That accident, however, changed the course of his life as Warren enrolled in Vanderbilt University to study engineering. He quickly became friends with a group of young writers who published a college magazine called The Fugitive. Soon after Warren tried his own hand at writing and saw his work published. The literary seed had been sown.

Directed by Robert Rossen (The Hustler, Alexander the Great) who also adapted Robert Penn Warren’s novel for the screen, All the King’s Men is quite a compelling viewing experience, showing the sleaze on the glitzy underbelly of American politics....[however] the film hasn’t aged well in light of the cynicism that has affected the American populace post FDR-HST-JFK-LBJ-Watergate-Bush I-Clinton, but I believe it is unfair to detract from a film that was totally electrifying upon its release to the naive Depression-era generation who couldn’t believe their leaders would lie to them....All the King’s Men is an unforgettable primer on men who would promise people anything in return for their vote. Four stars [out of five].”

Warren’s work was indelibly submerged in the past, ~ a Southern tradition so to speak. He would eventually compile a ten volume collection of books beginning with Night Rider in 1939, an account of his own childhood. Following were works on his time at Vanderbilt, the pre-Civil War Era, the South from World War II to the 1960's, and finally, a summary of his works and life. The most famous and widely read of these, and the novel that garnered him the first of three Pulitzer Prizes was All the King’s Men published in 1946. Eventually, it would be made into a play, opera, movie, and would be reprinted in twenty languages. Subsequently, Warren himself would be named the first poet laureate in the United States.

Sadie Burke is a powerful presence both on paper and the screen. Powerful whether it be scolding Willie, “...you’re the goat...You are the sacrificial goat. You are the ram in the bushes. You are a sap. For you let ‘em.”(81), or playing the woman scorned when ranting about Willie’s Chicago affair “Let him go? Listen here, ~ if he does run after some slut, he’ll come back...He’s got to. Because he can’t do without me. And he knows it”(144) She is a woman who knows her worth even to the point of conceit. However, she is not all piss and vinegar. She can be a fragile woman as well, evidenced by her knowledge of Willie’s affair with Anne Stanton. The softer side of Sadie emerges. She has a heart that can be broken as she is deeply wounded by the affair. She has feelings and a soul after all, and apparently still harbors issues with her own past. The case of small pox she suffered through as a child left her face marked by scars, a superficiality that she has no control over (and Sadie is definitely a woman who likes to be in control!). Just as she has no control over Willie’s affairs. However, Anne is no common, ordinary “slut on skates” and Sadie knows that. She knows that she lacks the style, grace, beauty, and breeding of Anne Stanton. She knows that Anne is someone Willie could marry, and would marry for, if nothing else, political and social gain. Anne is someone who can give Willie that final piece of validation in the political arena of the South. Anne can give him something that Sadie cannot, ~ legitimacy through the weight of the Stanton name. Sadie’s vulnerability is Anne.

Some topics in this essay:
Willie Stark, Sadie Burke, Anne Stanton, Jack Burden, Huey Stark, Anne Stanton’s, FDR-HST-JFK-LBJ-Watergate-Bush I-Clinton, Stark Crawford, Academy Summer, Anne Sadie’s, willie stark, sadie burke, passion drive, anne stanton, warren’s anne, read novel, events unfolding, jack burden, adam stanton, boss willie stark, throughout film, dr adam stanton, world war ii,