All the King's Men (1949)

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 | Blackmail | Jealous Woman

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:

Mercedes McCambridge was cast after she got angry with the producers. She and other actresses were kept waiting in an office in New York City during open auditions. McCambridge told the producers off and stormed out of the office. They called her back and eventually cast her because she fit the part of Sadie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Tommy first takes the field, the referee is towards the left and Tommy is to the right, really not anywhere near each other, yet the ref's arm is visible in the close up.

Quotes:

Sadie Burke: He'll ditch everybody in the whole world, because that's what Willie wants. Nobody in the world but him!

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.