‘All the King’s men’ is a movie, adapted from a Pulitzer prize winning book of the same name by Robert Penn Warren. It tells the story of the rise and fall of a fictitious politician Willie Stark, and is based on former Louisiana governor, Huey Long.
While another movie adaptation of the book, made in 2002 and starring Sean Penn and Jude Law, failed miserably at the box office, and in the eyes of critics, this version was well received by critics and went on to win three Academy Awards.
The plot is presented from the perspective of a young reporter, Jack Burden. Willie Stark’s early political life sees him as a idealistic man, willing to take the leaders of his local government head on, by contesting for the role of treasurer. Jack, who is impressed with Willie’s spirit writes many articles praising him. These articles make Jack unpopular with his step-father, a cynical rich man, who thinks he can buy anyone, for the right price.
Willie is initially seen as a honest individual, a teetotaler and a devoted husband. Willie’s maiden bid for the position of a Treasurer, is unsuccessful. With his never-say-die attitude, and the support of his wife, Willie becomes a lawyer and successfully wins cases , for under-served people in his town, earning himself more credibility.
After making an unsuccessful bid, in the race for Governor of the state, Willie learns from his mistakes, and becomes a more assertive and compelling speaker. He contests again, and this time wins the governor’s race. As the saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Willie begins to accept bribes, has affairs with many women, including his campaign assistant Sadie. Even Jack’s girlfriend becomes impressed with Willie and soon becomes Willie’s mistress. Willie strong-arms his accountant, insults the latter in public and forces him to resign. Through all this, Jack remains faithful and sticks by Willie’s side.
To Willie’s credit, he uses his skills, mainly charisma and strong-arming to pass bills and invest in infrastructure of his State. However, in the process, Willie manages to fill his pockets, as well.
Willie’s behavior would take its toll on his family, particularly his son. The young man, Tom Stark would cause the death of a young woman, by driving under the influence. Later, in an effort to enhance his reputation, Willie would force Tom to play in a game of football, even though Tom is still recovering from the car accident. This game would render Tom paralyzed and confined to a wheel chair.
Jack’s former girlfriend’s uncle, Judge Stanton is investigating a case where there are alleged kickbacks to Willie. The judge resigns, but ruins Jack’s reputation by exposing his ways to the press. In retaliation, Willie pressures Jack into finding dirt on the judge.
Jack, a former journalist is an expert at digging up dirt, and manages to dig up the dirt on the Judge. However, he is finally able to pick up his courage and stands up to Willie, refusing to hand Willie the evidence he picked up on the Judge. The next sequence of actions from Willie will have serious consequences that will bring about his own fall from grace and much more. The movie has an astounding, explosive end.
‘All the King’s men’ is riveting, thanks mainly to a superb performance from Broderick Crawford as Willie. His transformation from a simple idealist to an evil demagogue is mesmerizing. This is a movie, that is certainly relevant today. The movie received acclaim from the critics and won three awards. Crawford’s performance would earn him a best actor award. Mercedes McCambridge. would get the best supporting actress award for her performance of Sadie, Willie’s dutiful campaign manager. The movie itself would win the best motion picture award for 1949. Is there anything else I need to say to convince you to watch it?
Cast: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek, Mercedes McCambridge, Shepperd Strudwick
Director: Robert Rossen
Bay Area Bloke 