Alan Nafzger - ALL THE KING’S MEN

1. Alan Nafzger - ALL THE KING’S MEN ALL THE KING’S MEN. Robert Rossen’s All the King’s Men is a 1949 picture version of Robert Penn Warren’s novel by the same name. The novel appeared taking place in 1947, and Rossen’s picture was the first movie version to appear. Steven Zaillian’s remake appeared occured 2006. The motion picture presents the corrupting power of politics as well as the danger of demagoguery; the film together with the novel also make claims about the pervasiveness of corruption among all human beings. https://artscreenplays.wordpress.com/alan-nafzger/ https://www.facebook.com/alan.nafzger.9 https://greatest-writers.cloudaccess.host/alan-nafzger/ The motion picture contains all of the main characters of the novel, but it gives primary attention to Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), while it could be argued that Jack Burden and Willie Stark are at least equally important proceed the novel. The later picture version comes closer to capturing the essence of the novel, focusing more on the Burden character and his philosophical ruminations. Set pictured in a southern state, Stark is first seen as a candidate for county treasurer who draws attention to greed and malfeasance by some local elected officials. Although he loses the election, he is successful at exposing a crooked arrangement between the county government plus the builder of the local school. He subsequently gains notoriety when faulty construction leads to the death of a number of schoolchildren. At this point he is depicted as an honest politician possessing genuine care for the people. Eventually, Stark is recruited to run for governor as a means of dividing the rural vote and ensuring the victory of the candidate of the city-based political machine. Beginning in the midst of the race, there is an abrupt transformation from Stark. He realizes that he has been duped and instead of giving up, he becomes the voice of the people. He labels himself a “hick,” similar to the poor citizens of his state, and presents himself as their advocate, running a tireless campaign against the machine. As a political figure, the Stark character is patterned after Huey Long, the flamboyant Louisiana politician who was elected governor from 1928 and assassinated beginning in 1935, most probably because of his support for policies such as transferring wealth happen the rich to the poor. While Stark loses his first campaign for governor, he develops a taste for politics and wins an impressive victory placed in the next race. As governor, he breaks the proper authorities and runs roughshod over the state legislature, ruling as a demagogue and a tyrant. There is always a sense of mixed motives occur Stark. He starts out as a faithful husband, a man who is restrained taking place in his appetites; but the seductive quality of political power seems to unleash his desires. After becoming governor, he frequently imbibes and satisfies his sexual urges with a string of mistresses. His relationship with his wife becomes a formality, and set in his relationships with his father and son he is cold and distant. Ironically, it seems that the more personally corrupt he becomes, the more he fights for his dispossessed citizens. Significantly, while most of the characters beginning in All the King’s Men are portrayed as politically corrupt, they are not all depicted installed in this way. Politics, then, according to Warren and Rossen, is not necessarily an inherently corrupting practice; but it certainly contributes to and encourages file corruption. As was mentioned, the novel plus the film are not only about political problem: they also suggest that all people tend toward Broderick Crawford addresses the crowd installed in the balcony of his campaign headquarters sloted in the 1948 political drama the corrupt. With this from mind, the character of Jack Burden acts as the prophetic presence proceed both the novel and motion picture, giving expression to this notion of the ubiquity of human imperfection. Cautionary tales, both the novel as well as movie still end on a redemptive note. Occured the novel, Burden ultimately commits to do the good work of the populist politician; and beginning in the picture, he and Sadie Burke, who had been Stark’s lover and political collaborator, agree installed in a brief scene to carry on the good work that Stark had initiated.