MovieChat Forums > All the King's Men Discussion > Title?

Title?

posted 18 years ago by theb_ronster
6 replies | jump to latest

What's the meaning?

"Do I have an original thought in my head? My bald head?"

[–] dth1212 18 years ago

To the best of my knowledge, the title comes from the Mother Goose rhyme:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again.

To me, it suggests the fragility of power (Humpty being an egg) and how our careless actions can lead to our own undoing, like the old saying: "The higher they rise, the harder they fall." Also, please check out the following link, regarding "Humpty Dumpty", especially the entry about Richard III:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty

[–] jerry-belknap 18 years ago

More than likely it it because it is based on the life of Huey "Kingfish" Long

[–] bonbk 17 years ago

Along with his "Kingfish" nickname, in 1934, Huey Long had a motto "Every man a king"

[–] Merkin4pres64 17 years ago

WTF!? Your overanalyzation of that song has now completley runined it for me. That's why I hated reading "The Odyssey." My class spent two *beep* days overanalizing the significace if Argos's fecal waste.

"You were doing well until everyone died." -Futurama

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] JohnClarkKelly 17 years ago

That's where the title came from, but if you really look at the film its not aout Willy stark, its about all the people around him who get sucked into his power sphere. He is the King and they are all the King's men.

"Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room."
Winston Churchill