All the King's Men (1949)

November 16, 1949 (US) • Drama • 109m

Overview

A man of humble beginnings and honest intentions rises to power by nefarious means. Along for the wild ride are an earnest reporter, a heretofore classy society girl, and a too-clever-for-her-own-good political flack.

Director

Robert Rossen

Writers

Robert Rossen, Robert Penn Warren

Top Billed

John Ireland

Keywords

newspaper governor based on novel or book southern usa politics politician rise and fall reporter black and white political assassination corrupt politician hick gubernatorial candidate run for governor demagogue huey long

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Top Billed Cast

John Ireland

Jack Burden

Broderick Crawford

Willie Stark

Joanne Dru

Anne Stanton

John Derek

Tom Stark

Mercedes McCambridge

Sadie Burke

Shepperd Strudwick

Adam Stanton

Ralph Dumke

Tiny Duffy

Anne Seymour

Mrs. Lucy Stark

Katherine Warren

Mrs. Burden

Raymond Greenleaf

Judge Monte Stanton

Walter Burke

Sugar Boy

Will Wright

Dolph Pillsbury

Grandon Rhodes

Floyd McEvoy

Marshall Bradford

Senator (uncredited)

Chet Brandenburg

Man Listening to Speech (uncredited)

Wheaton Chambers

Senator (uncredited)

Stephen Chase

Puckett (uncredited)

Tom Coleman

Man Tearing Down Poster (uncredited)

James Conaty

Party Guest (uncredited)

Roy Darmour

Politician at Harrison's Headquarters (uncredited)

Earle S. Dewey

Joe Harrison (uncredited)

King Donovan

Reporter (uncredited)

Robert Filmer

Editor (uncredited)

Paul Ford

Spokesman for Impeachment (uncredited)

Dick Gordon

Politician (uncredited)

William E. Green

Senator (uncredited)

Charles Haefeli

Man in Cheap Bar (uncredited)

Frank Hagney

Stark Strong-Arm Man (uncredited)

Richard Hale

Richard Hale (uncredited)

Bert Hanlon

Editor (uncredited)

Judd Holdren

Politician (uncredited)

Robert Karnes

Legislator (uncredited)

Kenner G. Kemp

Legislator (uncredited)

Donald Kerr

Spectator (uncredited)

Nolan Leary

Senator (uncredited)

Wilbur Mack

Former Governor Stanton (uncredited)

Louis Mason

Minister (uncredited)

Paul Maxey

Local Chairman (uncredited)

Frank McLure

Doctor (uncredited)

Walter Merrill

Man in City Bar (uncredited)

Harold Miller

Speaker of the House (uncredited)

John 'Skins' Miller

Drunk at Football Game (uncredited)

Pat O'Malley

Politician (uncredited)

Jeffrey Sayre

Party Guest (uncredited)

Charles Sherlock

Politician at Harrison's Headquarters (uncredited)

Ray Spiker

Farmer Listing to Speech (uncredited)

Helene Stanley

Helene Hale (uncredited)

Larry Steers

Man at Impeachment Hearing (uncredited)

Houseley Stevenson

Madison, Editor (uncredited)

Charles Sullivan

Man Listening to Speech (uncredited)

William Tannen

Man in City Bar (uncredited)

Phil Tully

Football Coach (uncredited)

Glen Walters

Woman Listening to Speech (uncredited)

Frank Wilcox

Public Relations Man (uncredited)

Harry Wilson

One of Duffy's Goons (uncredited)

Bill Wolfe

Farmer (uncredited)

Al Wyatt Sr.

State Trooper (uncredited)

Sam Harris

Politician (uncredited)

Charles Ferguson

Newspaper Office Worker (uncredited)

Richard Bartell

State Legislator (uncredited)

Mary Bear

File Clerk (uncredited)

William Bruce

Commissioner (uncredited)

Edwin Chandler

Radio Announcer (uncredited)

William Cottrell

Reporter (uncredited)

Jack Deery

Man at Impeachment Hearing (uncredited)

George Farmer

Bus Man (uncredited)

Tom Ferrandini

Politician (uncredited)

Ted French

Dance Caller (uncredited)

Slim Gaut

Man Listening to Speech (uncredited)

John Giles

Young Boy (uncredited)

Avery Graves

Senator (uncredited)

Jimmie Horan

Man Listening to Speech (uncredited)

James Linn

Politician (uncredited)

H.C. Miller

Pa Stark (uncredited)

Truett Myers

Minister at Funeral (uncredited)

Frank O'Connor

Party Guest (uncredited)

Sammy Shack

Duffy Associate (uncredited)

Irving Smith

Butler (uncredited)

George Taylor

Politician (uncredited)

