TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

All The King's Men [1949]


RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £2.89 (subject to change)

Editorial
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

Editorial
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

Editorial
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.

A great political film
Review date: 2006-03-22 Rating: 10 out of 10

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.

Similar Products

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Broderick Crawford
Mercedes McCambridge
Joanne Dru
John Ireland
John Derek

Creators:
Broderick Crawford (Primary Contributor)
John Ireland (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822024632
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, Dubbed, Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2001-07-09
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 105 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1951-07-23
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: Bulgarian (Subtitled)
Language: Czech (Subtitled)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: Hebrew (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: Hungarian (Subtitled)
Language: Icelandic (Subtitled)
Language: Norwegian (Subtitled)
Language: Polish (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: German (Dubbed)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional