Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19199 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-07-09
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 105 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Best Picture Oscar in 1949 went to All the King's Men, a hard-hitting political melodrama that will strike any number of eerily familiar chords with audiences weaned on later American politics: from the Kennedys to Nixon, Bill Clinton and beyond, US politicians obviously haven't changed much in the intervening decades. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, this grittily realistic movie charts the rise and fall of Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford in an Oscar-winning role), a hick lawyer whose ideals are inexorably eroded by his relentless pursuit of power. When we first meet him, Stark is the people's champion, a struggling self-taught advocate who isn't afraid to speak out against "graft". Although inspired by the real-life story of Louisiana Governor Huey Pierce Long, All the King's Men also parallels the much later Primary Colors (1998), which is itself a thinly disguised portrait of Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. Like that movie, this one tells the tale from the point of view of a young idealist (John Ireland) who succumbs to the fledgling politician's charm and joins his campaign team. There he meets cynical aide Sadie Burke (Mercedes McCambridge, in another Oscar-winning role) and together they connive at and excuse every increasingly corrupt move made in the name of political expediency, until matters get dangerously out of hand after the governor's son kills his girlfriend in a drunk-driving incident (a spooky premonition of Chappaquidick?). The performances are all top-notch, as is the fast-paced screenplay and direction from Robert Rossen (later director of The Hustler in 1961). Less idealistic than Capra's Mr Smith Goes to Washington, this is a movie ahead of its time which still has plenty to say about the state of modern politics, American or otherwise. --Mark Walker

Special Features
1.33 Full Screen
DVD 5
French\German\Italian\Spanish
English
Region 2
Mono English French German Italian Spanish
Mono
Trailer
Filmographies
Scene Selection
Arabic\Bulgarian\Croatian\Czech\Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\German\Greek\Hebrew\Hindi\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Swedish\Turkish

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 that his vanity and power lust prove to be his downfall. The film is based on the 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, which in turn was based largely on the story of Louisiana legend Huey Long. Directed by Robert Rossen (THE HUSTLER.) Academy Award Nominations: 7, including Best Director, Best Screenplay. Academy Awards: 3, including Best Picture, Best Actor--Broderick Crawford, Best Supporting Actress--Mercedes McCambridge.

Customer Reviews

A great political film
This film is wonderful in that it takes a theme power and its corruptions and uses it to great effect. It shows how one man achieves power and finds he has to acheive it by losing his morals- it calls into question the age old problem of means versus ends. Basically the story of the entourage around a southern governor during his rise to power, the tale profiles each person in terms of teh moral choices they make- showing how none of htem are pantomime villains but all complicated- Stark for instance haunted by the fact he and his wife can't have a child and by alcoholism and womanising- and showing how ambition and family love contradict each other and in some sense require each other it presents a fascinating picture of what it is to be political but also what it is to be a man. If you have to succeed by corruption as all the characters do, if to marry you have to succeed but if corruption ultimately destroys your soul and your relationships what have you left: an ugly circle of moral equivocation. This film is much more than a political film, but is still one of the great political films around- and like all great statements about politics it widens its range. The acting is very good- the only flaw being some slightly conventional scenes which relate to one particular relationship, between the hero and his childhood sweetheart Anne. Other than that the performances especially from the actor playing Stark are wonderful and evocative of both an era and the dilemmas the characters face. Basically this film fulfills the criterion of being an interesting political film. Any statement about politics if it has sufficient merit becomes a statement about how to live one's life and about personality- it rises above politics to philosophy- this is what this film does.

Stark reality
Released in 1949, winner of three Oscars (for best film, best actor and best supporting actress), this film is an adaptation of the best selling novel of the same title, and is loosely based on the real-life career of a Southern US governor, Huey Long. Broderick Crawford (probably best remembered for his TV series, 'Highway Patrol') plays the tragic central character, Willie Stark, an idealistic 'hick' who, over a period of several years, tries to fight corruption locally, gets himself a law degree as a mature student, and goes on to win the election for governor of an unnamed Southern state. In the process, his idealism and honesty become corrupted and his ambition and his incipient megalomania act as corrupting forces.

Crawford plays a man with mesmeric personality and oratory. The poor rally to his support, the political classes flirt with him, women fall in love with him. His story is told through the eyes of a reporter, Jack Burden, who begins by idealising the man but who then sees his own life come unpicked at the seams and who has to start making decisions for himself rather than being an observer. He is a man from the upper echelons of society, the complete contrast with Willie Stark.

As a film, it starts somewhat slowly - it has the feel of a rather poor B-movie or low-budget television tale. As it picks up, there are times when the camera work suggests actuality - there is a spontaneity and newsreel quality to some of the footage as if we are actually watching real events unfolding. The story is at once quite simple and predictable, yet it develops its own horrible sophistication as it alludes to corruption and to the dirtiness of the political processes in the USA (and, potentially, anywhere else).

This is obviously the USA, but the anonymity of the State in question serves to translate the film into one of universal significance - you imagine this could be any political power struggle, anywhere, anytime. It is demagogue against political machine and political class, the man of the people striving to represent them and, in the process, becoming so obsessively convinced of his own righteousness he feels he has the power to decide what is right and what is wrong, regardless. The man of the people becomes the superman who writes his own morality and refuses to be bound by convention or decency.

Powerful performance by Broderick Crawford - at times you feel the direction of the film is a bit simplistic, but Crawford has astonishing physical presence and was only too familiar with the role of alcohol. But watch out, too, for Mercedes McCambridge, the winner of best supporting actress Academy Award. It's an astonishing performance from a woman who appeared in several highly prestigious movies, was the demonically possessed voice in the "Exorcist", and who also battled with a major alcohol problem. Indeed, alcohol, in the film, is used as a potent metaphor for the addictive and compulsive nature of corruption.

Perhaps the overall style of the film has meant that it has aged and lacks the sorts of impact it may well have had in 1949, but it is still a powerful and provocative drama which rivets your attention. Two very fine pieces of acting cement the attraction.

The curse of power
I first saw this movie in my teens and it has always been stored in my memory bank. The story of absolute power corrupting absolutely is as true today as it was 60 years ago when the movie was made and indeed since the days of the Garden of Eden. A very good movie that stands the test of time. No wonder we don't trust politicians whatever their hue.