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All the King's Men (1949)

6 Votes: 32

Director

Starring

Last On

12:00-14:15 Wed 1st Jul 2026 105m
Film4 +1

Synopsis

All the King's Men (1949) box art A blistering and still powerful political drama that deservedly won the best picture Oscar, with the best actor award going to gruff Broderick Crawford in the performance of a lifetime as Willie Stark, a thinly disguised portrait of Louisiana demagogue "Kingfish" Huey Long. Mercedes McCambridge is also superb as a political aide, gaining another well-deserved Oscar as best supporting actress. Today this movie may seem a tad hysterical and over-performed, but it's important to view it in the context of the time in which it was made - a time of extreme corruption and bigotry. Editor (and later director) Robert Parrish was responsible for restructuring director Robert Rossen's cut, based on Robert Penn Warren's unfilmable book. Parrish added new scenes and dialogue, making the film worthy of its Oscar nod and at the same time winning the undying respect of Columbia boss Harry Cohn. Crawford parodied Cohn mercilessly in his next hit, Born Yesterday.