All the King's Men - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

All the King's Men



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Going backwards through time a bit for the last two films in the Columbia Classics: Volume 5 set we come to a terrific film that I had almost forgotten about. Maybe not on par with Marlon Brando’s On the Waterfront, but still an amazing film that has been a hot minute since I gave it a spin on DVD (the only Blu-ray release was a limited edition print at 3,000 copies from the new defunct Twilight Time studios back in 2014, so I wasn’t able to grab it back then).

Jack Burden (John Ireland) is looking forward to taking a vacation with his girlfriend instead of digging around in the slums for stories to write about, only for his editor to cancel said vacation and sends him off on assignment to a little town called Konoma where a local candidate is raising some eyebrows. You see, said candidate isn’t involved in a scandal. He isn’t railing against his opponent and calling him names. Instead said politician is the rarest and most elusive of politicians. You know, an actually HONEST one. Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), said politician, is ruffling feathers all over the little town as his honesty is the one thing that is rankling the established elite there. He may not be going for the most prestigious position in all of the America, but in this little town he wants to run things by the books, for the people, and do so HONESTLY. Something that those in power are REALLY not a fan of being that they are sorta, you know, career politicians.

Jack himself is swept up in the razzle dazzle of Willie’s sheer blunt forth honest, and becomes almost like an ally rather than objective reporter as he gets deeper and deeper into Willie’s circle. I mean, who wouldn’t like Willie Stark? He’s a blue collar worker just like everybody in that town, who just wants to make the place a little better for everyone. He doesn’t have a taste of the political corruption that everyone associates with the world of politics in general, AND he’s genuinely liked by the townsfolk. However, the further and further you go in politics, the more the tentacles of corruption and power start to tempt one, and no one is completely impervious to that siren call, even Willie Stark.

As a whole, All the King’s Men is an impeccable film. It sports a fantastic 1940s cast, with a great hook. The honest politician. There’s a few quirks along the way with plot points wrapping up a little too handily, and a subplot involving Willie’s son, but overall this is a masterpiece of cinema that has been too long relegated to DVD (I’m not really counting Twilight Time’s release as it sold out quickly and was barely available to the masses). The film’s real pull those is Broderick Crawford, who was one of the weirdest leading men in Hollywood during the 190s, as he didn’t fit the motif for a suave handsome leading man. But in this instance it actually works for him as you view him through the lens of an every day American who just wants to see someone like them up there. It’s a fantastic performance, one of the reasons that I have always wished this got more popular culture viewings from those who aren’t just looking for niche old films.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Holy cow. I’m usually expecting a good transfer by Sony, but they went above and beyond with this one. This is a 5/5 star rating no questions asked, and I’m ALL for it. Detail is impeccable, blowing my old DVD out of the water (and judging by reviews of the Twilight Times Blu-ray release, this should be a hefty increase there as well as this was newly remastered). Black levels are so oh so paramount for a B&W film, and said blacks are silky perfect from beginning to end. Contrast and facial details are superb, while background elements stand out as distinct and clearer than I heave ever seen them before. The film isn’t overly grainy (and never was), but you can still see a nice handsome grain structure there that doesn’t look like it was tampered with at all (or very judiciously at least). Wowza.






Audio:

This is the first film in the collection so far that hasn’t had an Atmos upgrade, and frankly I’m disappointed. This was a 1940s film in Mono, and much like On the Waterfront I don’t think we’d be looking at any major upgrade. The onboard lossless mono track is solid, with good dialog (which takes up 95% of the sound on the disc), and a nice brass score from Louis Gruenberg. Nothing to write home about, but a classically solid track all the way around except for some mild constraint on the uppers and lower end of the spectrum.






Extras:

• Audio Commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff
• Force of Will
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

I will always label All the King’s Men as a timeless classic, though it is not nearly so present in modern day memories as other films of the time period, despite being weirdly prescient considering all of the hubbub of this election cycle that it debuts in. The 4K UHD looks and sounds magnificent, although extras are a tad slim. But needless to say, this is still well worth the watch if you grab the boxset.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Joanne Dru, John Derek
Directed by: Robert Rossen
Written by: Robert Penn Warren, Robert Rossen
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono, French, German, Italian, Spanish (Latin), Spanish (Castilian) DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
Studio: Sony Pictures
Rated: NR
Runtime: 110 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 22nd, 2024

Recommendation: Highly Recommended.