RONALD REAGAN IN 'KINGS ROW' ALSO STARRING ROBERT CUMMINGS

Year of Release: 1942 Rating: ***1/2

There's something thoroughly hypnotic and intoxicating about this melodrama centering on a handful of unlucky individuals growing up in a strange dusty town the film's named after.

Ronald Reagan, never celebrated for his acting ability, has enough charm to make you forget his limited range, and Robert Cummings is his perfect corny counterpart, always seeming ready to break into proverbial song, and a sad one at that.

The best performances are from the ever-competitive envy-ridden women, either going insane or just about to as the camera sweeps to all the right angles and the music flows heavenward, but, by the end, since most of the story-line jumps to and fro at a rather quick pace, KINGS ROW seems like a condensed epic, raising the enviable question: Where's the rest of it?