All the King's Men (1949)

All the Kings’s Men is a film made in 1949 based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name by Robert Penn Warren. The film stars Broderick Crawford in his Academy Award winning performance of Willie Stark, the fictionalized version of former Louisiana Governor Huey Long.  Governor Long is remembered as one of the most captivating and legendary politicians of all time while the character of Willie Stark is one of the most memorable anti-heros in the history of film.  John Ireland, nominated for Best Supporting Actor, plays Jack Burden, a newspaper reporter who ends up working for Stark after quitting his job.  The film surrounds the campaign and election of Stark who is a man of the people with a loud and thunderous message. Throughout the film, Stark goes from being a good ole’ boy to a back-room dealmaking shark. Although he campaigns on the soapbox of doing good for the oppressed and poverty stricken people of his state, he becomes his own worst enemy. After promising more than he could deliver during the campaign, Stark becomes ensconced with the wealthy oil and energy companies in which he promised to fight.  His fall from grace is not alone.  Along the way he loses his supportive wife, his son loses his ability to walk, and the respect of the people that brought him to the top dwindles. 

The film opens with Stark campaigning for city treasurer in Konoma County.  Stark is introduced as an honest man with a heart of gold.  This idea is reinforced when Stark exposes the city for misusing funds to build a school. His campaign is cut short by the county commissioners, the very men who made the back-room deal with the contractors perhaps foreshadowing Stark’s later adoption of such tactics.  Weeks later, the school’s fire escape gives out and several children are killed with more injured. Stark comes out on the other side knowing that he could have made a difference if anyone would have listened.  After getting his law degree from the help of his sweet schoolteacher wife he becomes an attorney who helps the people of his community. This resembles the Bill McKay character from The Candidate and President Obama’s early days as a community organizer. He was amongst the people, learning what was at the heart of their issues. He was a fellow “hick” after all.  This experience came in handy when engaging the working class and getting them to rally around him in what is now known as a true grassroots campaign. John McCain and Sarah Palins’s maverick and rogue routine do not compare to that of Stark’s initial and pure rejection of the machine. The people felt they had an leader who was in-touch and represented the hope and change they desperately needed while not condescending them or trying to pull the wool over their eyes. In Willie’s case, he accomplished this all the while.  This film highlights the hypocrisy in politics which existed back then, as it does now. Sadly, it takes money to run a campaign and to fund projects.  Stark would stop at nothing to fulfill the big promises he made to his people even if that meant losing his integrity. The way Jack Burden put it, “You can't make an omelet without cracking eggs”.  Unfortunately, the eggs he cracked were his own. This film broke down barriers between the public and the machine. Once again, we get a back-room view of what goes into making political deals. Sometimes, even if the programs or laws appear to be good for the public, there are still fat-cats somewhere reaping the benefits.  This film begs the question: Are we willing to except this behavior in the United States?

Jack Burden had the luck to stumble upon Stark during his treasurer campaign and was instantly captivated by his honesty and seemingly pure intentions. Jack saw something in Stark that contradicted his own upbringing of wealth and privilege in an affluent community called Burden’s Landing. His mother is a lush who thinks only of her next husband or cocktail.  The other members of the community seem cavalier and pompous as well. They turn a blind eye on the poverty stricken majority while blaming the victim.  Burden likely grew up frustrated, feeling like there was another side to the story and he found Stark as someone that agreed.  His own struggle in reconciling who he wants to be with what his family expects of him is highlighted.  We also see  well as his relationship with Ann Stanton (Joanne Dru), a childhood friend and Burden’s girlfriend who eventually falls victim to Stark’s charm.  Stark not only makes a mess of his life, but the lives of all who trust him including Burden. 

It goes without saying that All the King’s Men defined the campaign and political movie genre. For the time, it was groundbreaking. Perhaps even more so was the character of Sadie Burke. Mercedes McCambridge won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as this fast talking and smart force of nature.  She may have defined the archetype within the genre. The perfect mixture of brains and gumption, Sadie was a pioneer for the times.  Women had only gotten the vote ten or so years before the film was set.  Sadie would have no doubt been on the front line’s of suffrage. Although she seems tough, she too is beguiled by Stark and falls in love with him. Her strength and hard exterior is juxtaposed by her own insecurities about her looks. Women more beautiful than her surround Stark constantly. This gives Sadie a vulnerability and McCambridge nails it. Sadie was the personification of the smart and educated middle class who more than likely voted for and trusted Stark ending up along the bumpy ride to the bottom. 

Although Stark leaves a wake of heartbreak and corruption in his path his disciples stick with him until the end.  He may have built highways, hospitals, and colleges but how many lives were ruined or even lost along the way? Some would argue that in war casualties are the price to pay for victory.  However, Stark was not that calculating. His moves were not carefully planned and executed. If he saw an opportunity to exploit someone to push his agenda, he jumped on it without second thought. 

Greed is like an itch that Stark tries to scratch, but continues to spread until it takes over his entire existence. Stark experiences a loss of control when greed and power take over. Focus is lost and his soul blackens. Stark makes the transition from democrat to despot which causes one to imagine that socialism may have been under scrutiny in this film.   Although it doesn’t appear to be idealogical, we are shown good and evil on both sides. Adam Stanton is the good doctor from Burden’s landing who choses not to let his affluence define him. The film teaches us that there are always shades of gray in politics and policy making. There are poor guys who are bad and there are rich guys who are good.  No one is safe from the entrancing luster of power and greed. 

A strong message sent by All the King’s Men was on the balance of democracy. Currently in the United States the wealth and income gap is growing larger. The balance has been thrown off and the middle and lower class continue to struggle. This political landscape of the state in the film is not dissimilar from that of Arkansas especially in the Mississippi delta and Arkansas river valley.  Jobs, infrastructure, education, and healthcare are the priorities among the working class people of each area. These issues were at the core of the ideals in the film. Not gay marriage, school prayer, or abortion issues which are often talking points within the media. When Governor Beebe campaigned he had a television advertisement which said he was born in a tar-paper shack. The hick-to-hick campaign of Stark has become a cliche, but it has not fallen on deaf ears. There is something to be said of his tactics. At the Corning, Arkansas (population 3,254)  4th of July Picnic you can hear speeches from Senate, Gubernatorial, Congressional, as well as local campaigns. The ability of a politician to win a campaign is tested under these settings. The desperate and poverty stricken people, as well as the affluent farmers of the region have a lot at stake when it comes to who is elected and they need to know that the representative they elect is going to offer them something in return for their vote. This is where Stark succeeded. He promised the people everything they needed and asked only for their vote in return while collected the souls of the dirty rich.  Much to the surprise of Stark, there is a balance to ensure the progress in the United States. Polarity works to keep the world spinning much like in the world of government and politics.