All the King's Men (1949)

Director: Robert Rossen
Starring: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru

Synopsis:
A country lawyer goes on the path to become governor, where he becomes steeped in corruption.

Impressions:
I remember reading All the King's Men in high school and it left quite an impact on me, so I jumped on the opportunity to see the acclaimed film adaptation. I won't go into the differences between the film and the book, though I do consider most of the changes to be acceptably pragmatic. This is probably one of the best stories of political corruption you'll find. The transformation of Willie Stark from an ill-educated nobody making a futile run for county treasurer while being bullied around by the local political machine to the larger than life and ruthless governor is a sight to behold and Broderick Crawford delivers a stunning performance. John Ireland is pretty good as our POV character Jack Burden, but I want to give particular credit to Mercedes McCambridge as the tough-as-nails campaign manager Sadie Burke. You may well find the subject matter and course of the story rather depressing, but it's good stuff and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Watch It