MOVIE · 1949

All the King's Men

Drama110 min

In the American South, small-town politician Willie Stark begins as a plainspoken reformer railing against corruption and speaking for people shut out of power. As his campaign catches fire, that outsider energy turns into a machine built on pressure, favors, and revenge. The closer Stark gets to the governor's office, the more his ideals bend to ambition, and everyone around him is pulled into the bargain. A reporter drawn into Stark's orbit watches the cost of that rise, while Stark's enemies and allies alike learn how quickly power can harden. Broderick Crawford stands at the center of a story about populism curdling into control and the wreckage left behind.