Surprising as it sounds, All the King’s Men isn’t really about politics, just like Gone with the Wind isn’t really about war. Attempting to identify characters from either political party as good guys or bad guys and symbolically adorning them in white or black hats would be an exercise in futility. A lot of gray exists in this movie. In truth, this is a tale of corruption, and it paints a grim portrait of human nature. It boldly suggests that if any of us sacrifices or sells a bit of our principles in order to gain what we want for the “greater good,” we start down a dark path with no clear way out. We reap what we sow, and it doesn’t matter what side we’re on or how noble our intentions are. Corruption is the inevitable, shared affliction and common weakness. I can’t say I embrace such a sweeping, cynical message, but that’s how it plays out in this story.

At face value, Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford in his Oscar-winning performance) is a simple, honest man with a courageous mission. A “small-town Abe Lincoln” as one character puts it, trying to expose the established crooked machine that controls the area. Willie’s intentions are honorable, but his motivations aren’t yet evident perhaps even to himself. It’s through the subtle hesitations when he answers certain questions and the dismissive interaction with his wife Lucy (the underrated Anne Seymour) that we catch glimpses of his true nature—a foreshadowing of things to come. We see Willie at first with his 15-year-old adopted son Tom (John Derek). They’re handing out flyers and rallying a crowd in the public square, just as reporter Jack Burden (John Ireland) shows up to cover it. Jack witnesses trouble firsthand when the gathering is broken up on false charges of “assembly without a permit,” “illegal distribution of flyers,” etc. These accusations are unconstitutional, of course, and no arrests are made—but that’s how the machine stifles the truth. After Jack’s articles about Willie are published in a big-city newspaper, the machine closes in. Rather than stomp on him like an insect, they take Willie under their wing. They encourage him, promote him, and use him to their advantage. Willie becomes a stooge and smokescreen. He loses his first election for county treasurer, but the machine needs him to split votes in the opposing party for the next gubernatorial race to ensure their own candidate stays in office. It works … at least for a while.

Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, and Mercedes McCambridge.

Then Willie catches on, thanks to the help of campaign aide Sadie Burke (the brilliant Mercedes McCambridge in her Oscar-winning film debut). She lays it on the line, but underneath her hard edge, she has a soft spot for Willie. She tells him he’s a sucker. Everyone in their group just loves those boring speeches where he spouts facts and figures to disinterested crowds who might believe he’s honest but can’t find one good reason to vote for him. Willie is shattered by this revelation. He gets drunk and passes out. The next day he’s hungover, disillusioned, and angry as he staggers onto the stage. Instead of reciting another boring speech, he delivers a hard-hitting rant about the hicks of the world, like him, who know exactly what they need and know what’s wrong with their government. Willie is based on real-life politician Huey Long, a populist Democrat from Louisiana, and many plot points align with Long’s trajectory and its fateful outcome. It would be easy but also inaccurate to say “a new Willie is born” after his game-changing speech. Instead, as he rises in the political arena, we see the man come into his own, revealing his true colors. There’s no question Willie’s ideals are shattered, but he is also eager to do whatever it takes to trample any opposition in his path.

It’s not just Willie coming into his own; in time, we see all the characters in this story shirking valued principles for one reason or another and succumbing to corruption. Each one sacrifices a little “good” in themselves to get what they want. Nobody wears a white hat. Nobody gets away unscathed. Even Kathy (Joanne Dru) and the judge (Raymond Greenleaf). Even fringe characters like Jack’s own mother (Katherine Warren) who ignores her awful marriage and “tries to keep young by drinking herself old.” Even Willie’s wife Lucy, who disapproves of Willie’s choices but climbs the ladder of success right beside him. Early on, she tutors him through law school, then turns a blind eye to his illegal actions and illicit affairs. She dons fancy minks and lives the high life in silence as a governor’s wife, playing her dutiful role in Willie’s new machine.

The Stark campaign.

I can’t help thinking, as we grow more polarized as a nation today and tensions mount in our political parties, that the major point in All the King’s Men is more instigating than illuminating. It sounds the alarm to expose the dark side in all of us, that, given the right circumstances, we could all end up like Willie in spite of our best intentions. Not only is that ugly, it offers no alternative by comparison, no perspective, and no shred of hope that we don’t all have to choose a path of crime and deception in order to make this world a better place. For that reason, and for the first time watching this movie after many viewings, I find it not only disturbing but dangerous, because it normalizes this behavior by doing so. It takes an easy road, implying without actually saying, “This is who we are now. This is what we’ve become. Corruption is the great equalizer, and everyone has the capacity for it. All politics aside, this is what it takes to really change things and the price we pay for doing it.” Fade to black. The end. I agree that each of us is tempted with compromise, but our choices determine our path. We are the navigators. And despite this being a well-crafted film with strong performances and a fascinating story with harsh truths about the darker side of human nature, I reject its generalized message. We don’t all have to end up like Willie and the others to get what we want.

All the King’s Men