I have some issue with the film's ultimate message that corruption is inherent in politics, because no matter how aware I may be that this is true I have to believe it doesn't have to be. That aside it's a powerful film brilliantly written and performed that kept me engrossed from beginning to end and made me think.

A very good movie of a great book. MacCambridge is intense, intelligence and nuanced, and only slightly better than Crawford (although I would have preferred someone who could sound like he came from the South). The screenplay lacks subtlety.

Miscast.

Apart from remaining a disturbingly relevant critique of politics and an insightful commentary on the double-edged sword of populism, it's also a damn fine slice of cinema. Carried by one of the better "power corrupts/rise and fall"-plots out there along with the magnetic acting of Crawford, the reliable Ireland and the grossly underrated McCambridge. It has the style of the old Hollywood with the bite of the new.

it's apparent story of the fall of a politician into corruption is so two toned that it loses it's bite, and it happens so quickly that you forget he wasn't an unlikable bastard in the first place. the writing is fine and the acting is good, but there's nothing here to really impress and there are far better movies from the 40's to use up your time.

Decent, if nothing special.

Classic Hollywood cinema at its best. The plot is interesting and by letting the events run their course over several years, somehow this ends up feeling less constructed than most scripts. It's simply great storytelling.

It won the Oscar for Best Picture, but it's a great film anyway

All the King's Men is unjustly compared to Citizen Kane as the inferior political/power-hungry fall-from-power drama, but I think they are so different that it's almost unbelievable they'd be mentioned in the same sentence. All the King's Men is superbly acted by Broderick Crawford and written with honesty and passion, showing how corrupt men in power can be both excellent and damaging at the same time. It's a great movie that is perhaps a little short and lacks the fleshing out it could

Mercedes McCambridge is jaw-droppingly great here -- one of the best performances of the forties -- but on the whole it's pretty dull flick.

Archetypal American political melodrama based on the life of southern senator Huey Long. The background is well sketched in and there are excellent performances, but the overall narrative is rather flabby.

Moralistic rise-and-fall thing, reminded me a bit of Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd. Rossen has done much better.

"Win With Willie." Well deserved Oscar wins for Best Picture, Actor and Supporting Actress. Highly recommended.