All the King's Men (1949)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Robert Rossen

Writers:

Robert Rossen (writer)
Robert Penn Warren (novel)

Release Date:

7 August 1950 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He Might Have Been A Pretty Good Guy . . . If Too Much Power . . . And Women . . . Hadn't Gone To his Head !

Plot:

The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal.

Plot Keywords:

Politician | Rural | Rise And Fall | Extramarital Affair | Political Satire

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Broderick Crawford	...	Willie Stark
John Ireland	...	Jack Burden
Joanne Dru	...	Anne Stanton
John Derek	...	Tom Stark
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Sadie Burke
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Adam Stanton
Ralph Dumke	...	Tiny Duffy
Anne Seymour	...	Mrs. Lucy Stark
Katherine Warren	...	Mrs. Burden (as Katharine Warren)
Raymond Greenleaf	...	Judge Monte Stanton
Walter Burke	...	Sugar Boy
Will Wright	...	Dolph Pillsbury
Grandon Rhodes	...	Floyd McEvoy

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | Netherlands:AL (VHS rating) (1998) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | UK:U | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In the original manuscript, Willie's last name is Talos, not Stark. When the novel was first published, the name was Stark. In 2001, the novel was reprinted with Stark's name changed back to Talos, among other changes.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the locker room scene, the towel draped over Tom's shoulders keeps changing positions.

Quotes:

Sadie Burke: Was she pretty?
Jack Burden: How should I know. I wasn't looking at her *face*.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "HBO First Look: 'The Contender': The Making of a Political Thriller (#7.17)" (2000)

Oscar Classic

The older Oscar winning movies are better than the recent ones. DVD review.

The fall and rise of one of cinema's most memorable rogues: Willy Stark.

Great movie from the late '40s. Contains many traits of that era: powerful performances, a strong message, fast pacing, adult cast, wise-crack dialogue, hats, newspaper headlines, small town America, strong characters, old people with good roles, unpredictable plot and a shocking ending. How many recent acclaimed movies contain any of these qualities? Will recent Oscar winning rubbish such as Forrest Gump or Dances With Wolves look this good in 40 years time? Crawford's first angry speech has to be one of the best movie scenes ever. There's a similar black and white movie with an equally great performance by Andy Griffith called A Face In The Crowd.

Unlike many Oscar winning movies of the 1990s All The Kings Men is a timeless classic.