King's Row is a 1942 film which tells the story of a group of youths who grow up leading supposedly idyllic lives in a small town with disturbing secrets. It stars Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, Betty Field, Charles Coburn and Claude Rains.

The movie was adapted by Casey Robinson from the novel King's Row by Henry Bellamann. It was directed by Sam Wood.

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (James Wong Howe), Best Director and Best Picture. In the film, Ronald Reagan's character, Drake McHugh, has both legs amputated by a sadistic surgeon who disapproved of his daughter's obsession with Drake; when he wakes from anesthesia, he utters the line, "Where's the rest of me?" Reagan used that line as the title of his 1965 autobiography. Reagan, along with many critics, considered this film his best work.

The book was based on Bellamann's experiences while growing up in the town of Fulton, Missouri. It was his chance to air the town's dirty laundry; the character's names were changed, but their story remained the same. The book is still considered scandalous by some in the town of Fulton.

Five children in an apparently ideal American small town find their lives changing as the years pass near the turn of the century in 1900. Parris and Drake, both of whom have lost their parents, are best friends; Parris dreams of becoming a doctor, studying under the father of his sweetheart Cassie, while Drake plans on becoming a local businessman when he receives his full inheritance - juggling girlfriends in the meantime. As they become adults, the revelations of local secrets threaten to ruin their hopes and dreams. Written by scgary66

Forbidden desires and long-suppressed family secrets are part of the dark underbelly of provincial life in middle-America at the turn-of-the-century as seen through the eyes of five children growing into adulthood. One of them, Parris Mitchell, pursues his interest in the newly emerging field of psychiatry and uses his knowledge to overcome tragic personal losses as well as the hypocrisy and bigotry of his small town home in order to help his childhood friends. Written by Gabe Taverney (duke1029@aol.com)