It is a film that vividly impresses, with dramatic sureness the chicanery of politics as have been practiced in the past and may crop up again.
Comment
02/19/08
All the King's Men (1949)
96 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 27
Fresh: 26
Rotten:1
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Consensus: Broderick Crawford is spellbinding as politician Willie Stark in director Robert Rossen's adaptation of the Robert Penn Warren novel about the corrosive effects of power on the human soul.
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Broderick Crawford stands out in this fine drama about the rise and fall of a corrupt southern governor who promises his way to power. Crawford portrays Willie Stark, who, once he is elected, finds... [More]
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Mercedes McCambridge, John Ireland, John Derek
Director: Robert Rossen
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Reviews for All the King's Men
Top CriticThe rather heavy-handed movie, which also gained the Best Picture Oscar, benefited from bull-necked Crawford's hard-hitting performance and the effective blend of location photography and studio work.
02/19/08
A fine adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer novel.
08/16/07
Smart, fascinating and horrifying, All the King's Men is an example of late 1940s filmmaking at its best.
05/15/07
A savage indictment of the system.
03/07/07
While [Crawford's] full-bodied performance still holds up nearly six decades later, the rest of Robert Rossen's Best Picture winner has lost a good deal of its fierce luster.
01/17/07
Today, its realism seems bland, its moralizing forced.
12/12/06
Top CriticBroderick Crawford gives an outstanding performance as the corrupt politician Willie Stark.
10/31/06
It's inspired by the career of populist Louisiana governor (1928-32) and Democratic U.S. Senator (1932-35) Huey Long.
09/25/06
Stark is a work of art; a walking id whose momentum surges like the adrenaline that busts through his veins as he delivers his fist-pumping speeches.
09/24/06
No review available.
10/10/05
No review available.
07/22/05
Based on the Pulitzer-prize winning novel, Robert Rossen's film is a grimly realistic study of the corrutive nature of personal and poltical power via the tumultuous career of Senator Hughey Stark.
07/22/05
A classic tale of power corrupting absolutely
06/15/05
It features one of the great performances in movie history.
02/23/05
Outstanding poltical commentary, rife with tension.
11/17/04
Broderick Crawford is no Orson Welles, but this meditation on the underbelly of American politics is at least in the same league as Citizen Kane.
04/11/04
Splendid portrait of political corruption. More timely than ever.
09/18/03
No review available.
08/22/03
Mr. Rossen has assembled in this starkly unprettified film a piece of pictorial journalism that is remarkable for its brilliant parts.
05/20/03
Top CriticLatest News for All the King's Men
September 21, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Jackass" Kicks; "King" Is Dethroned; "Fearless" Is Action-Packed; "Flyboys" Is Grounded
This week at the movies, we've got antisocial behavior ("Jackass: Number Two," with Johnny Knoxville and the gang), hell-raising politicos ("All The King's... More...
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