Film

Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long

Name: Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long
Genre: Drama, TV Movie, History
Released: 1995
Cast: John Goodman, Matt Craven, Anne Heche, Ann Dowd, Bob Gunton

Drama

A 1995 TV film about Huey P. Long, the mesmerizing Louisiana demagogue who rose from nothing to challenge FDR itself. John Goodman's performance captures the man's theatrical power and genuine populism alongside his ruthlessness. It's a character study wrapped in political ambition—gripping, instructive, and darker than you'd expect.

TMDb rating

3.4

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All the King's Men1949

The original adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's novel, itself inspired by Huey Long. A masterclass in how charisma and corruption become indistinguishable, with Broderick Crawford's performance as potent as Goodman's.

But Black-and-white cinematography and mid-century pacing may feel slow; the political machinery can overwhelm character moments.

Advise & Consent1962

Otto Preminger's Washington power play, where senators and presidents collide in corridors of influence. The same DNA of political theatre and personal betrayal, but at the national level where Long aspired to be.

But Nearly four hours long and deeply procedural—if you're impatient with parliamentary detail, you'll lose it halfway through.

The Contender2000

A female VP nominee faces character assassination in the Senate. It shares Kingfish's fascination with how power operates behind closed doors, and how those seeking it will compromise anything.

But More overtly ideological than Kingfish, and the ending is neater. Some find it didactic rather than exploratory.

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Man for All Seasons1966

Both are studies in men navigating systems of power, but Long gambles everything on winning the game while More gambles everything on refusing to play it.

Fred Zinnemann's film about Thomas More refusing to bend to Henry VIII's will—a mirror image of Long, who bent constantly and broke for it. Both are about power and conviction, but here we watch a man choose principle over survival.

But Measured and reverent to the point of stillness. If you want electricity and chaos, More's quiet dignity will feel like watching paint set.

Humoresque1947

A brilliant musician navigates ambition, ego, and self-destruction in Depression America. The era and the psychology of charismatic men driving themselves to ruin runs parallel to Long's arc.

But It's a melodrama first and foremost. If you want political substance over emotional intensity, look elsewhere.

The Power and the Glory1933

William K. Howard's pre-Code masterpiece about a railroad tycoon whose ruthlessness and charm carry him upward until they don't. A spiritual ancestor to the Long story, with genuine moral reckoning.

But Very of its era—dialogue and attitudes feel dated. The print quality can be uneven, and some scenes drag without modern editing pace.

Citizen Kane1941

Orson Welles's portrait of a man who commands through will and charisma, accumulating power and enemies in equal measure. Not about politics exactly, but about the architecture of ambition and legacy.

But Its genius is so complete that rewatching can feel like genuflection. Some find it cold despite its formal brilliance.

The Best Man1964

Gore Vidal's acid comedy about candidates and kingmakers jockeying before a party convention. Sharp-eyed about how power actually operates, and how principles evaporate under pressure.

But Talky and stage-bound, with the artifice of a play that hasn't learned to be cinema. The humor is cerebral rather than easy.

Network1976

Paddy Chayefsky's volcanic satire about ratings, power, and the demagogue who emerges from television's hunger. Long understood how to perform authority; Network shows what happens when that logic consumes everything.

But Deliberately shrill and unsubtle. If you want nuance, this is a sledgehammer. Some see it as dated in its predictions.

The Great McGinty1940

Preston Sturges's cynical comedy about a bum who becomes governor through shameless opportunism. It has Long's rise and fall compressed into comedy, with real bite about American politics beneath the laughs.

But It's a B-movie screwball that doesn't always cohere. The tonal shifts can feel awkward, and it glosses over what Kingfish takes seriously.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller1971

Both men operate in a time and place where the rules are still being written, and both discover too late that the game was rigged before they entered it.

Robert Altman's revisionist Western about an entrepreneur trying to build a frontier town through charm and leverage—until larger forces arrive to absorb what he's built. Long's trajectory in the Depression mirrors McCabe's in the Frontier.

But Deliberately un-cinematic and murky—dialogue overlaps, the ending is bleak and sudden. You have to work to see the story Altman is telling.

The Death of Stalin2017

Both are about men who dominated through force of personality attempting to shape systems far larger than themselves—but Iannucci shows the machinery that crushes them where Goodman shows the man it crushes.

Armando Iannucci's black comedy about power vacuums and ambitious men jostling after Stalin dies. It's a masterclass in how charisma and apparatus collide, with the same dark humor about political theater. Completely different era, entirely new register.

But Brutally comic about death and suffering. If you want respectful distance from atrocity, the laughing will feel obscene. Also: satirical and arch rather than intimate.