All The Kings Men Certificate: 
- Duration:
- 109 mins
- Year produced:
- 1949
- Director:
- Robert Rossen
- Cast:
- Broderick Crawford
- John Ireland
- Joanne Dru
Based on the 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, this compelling drama charts the rise and fall of governor Willie Stark, whose ideals are gradually poisoned by power as well as his own vanity and lust - until he becomes the very embodiment of all he originally stood against. Often compared with Citizen Kane, this is a fine essay on corruption in its own right, earning three Oscars, including best picture and best actor for Crawford.
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- This film has not been rated yet
Fascinating facts
Robert Penn Warren's novel, upon which the film was based, was published in 1946. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. Writer-director Robert Rossen purchased the film rights himself, and was then able to broker a deal with Columbia Pictures. He shifted the focus of the novel from the Jack Burden character (played by John Ireland) to Willie Stark.
When offered the role of Willie Stark in All The King’s Men, star John Wayne refused, claiming the story "smears the machinery of government for no purpose of humour or enlightenment.” Wayne was nominated for an Oscar for the film “The Sands of Iwo Jima” that year – but lost out to Broderick Crawford’s performance as Governor Stark.