All the King's Men (1949)
Country: US
Technical: bw 109m
Director: Robert Rossen
Cast: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, Joanne Dru
Synopsis:
A hick fights his way from idealistic lawyer to becoming a powerful demagogue, thanks to his gradual loss of scruple and heavy promotion by the political machinery and the press.
Review:
Pretty strong meat, and certainly unique for its day, but the character jump for Crawford, from honest attorney to J. R. Ewing figure, is too sudden and unmotivated, as are the allegiances of his wayward love life. This is presumably from the need to keep everything from Ireland's viewpoint. Crawford's is a powerhouse of a performance, but McCambridge has the real magnetism, regrettably pushed into the background towards the end. Unlike her camp performance in Johnny Guitar, this one lives and breathes from the screen, so that in a way she becomes more desirable even than the Joanne Dru character.
Country: US
Technical: bw 109m
Director: Robert Rossen
Cast: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, Joanne Dru
Synopsis:
A hick fights his way from idealistic lawyer to becoming a powerful demagogue, thanks to his gradual loss of scruple and heavy promotion by the political machinery and the press.
Review:
Pretty strong meat, and certainly unique for its day, but the character jump for Crawford, from honest attorney to J. R. Ewing figure, is too sudden and unmotivated, as are the allegiances of his wayward love life. This is presumably from the need to keep everything from Ireland's viewpoint. Crawford's is a powerhouse of a performance, but McCambridge has the real magnetism, regrettably pushed into the background towards the end. Unlike her camp performance in Johnny Guitar, this one lives and breathes from the screen, so that in a way she becomes more desirable even than the Joanne Dru character.
Country: US
Technical: bw 109m
Director: Robert Rossen
Cast: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, Joanne Dru
Synopsis:
A hick fights his way from idealistic lawyer to becoming a powerful demagogue, thanks to his gradual loss of scruple and heavy promotion by the political machinery and the press.
Review:
Pretty strong meat, and certainly unique for its day, but the character jump for Crawford, from honest attorney to J. R. Ewing figure, is too sudden and unmotivated, as are the allegiances of his wayward love life. This is presumably from the need to keep everything from Ireland's viewpoint. Crawford's is a powerhouse of a performance, but McCambridge has the real magnetism, regrettably pushed into the background towards the end. Unlike her camp performance in Johnny Guitar, this one lives and breathes from the screen, so that in a way she becomes more desirable even than the Joanne Dru character.