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All the King's Men

All the King's Men

Drama · 1949

A man of humble beginnings and honest intentions rises to power by nefarious means. Along for the wild ride are an earnest reporter, a heretofore classy society girl, and a too-clever-for-her-own-good political flack.

Movie details

All the King's Men

“He Might Have Been A Pretty Good Guy . . . If Too Much Power . . . And Women . . . Hadn't Gone To his Head !”

1949 Drama 1h 49m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

A man of humble beginnings and honest intentions rises to power by nefarious means. Along for the wild ride are an earnest reporter, a heretofore classy society girl, and a too-clever-for-her-own-good political flack.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over All the King's Men?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Rossen

Written by

Robert Rossen

John Ireland

John Ireland

Jack Burden

Broderick Crawford

Broderick Crawford

Willie Stark

Joanne Dru

Joanne Dru

Anne Stanton

John Derek

John Derek

Tom Stark

Mercedes McCambridge

Mercedes McCambridge

Sadie Burke

Shepperd Strudwick

Shepperd Strudwick

Adam Stanton

Ralph Dumke

Ralph Dumke

Tiny Duffy

Court is in session

Put All the King's Men on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.