Before seeing this new version of All the King's Men, I ran and reviewed my VHS of the Robert Rossen 1949 classic that won Best Picture of that year, Best Actor for Broderick Crawford and Best Supporting Actress for Mercedes McCambridge.
One thing I will say for this version, in the previous one they never actually give the name of the state this takes place in. Could be just about any southern or midwestern state, in fact with the lack of black faces in 1949 there was no suggestion it could even be in the south. Here they not only name the state, but the picture was filmed inside the state capital building of Louisiana in Baton Rouge where Huey Long was assassinated.
Of course it's no closer to the real Huey Long story than the first one with all the same reasons I enumerated in my review of that film. This film is updated to the early fifties, right before the civil rights revolution. It loses something by not being set in the early thirties during the Depression and the rise of the Long family in Louisiana. The populist message of Willie Stark/Huey Long isn't right for the times.
Sean Penn as Willie Stark certainly is suggestive of the redneck machismo of a demagogue. Of course his slight build works to a disadvantage to Broderick Crawford whose sheer bulk was domineering in the part as it should be in this film. Patricia Clarkson's role is whittled down to a nub from the part Mercedes McCambridge won her Oscar for as Stark's girl Friday. Of course the subplot of Stark's football hero son Tom is non-existent.
In almost every way this version of All the King's Men comes up short in comparison to the earlier one. Still its good entertainment and particularly look for Anthony Hopkins's performance as the former judge driven to suicide by Stark's blackmail. That part was expanded from the original story.
One thing I will say for this version, in the previous one they never actually give the name of the state this takes place in. Could be just about any southern or midwestern state, in fact with the lack of black faces in 1949 there was no suggestion it could even be in the south. Here they not only name the state, but the picture was filmed inside the state capital building of Louisiana in Baton Rouge where Huey Long was assassinated.
Of course it's no closer to the real Huey Long story than the first one with all the same reasons I enumerated in my review of that film. This film is updated to the early fifties, right before the civil rights revolution. It loses something by not being set in the early thirties during the Depression and the rise of the Long family in Louisiana. The populist message of Willie Stark/Huey Long isn't right for the times.
Sean Penn as Willie Stark certainly is suggestive of the redneck machismo of a demagogue. Of course his slight build works to a disadvantage to Broderick Crawford whose sheer bulk was domineering in the part as it should be in this film. Patricia Clarkson's role is whittled down to a nub from the part Mercedes McCambridge won her Oscar for as Stark's girl Friday. Of course the subplot of Stark's football hero son Tom is non-existent.
In almost every way this version of All the King's Men comes up short in comparison to the earlier one. Still its good entertainment and particularly look for Anthony Hopkins's performance as the former judge driven to suicide by Stark's blackmail. That part was expanded from the original story.