All the King's Men
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Movie Reviews of All the King's Men
Movie Review: 3.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 5 Stars
The Bottom Line:
Broderick Crawford is so good as Willie Stark that the other characters often seem bland standing next to him, the only real flaw in this stellar Oscar-winning adaptation of Warren's dense political novel; please watch this version and not the recent remake.
Movie Review: This is a classic
Summary: 5 Stars
We've been building an old movie DVD collection and this is a great addition. You love Broderick Crawford then you hate him and even have some sympathy for him. I'm glad I bought this DVD.Movie Review: politician
Summary: 5 Stars
story of a former governor of louisiana. one can still see some of the historical folklore of this person.Movie Review: Powerful as Ever!
Summary: 4 Stars
All the Kings Men(Released Nov/49)was Broderick Crawford's shining moment as he took the best actor award away that year for his role as Willie Stark.His co-star Mercedes McCambridge as Sadie also snatched the best supporting actress node.Out of the remaining five nominations it took another OSCAR and that was for overall best motion picture.It is still easy to see why as the film still packs a powerful punch.The story is loosely based on Louisiana Governor Huey Long's rise to power and it is a look at how absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The story begins,as does the main characters',in humble backgrounds.A rural boy comes to the city(Willie Stark)in order to fight those that would subvert the political system for their own crooked gains.Naive about the "game" he is playing he is cajoled and bullied by his opponents.His seemingly honest attempts to do something for the people and their plight gets the attention of the state capitols newspaper which sends a man to check it out,one Jack Burden(John Ireland).Stark loses round one but the more he gets his hands dirty in the political arena the tougher he gets.He goes on a bender after hearing that the very people who have been financing and steering his campaign are just using him to split votes in order for their real choice to get in.At a rally the next day a hungover but new born Stark throws away his wooden speeches and comes out swinging.From this moment on all bets are off and Stark,although losing the election,doesn't let the grass grow under his feet.He goes to college and gets a BA in law and opens up his own practice as a lawyer.When the re-elections come around again he is more than ready to start the fight all over again;this time with a new fire.
Stark's rural ideas become a thing of the past and his disguised feelings for the little guy or "hicks" become just a cover for his real personal ambitions.His methodology has become the same or worse than the very people he first campaigned against from the beginning.
The newspaper man who first covered Stark is now on his payroll,as are many of the very people who tried to squelch Stark from the beginning.He says he keeps them around to remind himself of what he had to overcome,but it is by all appearances something else;to use those same and very corrupt hands to do his dirty work.Along for the ride is rough and tough Sadie who falls in love with Stark as does Jack Burden's own girlfriend,all the while using his own wife and adopted son as pawns for political gain(nothing ever changes)whenever the occasion calls for it.Stark by now has given a plum job to a prominent judge as Attorney General and a plum position for a doctor as head of the new Stark Hospital,both close friends of Burdens.Time however reveals the ugly truth behind Starks motives not only to these men but to all of Starks staff.When the judge backs a motion at the state capitol for now-Governor Stark's impeachment Stark confronts him with evidence of a wrong doing many years before that he had forgotten about.Stark wants the judge to call off the vote then and there but the judge tells Stark he will get his answer in the morrow.While Stark and Burden are outside of the room talking and about to leave a shot rings out and they find the judge has committed suicide.Problem solved for Stark.
Things go from bad to worse however as the impeachment hearings at the state capitol resume.Stark has called on his henchmen to get the "hicks" out in support and they do.The plaza around the capitol building is jammed with humanity.The vote comes in and Stark,as would be expected,comes out in triumph and makes a speech.However out from the shadows of the capitol steps comes the distraught doctor who guns down Stark,who in turn is gunned down by police.Stark has flown too close to the sun and his wings of wax have melted sending him plummeting to earth and his inevitable death.
Crawford's performance is mesmerizing throughout.Mind you with this Pulitzer prize winning book and resultant script,how could he have missed? McCambridge gives a very memorable performance as the tough as nails Sadie,with a yearning for the grace and beauty of other women that she will never have.The entire cast is solid in fact and watch for performances by by Paul Ford as the Senator that instigates the impeachment process;you may recall him better as Sgt Bilko's Colonel Hall.Also watch for Bert Hanlon as the newspaper editor,he is the self same actor who appeared as the plastic surgeon in Bogies film Dark Passage.
Technically speaking this print has quite a few surface flaws,dirt specks,scratches,etc..It could use a good cleaning(even though it says it has been remastered in Hi-Def!),but overall the picture is quite crisp.It is full frame a/r(as it should be) and the only extras are two trailers for the tepid 2006 remake,which is very odd indeed.
All in all a very good film that deserved every award it got in /49.It is a must have.Recommended.
Movie Review: Power doesn't just corrupt, it enables corruption
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie, although almost sixty years old now, is still interesting today mainly because human nature and thus the fundamentals of American politics haven't changed. What has changed is the average American's cynicism towards the political process, thus rendering this film possibly more interesting today than it was when it was first made. As others have mentioned, this film is based on a novel that was based on the life of Huey P. Long, governor of and then senator from Louisiana. The politician in this film is Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), who starts out running for local office, but comes up against a corrupt local political machine that quickly shuts him down, even having his wife fired from her teaching job of many years. A few years later the same corrupt political machine is looking at their polling data and realizing that their candidate for governor will lose unless they can split the populist vote. They enlist Stark to run for office as governor, and his flattered pride doesn't allow him to see what their true motives are. Stark gives a few uninspired speeches until Sadie Burke (Mercedes McCambridge) explains to him what is really going on - that he is a patsy in a larger scheme. From that point forward he is a man transformed. He gives fiery speeches that rile up the people and almost actually wins the race. However, four years later he returns and does win. In order to do so, he has to "make some deals" with some moneyed interests. He starts out using power to help the common people of the state, but in the end he is helping the common people of the state just because he wants power, making sure that everything accomplished by his administration comes complete with a large landmark bearing his name to assure his legacy. His misdeeds in office - both professional and personal - escalate until they become even too large for him to cover up, leading to his ultimate downfall.
The one character I found somewhat hard to understand was that of Jack Burden (John Ireland). He starts out covering Stark's story because he is assigned to do so by the newspaper for which he is working. He has such high ideals that he even quits the paper when his boss tells him that the state political machine no longer wants Stark's race covered. However, long after it is obvious what Stark has turned into, even after he knows that Stark has rewarded his friendship and loyalty by taking the girl he loves, Burden remains by his side. It takes Stark indirectly causing the death of Burden's long time mentor before he finally walks away.
There have been plenty of movies made about how power corrupts otherwise good men, but in this film there is more than a hint that Stark was never actually a good man. He was just a man who wasn't in a position to be corrupt until power gave him an opportunity to do so. In the sixty years since this film was made we've seen offenses committed by Presidents of both parties that leave the average man wondering "What WERE they thinking?". However, in order to reach the top of the political heap, you probably need to possess a tendency for risk taking along with a great deal of self-confidence, just as Stark had, and these traits can be your enemies as well as your friends.
There are virtually no special features on this DVD other than promotional pieces on Steven Zaillian's 2006 remake, which turned out to be far inferior to this 1949 classic.