Best Picture: "All the King's Men," 1949

Movie Stats:

Released 1949 (USA)

American, in English

Director – Robert Rossen

Stars – Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru

Plot Summary:

The movie chronicles the meteoric rise (and spectacular fall) of Willie Stark (Crawford) from naïve, good-hearted country bumpkin running for county treasurer to corrupt, black-hearted governor. Ireland stars as reporter-turned-hatchet man Jack Burden & Dru as Jack’s love interest, Anne Stanton.

Bad Stuff:

Although the running time comes in at just under two hours, it honestly felt longer.

While certainly not the most reprehensible character in the film, I found Anne to be incredibly annoying. I suspect that this had more to do with Dru’s portrayal of her than the character herself. I simply believe she didn’t do a very good job.

Good Stuff:

I really enjoyed pretty much everybody else’s performances, especially Crawford’s and Mercedes McCambridge’s (Stark’s campaign manager, Sadie Burke). I wasn’t surprised to learn that both of them won Oscars.

Politics really hasn’t changed in the slightest, has it? In a way, it’s almost comforting to know that things are as they always have been and probably always will be. I thought the movie was very well written & believable. It’s based on a book, and I see that the author of that book shares a writing credit for the movie, so I’m guessing that the excellent story is due to the fact that it stayed close to the original work.

The movie does such a good job of evolving Stark’s character that you forget why you ever liked him in the first place. That’s simply good plot, good pacing, and good acting.

The Verdict:

I really liked it. I don’t imagine that this is a movie that people watch over and over again. It’s not enjoyable in that fun kind of way. Most of the characters are deeply, fundamentally flawed. But it’s a good story with an important message. Everyone should see it at least once. I give this movie 4.25 stars.

Bonus Movie Fun Fact: I spent the whole movie thinking that Crawford sounded a lot like John Wayne, only to discover the part was originally offered to Wayne. He turned it down because he felt the script was “unpatriotic.”