"power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. great men are almost always bad men." ~ lord acton this quote is at the heart of rossen's "all the king's men". from humble beginnings, you can see willie stark's soul rot and his high morals and platitudes devolve into a brutal attempt to grab more power. a quest to control those things around him that he should not, and cannot control. there is something very powerful to watching this transformation happen right before you and to go through this experience with these characters. is willie stark a great man? in a certain sense of the word, yes. is he a bad man? in another sense, yes. do the ends of his actions justify his actions themselves? this film explores the subtleties of the human experience with power in such intricacy and in a way that is engaging and entertaining. in this way, this film seems vital, even today in a political system that has evolved into something different. where corruption takes a different form. but in the end, the transformation and consequences of willie stark in all the king's men remains vital and salient today. there aren't many films that are as observant and intelligent about the human experience as this one. yes, some of the plot threads are a little contrived and don't work as well. but, in the end, after a compelling journey, the film still asks the viewers to engage with it's ideas. how does power effect us? how can we eliminate this from our political system? what can the story of willie stark teach us? perhaps most importantly, are all great men simultaneously bad men? and if so, why?