Political corruption is a constant problem. It is more obvious in autocratic societies than democratic ones, but it is always there. That’s what makes All The King’s Men, the winner of the 1949 Best Picture Oscar, one of the most timeless political thrillers. It is a film that fails to beautify anything, making it almost impossible for the audience to feel for any of the characters.
The film, which was based on Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, is about Willie Stark, who is a wannabe politician in an unnamed Southern state at the beginning. He has humble beginnings and believes he can weed out corruption in his small town by running for treasurer, but he loses. Then, he decides to run for governor and the deeper he gets into politics, the stronger the grip of corruption becomes. At the height of his powers, he becomes a tyrant. All this is told from the point of view of Jack Burden, a reporter who covered Willie’s failed treasurer campaign. Jack is recruited by Willie to be the guy who digs up the dirt on Willie’s enemies, going from innocent observer to lowly servant, forced to even go against his friends. Jack realizes his mistakes, but way too late.
The actors in this film are not easily recognizable, which helps make the film even less glamorous. Willie is played by Broderick Crawford, who justly won Best Actor for his commanding performance, where he is able to show the transformation from naive crusader to vile politician. John Ireland, mostly known for his Western roles, plays Jack, while radio actress Mercedes McCambridge plays Sadie Burke, Willie’s frustrated assistant. McCambridge won for Best Supporting Actress.
Robert Rossen also has complete command of the production. This is his film from the start. He wrote the Oscar-nominated script and produced and directed the film. Rossen would later direct Paul Newman in The Hustler, which features a central figure who goes against his principles, but at least he is able to redeem himself at the end. All The King’s Men is too cynical for an ending like that.
It’s a shame that All The King’s Men has become one of the more obscure and largely forgotten Best Picture winners. Being sandwiched between Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet in 1948 and All About Eve, one of the best American films ever made, in 1950, doesn’t help, but neither does the lack of star power. Crawford and Ireland are mostly known for smaller parts, if you had even heard of them at all and McCambridge, although in Giant with James Dean, did very few big films after this. Still, this is one of the most biting tales of political corruption outside of John Frankenheimer’s films (The Manchurian Candidate and Seven Days in May specifically) and made all the more terrifying because not only could it happen in 1949, but it is just as possible in 2011.