Production Company: Columbia Pictures
"There's something on everybody; a man is conceived in sin and born in corruption." - Willie Stark
Setting
Kanoma City, Kanoma County, USA
The Plot
The films follows, and is partially narrated by, journalist Jack Burden [Ireland] who is sent to follow political candidate Willie Stark [Crawford] as "they say he's an honest man" campaigning against corruption in the current government. Their lives remain intertwined far beyond the campaign through to his reign as Governor and his own demise.
The Review
The official plot description made it sound a lot less interesting than it actually was! We meet journalist Jack Burden as his leave is cancelled and he's sent to Kanoma County to look into a fiery new candidate Willie Stark, described as rather an honest fellow.
As Lord Acton famously said, "absolute power corrupts absolutely". This film demonstrates that concept as we watch Stark rise from fighting corruption to using his "little black book of sin and corruption" to bully, manipulate and blackmail his way through his incumbency. The film was based on the book, which was loosely (and unofficially) based on real-life Governor of Louisiana Huey Long whose name was banned from being uttered on set. In the film the state wasn't specified and Kanoma County doesn't exist, so snaps for covering their tracks!
The acting was convincing throughout the film, thanks to director Robert Rossen who gave the cast one read of the script and took it away to give the dialogue a more natural flow, furthermore giving extras their own speaking parts and filming rehearsals. It seemed to work as Broderick picked up his own Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and the ferocious Mercedes McCambridge took out Best Supporting Actress. Amusingly, McCambridge was cast after she was kept waiting too long at the audition and yelling at the producers before storming out; I'm not sure that's a great tip for aspiring actors but hey it worked for Merc so why not give it a whirl!
It was a great film but I did find it quite sad to watch the underdog become so vicious while fighting the very corruption he was set to follow, even to the point of almost running his own impeachment trial! The film was certainly food for thought; having a good heart doesn't make one immune to having it tainted if it's not guarded.
As Lord Acton famously said, "absolute power corrupts absolutely". This film demonstrates that concept as we watch Stark rise from fighting corruption to using his "little black book of sin and corruption" to bully, manipulate and blackmail his way through his incumbency. The film was based on the book, which was loosely (and unofficially) based on real-life Governor of Louisiana Huey Long whose name was banned from being uttered on set. In the film the state wasn't specified and Kanoma County doesn't exist, so snaps for covering their tracks!
The acting was convincing throughout the film, thanks to director Robert Rossen who gave the cast one read of the script and took it away to give the dialogue a more natural flow, furthermore giving extras their own speaking parts and filming rehearsals. It seemed to work as Broderick picked up his own Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and the ferocious Mercedes McCambridge took out Best Supporting Actress. Amusingly, McCambridge was cast after she was kept waiting too long at the audition and yelling at the producers before storming out; I'm not sure that's a great tip for aspiring actors but hey it worked for Merc so why not give it a whirl!
It was a great film but I did find it quite sad to watch the underdog become so vicious while fighting the very corruption he was set to follow, even to the point of almost running his own impeachment trial! The film was certainly food for thought; having a good heart doesn't make one immune to having it tainted if it's not guarded.
The Slap
This goes to our leading man Willie Stark, who else? I don't recall another character that made me change my view them so dramatically during one film! First he's the underdog trying to fight for justice, then he's a ruthless and manipulative tyrant crapping on anybody who gets in his way.
No comments:
Post a Comment