Rent All the King's Men (1949)
3.6 of 5 from 98 ratings
1h 45min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In a bravura performance, Broderick Crawford won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Actor with his stunning portrayal of bullheaded backwoods lawyer Willie Stark in the powerful drama about political and personal corruption. A somber but realistic chronicle of raw , brutal power in force, 'All The King's Men' is based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. It was brought to the screen in 1949 by producer Robert Rossen, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. The story was inspired by the rise and fall of southern bigwig Huey Pierce Long - the infamous 'Kingfish' who was Louisiana's governor and one-time senator. 'All The King's Men' remains a hallmark political film with superb performances throughout. - Actors:
- Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek, Mercedes McCambridge, Shepperd Strudwick, Ralph Dumke, Anne Seymour, Katherine Warren, Raymond Greenleaf, Walter Burke, Will Wright, Grandon Rhodes, Beau Anderson, Sam Ash, Richard Bartell, Mary Bear, Helena Benda, Stanley Blystone, Marshall Bradford
- Directors:
- Robert Rossen
- Producers:
- Robert Rossen
- Writers:
- Robert Penn Warren, Robert Rossen
- Others:
- Robert Parrish, Al Clark
- Studio:
- Columbia Tristar
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Award Winners, Cinema Paradiso's 2022 Centenary Club, Oscar Nominations Competition 2025, Oscar's Two-Time Club, People of the Pictures, Remembering Julian Sands and Frederic Forrest, Remembering Robert Redford, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Federico Fellini, The Instant Expert's Guide to Sidney Lumet, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Ridley Scott, Top 10 Best Picture Follow-Ups, Top Films
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 21/10/2024
- Run Time:
- 110 minutes
- Languages:
- Castilian Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, French Parisian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Latin American Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mon
- Subtitles:
- Arabic, Castillian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, English Close Captioned, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Commentary with Film Historians Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff
- Force of Will: The Making of 'All the King's Men'
- Theatrical Trailer
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 21/10/2024
- Run Time:
- 110 minutes
- Languages:
- Castilian Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, French Parisian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Latin American Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mon
- Subtitles:
- Arabic, Castillian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, English Close Captioned, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- DVD Regions:
- Region 0 (All)
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Commentary with Film Historians Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff
- Force of Will: The Making of 'All the King's Men'
- Theatrical Trailer
More like All the King's Men
Reviews (2) of All the King's Men
Brilliant Political Satire Set in a USA County where Power Corrupts Absolutely... - All the King's Men review by PV
This is a brilliant political satire, 1949 and won Oscars in 1950 and no wonder.
The writing is sharp as is the characterisation.
I am sure this influenced the later Warren Beatty satire BULWORTH.
Broderick Crawford won the best actor Oscar for his barnstorming portrayal of an honest well-meaning working class man corrupted by power and money - as so often happens. Revolutions happen for good reasons then are corrupted French, Russian, Iranian and in Britain under Cromwell in 1650s too.
Amazingly, based on a true story, of Huey Long in 1930s.
4 stars - a must-watch political film, though some parts are romanticised a tad too much.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
No Kings, Just Corruption - All the King's Men review by griggs
Power corrupts, and All the King’s Men shows it with unnerving relevance. Willie Stark begins as a fiery man of the people, railing against elites and promising to clean up government, only to become the very swamp he claimed to fight. It’s a pattern that feels eerily familiar today.
Like Stark, Trump weaponised grievance, thrived on spectacle, and turned “outsider” rage into power. The difference is that while Stark rose from nothing, Trump was never outside wealth, media, or influence — only outside formal politics. Both men fed on resentment, promised salvation, and ended up mired in their own corruption. Trump’s 2016 rise, his refusal to accept defeat in 2020, and his plotting for 2024 feel like the same tragic cycle replayed with new props.
As drama, it’s driven less by subtlety than force. Broderick Crawford makes Stark compellingly brutish — a man both magnetic and terrifying, whose blunt charisma can carry a rally or crush dissent in the same breath. Mercedes McCambridge and John Ireland add grit in the margins, while Robert Rossen’s direction keeps the mood taut, even when the story tips into melodrama. The film has the sweep of a political epic, but also the intimacy of a character study, catching how power corrupts not just leaders but everyone orbiting them.
In its way, All the King’s Men might as well carry the “No Kings” banner — a reminder that strongmen aren’t saviours, and that power built on populist anger collapses under its own weight.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.