All the King's Men is a 1949 American drama written, produced, and directed by Robert Rossen. It is based on the 1946 Robert Penn Warren novel of the same name. The film stars Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, and Joanne Dru. The plot focuses on the rise and fall of the ambitious and ruthless politician Willie Stark (Crawford) in the American South. Though a fictional character, Stark strongly resembles Louisiana governor Huey Long. The film won three Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, the award for Best Actor, which went to Broderick Crawford, and the award for Best Supporting Actress, won by Mercedes McCambridge. 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. Plot The rise of Willie Stark from a rural county seat to the governor's mansion is depicted in the film. He goes into politics, railing against the corruptly run county government, but loses his race for county treasurer in the face of obstacles placed by the local machine. Stark teaches himself law and continues to fight the establishment, championing the local people and gaining popularity. He eventually becomes a candidate for governor, narrowly losing his first race, then winning on his second attempt. Along the way he becomes as corrupt as the politicians he once fought against. As he rises, Stark philanders and gets involved with many women, taking his PR man/journalist Jack Burden's own girlfriend, Anne Stanton, as his mistress. Stark's son Tommy drinks to deal with his feelings about his father and crashes his car, injuring himself and killing his female passenger. When Stark bullies Tommy into playing a football game, Tommy becomes paralyzed after a brutal hit. Stark, who had always dealt with those who got in his way by any means, begins to see his world unravel and he discovers that not everyone can be bought off. The story has a complex series of relationships, seen through the eyes of the journalist Jack Burden, who admires Stark and even when disillusioned still sticks by him. Stark's campaign assistant Sadie is clearly in love with Stark and wants him to leave his wife, Lucy. When Stark's reputation is brought into disrepute by Judge Stanton (Anne's uncle), he seeks to blacken the judge's name. When Jack finds evidence of the