All (1) Critics Reviews
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews It's not a very good melodrama, but it was nevertheless enjoyable. Rated: C+ Sep 22, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (11) audience reviews
Audience Member A hell of a good time. I found the actual chemistry between Bill and Ms. Nelson rather bland, but Humphrey Bogart seemed to actually put effort into this part. I think if you enjoy movies like this, or you just enjoy the subject matter in general, you’ll like it. 4/5 stars. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/08/25 Full Review Steve D Exciting, well acted and a lot of fun. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/15/24 Full Review ashley h King of the Underworld is a decent film. It is about Dr. Niles Nelson who works in private practice as the on-call doctor for ruthless crime kingpin Joe Gurney. Kay Francis and Humphrey Bogart give good performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Lewis Seiler did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the romance. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Impoverished husband-and-wife surgeons, and an impoverished author, get caught up in organized crime. But they're all caught up in and impoverished by the crude characterizations in this movie. Strangely, although organized crime is the cause of their escape from poverty, it's portrayed very unsympathetically and easily outsmarted. Organized crime here is nothing but a means used to achieve bourgeois success (though not for the gangsters). But what was the cause of their failure to be successfully bourgeois, the cause of their impoverishment, in the first place? Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Gats, Gangsters, Doctors, & Feminine Guile - & Bogart to boot--A film with a conclusion one has to see to believe!! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member One of Humphrey Bogart's pre-Maltese Falcon roles, before he broke out as a major Hollywood star, when he still primarily played dirty mugs. This time Bogey is a gangster who an innocent doctor, Kay Francis, gets linked to, and then sets out to clear her name. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
King of the Underworld

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew
View All King of the Underworld photos

King of the Underworld

King of the Underworld (1939) King of the Underworld (1939) King of the Underworld (1939) King of the Underworld (1939) King of the Underworld (1939) King of the Underworld (1939) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Dr. Niles Nelson (John Eldredge) works in private practice as the on-call doctor for ruthless crime kingpin Joe Gurney (Humphrey Bogart). In the midst of a shoot-out that leads to Gurney's arrest, an errant bullet kills Nelson as he treats the wounded. When the police begin investigating his wife, Dr. Carole Nelson (Kay Francis), the attention ruins her career. Desperate to reclaim her life, Carole skips town and struggles both to clear her name and to avenge her husband's death.
Director
Lewis Seiler
Screenwriter
Vincent Sherman, George Bricker
Production Co
Warner Bros.
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 17, 2016
Runtime
1h 9m
Most Popular at Home Now