Book vs Movie: All the King's Men

All the King’s Men

Compare and Contrast Analysis

All the King’s Men has been a very influential book in American literature and history. Its lost portrayal of the famous politician, Huey Long, is widely known and loved. The book’s popularity has thus resulted in two film adaptations, one made in 1949 and the other made in The change from text to the big screen the fifty-seven-year differences between the movies lead to many differences between both the book and each movie themselves.

Some of these differences lie within the character portrayal, the costumes and sets, and the plot.

In both versions of All the King’s Men, the characters make up the entire plot. Compared to the book, the characters in the movie were much less personable and relatable. The watcher wasn’t able to form as strong as and with the characters, for there wasn’t enough time to know their whole background story and be presented with the full character descriptions.

Willie wasn’t as over the top and memorable in the first movie, for you had a lesser understanding of where he came from, nor was he as brash and bold as I had assumed him to Willie also appeared to be much older than Jack, which didn’t allow the movie watcher to fully grasp their close bond. The 2006 version portrays Jack as a much more important character than in the 1949 adaptation because they used voiceovers to understand his thinking and emotions. One of the largest differences between both the movies and the book was Sadie Burke.

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She was completely different in all of them- almost on a different level of bitterness in each. She was defrosted opinionated and cold in the book. In the 1949 movie, she was fairly standoffish but was almost portrayed as kind and likable in the last movie.

Similarly, Tiny Duffy was much easier to identify in both movies as sly and a kiss-up. In the book, it was a bit more difficult to expect Tiny to be as bad as he was. Character development was a main theme of the book, but it wasn’t as evident in the movies overall.

Another large aspect relating to the characters was what they were wearing in their costumes. The role of costumes in films is large, for they represent the character’s personality and self. The 1949 version was closer to the setting of the book, so the costumes were more historically accurate. In the 2006 version, the costumes were more how I had depicted them, but they were romanticized for the time being. The costumes were fairly similar in each movie, but they were much more flattering and appealing in the second. The same goes for the set of each movie. The sets in the second movie were much more intricate and more life-like Thanks to technology, the 2006 adaptation set didn’t look fake at all.

One of the largest differences between the movies was their plot. Neither of the movies begins in the same way as the book. The first movie began in Jack Burden’s office at the Chronicle and the second movie began with Jack laying in bed. In the 2006 movie,e there is a scene where Jack meets with Lucy and Willie before he knows them, which was not in the other movie or book. Another aspect of the first movie that was not in the second or the book was that Judge Irwin was called Judge Stanton and he was Anne and Adam’s uncle. It also didn’t mention that the judge was Jack’s father. In the second movie, Judge Irwin is Jack’s father and not Adam and Anne’s uncle. Also in the 1949 adaptation, the judge was not blackmailed for endorsing McMurphy, but instead for resigning as Willie’s attorney general. In the first adaptation, Tom’s injury was not as big of a deal as in the book, but in the second, it is not mentioned at all. However, in both of the movies, Tom does not die as he does in the book.

Another similarity was that there was no continuation after Willie and Adam were killed- no funerals, no baby for Lucy, and no marriage. The plots weren’t as detailed as in the book because neither of the movies used flashbacks as religiously as the book.

All the King’s Men has greatly influenced American culture and politics. The book and the movies brought light to a different side of politics as citizens typically see are as very realistic, and are based on the famous Huey Long. This being said, the book and the movies grew in popularity and are crucial in the understanding of political corruptness. The movies were similar in some ways since they were both based on the same book; however, overall the movies had several differences since they were made in different periods, mainly surrounding the character portrayal, the costumes and sets, and the plot.