Differences Between The Book and The Screenplay
- The film (with the exception of flashbacks) is set during the early 1950s. The book is set during the Great Depression.
- In the movie, Stark wins the first gubernatorial election he enters. In the book, Stark pulls out of the original election after learning why he had been asked to run. He instead supports MacMurfee. However, in the next election, Stark defeats MacMurfee to become governor.
- Jack’s doctoral research storyline is not in the film. His research was about Cass Mastern, an ancestor who lived in the Antebellum South and fought in the American Civil War. The book devotes an extensive passage to the story of Mastern and the way in which he unwittingly and drastically influences the lives of others, which many critics have argued serves as the novel's moral center. Jack walks away from his study of Mastern because he is unwilling to accept the way in which people's actions influence the fates of others.
- The whole storyline in the book involving Tom Stark is removed. He is only seen a few times in the film. In the book Tom impregnates a girl, which threatens his father with a huge scandal (A scene to this effect is included on the DVD). His father wants to whitewash the situation by bribing the girl’s family. Shortly afterwards, Tom is seriously injured during a college football game. After an unsuccessful surgery performed by Adam Stanton and a revered spinal doctor, Tom becomes a vegetable, eventually dying shortly after his father’s assassination.
- The film ends a few minutes after Willie Stark’s assassination, explaining little (through newspaper headlines) about what takes place after the event. In the book, Jack Burden explains many things that take place after the assassination, which includes Tom’s death. By chance, Jack encounters Sugar Boy at a library and barely resists the temptation to coax him into assassinating Tiny Duffy to avenge Willie's death (a scene to this effect is included on the DVD). Jack also reveals that he and Anne got married. In addition, Jack returns to his study of Cass Mastern, now prepared to cope with "the awful responsibility of time." Also, Lucy Stark adopts Tom's child.
Read more about this topic: All The King's Men (2006 film)
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