All the King's Men. 1949. USA. Directed by Robert Rossen. Screenplay by Rossen, based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren. With Broderick Crawford, Joanne Dru, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, John Derek. 109 min.
Robert Rossen's adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel remains one of Hollywood's most powerful studies of American political corruption. The film charts the rise of Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford in an Oscar-winning performance), a populist politician who transforms from an idealistic country lawyer into a ruthless demagogue. Though based loosely on the career of Louisiana's Huey Long, the film transcends mere biography to examine deeper questions about power, compromise, and the fragility of democratic institutions.
Crawford, previously a hard-working character actor, dominates the film as the charismatic Stark, his rough physicality and booming voice perfectly capturing both the character's rural background and growing megalomania. Equally captivating is Mercedes McCambridge's Oscar-winning debut as Sadie Burke, Stark's cynical aide who watches his corruption with clear-eyed understanding.
Rossen, who both wrote and directed, brings a neo-realist immediacy to the political drama while building to a searingly operatic climax.