Key to the City

Director: George Sidney

Overview

George Sidney directs this pleasant romantic comedy concerning mayoral love. During a convention of mayors in San Francisco, Clarissa Standish (Loretta Young), the mayor of a small town in Maine, meets Steve Fisk (Clark Gable), the down-to-earth leader of a tiny northern California community. During the rowdy proceedings of the convention, the two find themselves pushed together frequently, with the typical result -- they fall in love. After the convention, the two head back to Steve's town, where crooked local politician Les Taggart (Raymond Burr) is squaring off against Fisk in a mayoral election. With the help of Clarissa, Steve gears up for his reelection bid.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/12/2013
UPC:	0883316733905
Original Release:	1950
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:40:00
Sales rank:	35,050

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Clark Gable	Steve Fisk
Loretta Young	Clarissa Standish
Frank Morgan	Fire Chief Duggan
Marilyn Maxwell	Sheila the 'Atom' Dancer
Raymond Burr	Les Taggart
James Gleason	Sgt. Hogan
Lewis Stone	Judge Silas Standish
Raymond Walburn	Mayor Billy Butler
Pamela Britton	Miss Unconscious
Zamah Cunningham	Mrs. Butler
Clinton Sundberg	Clerk
Marion Martin	Emmy
Bert Freed	Emmy's Husband
Emory Parnell	Council Chairman
Clara Blandick	Liza
Richard Gaines	Speaker
Roger Moore	Assistant Clerk
Dorothy Ford	Miss Construction
Edward Earle	Councilman
Pierre Watkin	Mayor Cabot
Jack Elam	Councilman
Nana Bryant	Mrs. Cabot
Frank Ferguson	Actor
Victor Sen Yung	Chinese MC
Marvin Kaplan	Francis
Byron Foulger	Custodian
Shirley Lew	Elevator Operator
Bill Cartledge	Page Boy
Alex Gerry	Actor
Helen Brown	Woman
Dick Wessel	Washer
James Harrison	Actor
Harry Harvey	Waiter
James Flavin	Cop
Charles Smith	Bellboy,Bellboy
Frank Wilcox	Councilman

Technical Credits

Z. Wayne Griffin	Producer
A. Gillespie	Special Effects

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Key to the City
1. Chapter 1 [1:42]
2. Chapter 2 [3:48]
3. Chapter 3 [3:20]
4. Chapter 4 [3:23]
5. Chapter 5 [4:33]
6. Chapter 6 [7:55]
7. Chapter 7 [5:34]
8. Chapter 8 [6:00]
9. Chapter 9 [3:49]
10. Chapter 10 [7:00]
11. Chapter 11 [3:52]
12. Chapter 12 [6:00]
13. Chapter 13 [3:23]
14. Chapter 14 [5:42]
15. Chapter 15 [7:59]
16. Chapter 16 [4:32]
17. Chapter 17 [6:56]
18. Chapter 18 [6:24]
19. Chapter 19 [3:05]
20. Chapter 20 [1:53]
21. Chapter 21 [3:16]
22. Chapter 22 [:35]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Key to the City
Play
Trailer
Key to the City: Chapters

Editorial Reviews

Key to the City is a run-of-the-mill "opposites attract" romantic comedy, enlivened and made worth watching thanks to its star leads. Perhaps because Clark Gable and Loretta Young had an actual history offscreen (with Gable secretly fathering a child with Young), there's a palpable chemistry between the two that is simply delicious. Oh, they're helped by some decent lines from screenwriter Robert Riley Crutcher, some of which have actual wit and others of which at least give the impression of actual wit. But it's what they do with the lines -- and just as importantly, what they do between the lines -- that really counts here. Certainly, Crutcher hasn't helped them out by providing them with characters of real depth to play, or by placing them in situations that are particularly imaginative. But Gable and Young accept the circumstances and make the most of them, helped along no doubt by George Sidney's slick direction. The stars get able support from the always dependable Frank Morgan, the luscious Marilyn Maxwell, and the staunch Lewis Stone, among others. Key to the City is predictable, sometimes to a fault, but the cast works very hard to make that "predictable" feel more like "comfortably familiar."