All the King's Men (1949 film)

All the King's Men
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Rossen
Screenplay byRobert Rossen
Based onAll the King's Men
(1946 novel)
by Robert Penn Warren
Produced byRobert Rossen
StarringBroderick Crawford
John Ireland
Mercedes McCambridge
Joanne Dru
John Derek
Shepperd Strudwick
CinematographyBurnett Guffey
Edited byAl Clark
Robert Parrish
Music byLouis Gruenberg
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • November 8, 1949 (1949-11-08) (New York premiere)
  • January 1950 (1950-01) (U.S.)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million[1]
Box office$4.2 million (rentals)[1]

All the King's Men is a 1949 American political drama film written, produced, and directed by Robert Rossen. It is based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning[2] 1946 novel of the same name. It stars Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, and Joanne Dru. The film centers on the rise and fall of an idealistic-but-ruthless politician in the American South,[3] patterned after Louisiana Governor Huey Long.[4]

Released by Columbia Pictures on November 8, 1949, the film received widespread acclaim from critics, and was a commercial success. At the 22nd Academy Awards the film was nominated for seven Oscars and won three; Best Picture, Best Actor for Crawford, and Best Supporting Actress for McCambridge, making an impressive film debut. The film also won five Golden Globes, and was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

In 2001, All the King's Men was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.[5]

  1. ^ a b "Wall St. Researchers' Cheery Tone". Variety. November 7, 1962. p. 7.
  2. ^ "Walter Winchell". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Jun 18, 1949. p. 2. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  3. ^ All the King's Men at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
  4. ^ Keyishian, Harry (2003). Screening Politics - The Politician in American Movies. Scarecrow Press. pp. 18, 20. ISBN 9780810858824.
  5. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing | Film Registry | National Film Preservation Board | Programs | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-23.