To me, this movie is perfection.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

You know, from where I was sitting, I thought that this rather oddball, 1958, WW2 drama was really expecting just a little too much of the viewer by asking them to believe that Natalie Wood, as the Monique Blair character, was, in fact, half-black (or "Negro").I'd say that if Monique's father was, indeed, black (he is never seen in the movie), then, by looking at Natalie Wood who played his daughter, then he must've been the absolute most whitest looking black man on the entire face of the Earth. I kid you not! To me, the casting of Wood as Monique was a grave mistake, especially in a film whose story was apparently striving for believability. There was no way that she could've have ever convinced anyone that she had even a single drop of Negro blood in her veins.Had Wood's character been of mixed-race of, say, Japanese heritage, then, yes, I could've been convinced of that. But Negro!? Ha! No way, Jose!Other than that valid beef, this picture (concerning a decidedly silly, melodramatic love triangle) was corny, clichéd and too predictable (Hollywood-style) to be at all considered worthwhile entertainment.Set in and around a small town along the French Riviera, this film's attempt at dealing maturely with such issues as racism missed the mark, big-time.Though it did contain some intense battle scenes (seemingly thrown in for good measure), these, in turn, did nothing to alleviate the overall monotony that prevailed in this trite, little soap opera.

Basically I enjoyed the movie and would recommend watching, but there were some major flaws that prevent me from calling it a great movie. In my opinion the basic plot was novel and appealing, but there are some glaring problems with the movie. The first problem was the substitution of a well written dialog, with the monotonous voice over by Sam; Frank Sinatra's character was used as a narration throughout the entire movie. Despite some decent lines from the character, Monique, Natalie Wood's French accent made me cringe each time she spoke. The story line of the two soldiers seeking the affections of a woman that turns out to be biracial was intriguing. A story explaining the reality of interracial love was novel for those days. The movie courageously lets Monique use the "n" word when she exclaims, "I guess 'nigger' is one of the first words you learn in America, isn't it?" Then Sam's character realistically illuminates American racism through his initial reaction to learning the girl he loves is part Negro. Unfortunately, the overall story lacked unity, the plot was forced and the sequence of events seemed unnatural. For example, the way Monique suddenly turns all of her attention to Britt during the first date with Sam after he had made her so happy with his return and acceptance her blackness was not realistic. It made the supposedly sensible good girl, Monique turn fickle and the otherwise dominating lieutenant, Sam turn passive as he set back and let the charming handsome Britt, Tony Curtis, take over his date.Although the film was classified under the war movie genre, the parallel plot involving Allied military operations was disconnected and irrelevant to the primary romantic drama. In fact the battle scene with the Germans seemed created just for an opportunity for Sam to extract vengeance on Britt lying about his intentions with Monique. After Sam's long narration on his intent to kill Britt, I felt frustrated and disappointed when he fails to take advantage of the perfect opportunity to carry out his vengeance with the dead Germans gun. Although, it may have been quite natural that he could have decided not sully his own character by resorting to murder, I don't think he would have forgiven Britt's transgression just because Britt admits his own lack of character. Despite these flaws, the unique story and the three starring actors make this movie worth watching.***I won't revise my original post, but I will make an addendum now that I have knowledge that the screenplay was based on novel by Joe David Brown. The book was written in stream of consciousness, which explains the heavy narration and limited dialog. The movie script has significant deviations from the books plot which explains its disjointed flow and unnatural character evolutions. I'd like to find a documented reason for the change from the books ending.

It's the time of Worldwar II and the place is Southern France.Lt. Sam Loggins, a serious man, falls for Monique Blair, an American girl raised in France.Sergeant Britt Harris, who is the total opposite of him, falls for the same girl.But Monique carries a secret: her father was black.Kings Go Forth (1958) is directed by Delmer Daves.The screenplay is by Merle Miller and it's based on the novel by Joe David Brown.Frank Sinatra does great job as 1st Lt.Sam Loggins.Tony Curtis, who turned 85 two days ago on Thursday, is terrific as Cpl. Britt Harris, the man of many flaws.And he carries his flaws with pride.Natalie Wood is brilliant as Monique Blair.Leora Dana is amazing as her mother.Karl Swenson is very good as The Colonel.Also very good job by Jacques Berthe, who plays Jean-Francois Dauvah, Boy.I liked this movie I just watched on DVD, pretty much.It does a good job dealing with love, war and racial issues.It's not the brightest classic, but it has its moments.It seems like an amazing shot when Sam walks in the bar at night to have some cognac.There's a lot of intense when Sam and Britt go to the Blairs and Sam shouts "If you touch her, I'll kill you".And when those two men, that want to kill each other, are together surrounded by all those Germans.Britt gets shot, which doesn't make Sam feel happy.This is a good movie that mixes love and war.Those two often walk hand in hand.

This film takes place during WW II in Southern France in 1944 almost at the end of the war. However, the Americans and German's were still fighting with each other in the fancy French Reveria where one minute it is calm and peaceful and the next minute there is a complete war going on with the Germans. Frank Sinatra plays the role as a First Lt. Sam Loggins who is a war veteran and he is given a new assignment to try and destroy and remove the Germans in Southern France. Sam hires a new Cpl. Britt Harris, (Tony Curtis) as a communications expert who will travel along with Sam and these two eventually get along with each other. Besides fighting the war, Sam Loggins goes on leave in town and meets a charming young gal who he seems to fall in love at first sight, this gal's name is Monique Blair, (Natalie Wood) who is an American but has lived most of her life in Southern France. Britt begins to take an interest in Monique and this is when the story gets very interesting and some secrets are uncovered in the life of Monique Blair. This is really a great Classic and a film you will not want to view. Enjoy.