The 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.
Comment
02/19/08
All the King's Men (1949)
96
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
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
Reviews for All the King's Men
Top CriticA savage indictment of the system.
03/07/07
Top CriticA fine adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer novel.
08/16/07
Top CriticRossen's film chronicles this life of raw power with compelling scenes, and Crawford's performance is well-supported by the rest of the cast.
01/01/00
Top CriticMr. Rossen has assembled in this starkly unprettified film a piece of pictorial journalism that is remarkable for its brilliant parts.
05/20/03
Top CriticSmart, fascinating and horrifying, All the King's Men is an example of late 1940s filmmaking at its best.
05/15/07
No review available.
08/22/03
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
No review available.
10/10/05
Today, its realism seems bland, its moralizing forced.
12/12/06
It features one of the great performances in movie history.
02/23/05
It's inspired by the career of populist Louisiana governor (1928-32) and Democratic U.S. Senator (1932-35) Huey Long.
09/25/06
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
Outstanding poltical commentary, rife with tension.
11/17/04
Splendid portrait of political corruption. More timely than ever.
09/18/03
A classic tale of power corrupting absolutely
06/15/05
This political allegory adapted from Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is an on-target portrait of a backwoods populist (reminiscent of Huey Long) who becomes the electorate’s messiah.
03/10/03
Goodness me, this movie could not have been more prophetic had Nostradamus himself written it.
01/01/00
The acting is way over-the-top, however, Broderick Crawford is great!
10/12/02
This is the story of the rise and fall of a Southern politician, based on the career of Louisiana's Huey Long. Here, the politician is named Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), and the Southern state where it takes place is never named.
03/30/02
Latest 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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