Al Thompson

Man in Cheap Bar (uncredited)

Glen Thompson

State Trooper (uncredited)

A.C. Tillman

Sheriff (uncredited)

Reba Waterson

Receptionist (uncredited)

Crew

Robert Rossen

Screenplay

Robert Rossen

Director

Don Siegel

Second Unit

Irving Lippman

Still Photographer

Robert Rossen

Producer

Frank Goodwin

Sound Engineer

Emil Oster

First Assistant Camera

Donna M. Norridge

Script Supervisor

Gert Andersen

Camera Operator

Morris Stoloff

Music Director

Joseph Nussbaum

Orchestrator

Al Clark

Editor

Sturges Carne

Art Direction

Frank P. Keller

Assistant Editor

Burnett Guffey

Director of Photography

Robert J. Schiffer

Makeup Artist

Donald W. Starling

Editorial Services

Louis Gruenberg

Original Music Composer

Sam Nelson

Assistant Director

Helen Hunt

Hairstylist

Louis Diage

Set Decoration

Clay Campbell

Makeup Artist

Don Siegel

Second Unit Director

Robert Penn Warren

Novel

Shirley Miller

Producer's Assistant

Robert Parrish

Editorial Consultant

Jean Louis

Costume Design

Reviews

John Chard

⭐ 9/10

June 4, 2019

Honesty, integrity, corruption and murder!

Willie Stark is an upstanding pillar of the community, when he is coaxed into standing in the local election he gets a thirst for politics. As he progresses through the political ranks he loses sight of the very things that he first stood for, with him, and all those associated with him getting muddier by the day.

Adapted by Robert Rossen (director and screenplay) from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, All The King's Men is the story about the rise and fall of a rotten politician. Almost certainly based on Louisiana Governor, Huey Pierce Long, it's a towering piece of work that is as politically cynical as it is ego centrically human. Not merely just another film about "when good guys go bad", this picture serves notice to the many things that drives politics on, for better or worse. The role of the press is under scrutiny for example, and just how come simple things such as rallies can be staged by some conniving aide sitting at the back? All roads in this gritty piece are paved with suspicious looking stones, the very foundations of which have been murkily formed.

It's a testament to Rossen and his excellent cast that All The King's Men is still as potent today as it obviously was back at the tail end of the 40s. Every once in a while a similarly themed film will come our way, but few, if any, can boast the hard hitting realism that seams throughout Rossen's film. Helped by location shooting at run down Stockton in California, and boosted by a powerhouse performance from Broderick Crawford as Stark, this film most definitely is a hallmark in the political genre. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, it won three in the main categories, Best Actor (Crawford), Best Picture (rightly) and Best Supporting Actress (Mercedes McCambridge with an incredible debut performance). 9/10

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CinemaSerf

⭐ 7/10

June 30, 2026

There's something of the "Animal Farm" to this powerful critique of the democratic process. Sick fed up with vested interests and corruption, "Stark" (Broderick Crawford) decides to fight the good fight against the establishment. Allied with only the steadfast "Sadie" (Mercedes McCambridge) and with half of the interest of journalist "Burden" (John Ireland) he sweeps the rural constituencies but the urban ones keep the powers that be in situ. Skip on four years and we revisit the campaign - but this time, "Stark" is playing a far more shrewd game. Still dependent on the quick-thinking "Sadie" and being followed by the now even more cynical "Burden", he seems to be able to fight on far more even terms. Clearly, he has used the intervening years to ensure that he can splash the cash and get himself elected. Once in the governor's mansion, though, his determination to improve the lot of his voters starts to see his lines of good versus evil begin to blur. Are his methods becoming exactly the same as his predecessors? Things begin to come to an head with his reputable Attorney General "Stanton" (Raymond Greenleaf) quits and the boss asks "Burden" to go a-digging throught the files to find a smoking gun. He's been an admirer of this jurist for years and so reluctantly agrees - but even if he does find something, will he share it with an increasingly megalomaniac "Stark" whose brusque treatment of his all-American lad "Tom" (John Derek) is beginning to have him question his loyalty to the machine he has been so instrumental in supporting over the years? The one thing I didn't especially like was the ending. It's a sort of cop-out that avoided the politician having to actually deal with the repercussions of his actions, but that very disappointment is an huge testament to a performance from Crawford who is on really sold form throughout. Add to his efforts the equally impressive and almost as ruthless one from McCambridge who treads on eggshells with some considerable skill and, I think, the best effort from Ireland that I've ever seen and we have an exercise in cinematic poaching-cum-gamekeeping, this is up there with the best.

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All the King's Men (1949)

Robert Rossen, Robert Penn Warren

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

John Chard

CinemaSerf

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