As an influential accusation of modern politics, “All the King’s Men” embody a sign in the maturation of United States cinema.
Robert Rossen being the producer, screenplay writer, cinematographer and director of All King’s Men did a great job. An excellent, smart, fascinating and horrifying, All the King’s Men is an example of late 1940s filmmaking at its best.
Rossen’s savage screenplay and solid direction provide the film a powerful knock. The imminence of the drama is due in part to a documentary-like style, especially in the scenes on the campaign trail where Stark sways crowds with his simple expression and good charm.
It was based on the Pulitzer-prize winning novel; Robert Rossen’s film is an unkindly reasonable study of the corruptive nature of personal and political power by means of the chaotic career of Senator Hughey Stark.
It is conquered by the dynamic performance of Broderick Crawford as Willie Stark, a lightly hidden side of real-life supporter of ordinary people-dictator. In a time that was still mixing out feel-good political dramas.
Talking about technicalities, first, the cinematography, it was shot at various locations, out in California, using local residents, something that was somewhat unfamiliar for Hollywood at the time. Burnett Guffey used different angles; he did well in doing blockings. I also noticed that most of the shot was in worm’s eye view type of shot to show authority and power to the one talking. Guffey did show a lot of interesting places, despite being black and white that can serve as a reason to enjoy watching the film.
Louis Gruenberg, being the musical scorer used sounds that capture one’s attention. You can notice that all through out the film there is sound. Even though it is in black and white, it maintained my interest in watching the film because of the scoring. He also used a lot of natural sounds to make it more realistic. He amplified the music in some of the scenes to give emphasize and to increase the tension that is happening.
A Two-thumb up for the Sturges Carne - Art Director and Jean Louis - Costume Designer for giving life to the film. They were able to show the reality that the film wants to convey. While watching the film you will be moved by the setting of each scenes especially the time where Stark is having his campaigns and speeches in front of a large crowd. As if you are there, as if it was really happening. The costumes of the casts express the hierarchy of ordinary people towards the one who have the authority.
The post production, I like the way it was edited by Al Clark. I was not expecting that the film will be edited in a smooth manner since it was in 1940’s. He most likes to use jump cuts and fading transitions. There are scenes were he minimizes the last part of the dialogues then shift it to another scene. It was very creative and appealing.
All King’s men is a film that shows challenging practicality of a film that said not only that the American political system was corrupt but also that, lacking the involvement of cruelty, it would remain corrupt.
The film won Oscars in the following categories:
* Best Picture
* Best Actor
* Best Supporting Actress
It was also nominated for
* Best Supporting Actor
* Best Director
* Best Film Editing
* Best Writing, Screenplay
And he deserves every one of them!