Robert Penn Warren claimed that his novel All the King’s Men was not written with a specific political figure in mind. Perhaps that is even true, though there were plenty of people willing to attribute real politicians into that mold at the time. Had he written this book within the last few years, people would be claiming it is a satire on the Donald Trump presidency in the United States and be calling for the book to be banned. Indeed, watching it recently, that parallel observation can be made, and there will be plenty of people, like those standing outside the courthouse at the end of this movie, defending their leader even as mounting evidence is being presented before a court of law in favor of impeachment. All the King’s Men may not be a true story, but it is so realistic that, eighty years later, we are still seeing real-world people and events that can be compared to it.
The story is about politician, Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), who runs for county treasurer against the corruption of the local government. But his lack of charisma and the local muscle hired by the existing leaders ensures that he fails to secure the vote. Years later, he is more educated, both formally and informally, and makes a run at the governor’s office after a tragedy exposes the corruption of the current leaders. But in order to afford the run for office, he makes some shady deals of his own. Eventually, he becomes as corrupt as those he was running against. All of this is being observed by reporter Jack Burden (John Ireland), a man who was assigned the story of Willie Stark back when he was running for office initially. Jack’s own political ties via his family and friends give him a unique view of events and a perspective to see the dark changes over the years as Stark changes from a man of the people to a thug in office.
This film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and deservedly so. But one weakness it has is in the performance of Broderick Crawford, who is great when he is playing a corrupt man but is less convincing as the naive man of the people. He is never quite as believable in those earlier scenes. We also don’t spend enough time seeing that shift happen between the two halves. There are moments, but they are brief, and all too quickly he is the brutish man Crawford was so good at playing. Still, this is a powerful examination into the mindset of the public and how they can rally around a person such as this, even in the face of their true nature. By the end of the film, Willie Stark could shoot someone in the street in front of everyone, and there would still be a loyal following protesting the law for trying to send him to jail for it. 1949 - 110 minutes
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