A Face in the Crowd (1957)

     A Face in the Crowd is another of those movies that I heard was great most of my life but I just never got around to actually seeing for myself. I’m glad to say that I rectified that situation and sat down to finally see it for myself. It lived up to it’s reputation. This film is great.

     Andy Griffith, in his film debut, stars as hayseed drifter Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes. Patricia Neal is a small town radio personality/producer (Patricia Neal) with a regular piece called “A Face in the Crowd”. She brings her tape recorder to the local jail to meet regular folks that can charm her audience. She meets Larry Rhodes, who is a musician and teller of tall tales. She dubs him “Lonesome” and records him improvising a song about getting out of jail and when it airs he’s an instant hit. She and the station manager quickly bring Rhodes to the station and give him his own show. It too is a huge hit, so it’s not long before national television comes in to take him to New York where his schtick is a success on TV. Lonesome’s down-home stories and delivery is especially appealing to the American working class and he begins to notice that what he says on the air manifests in real life. He tells people to bring their dogs to the Sheriff’s office because he’d make a better dog-catcher, the next thing you know the Sheriff’s lawn is filled with canines. He tells people to buy the product that sponsors his program, even though it has no actual beneficial value, sales increase a thousand fold. It’s when Lonesome realizes the power he possesses and that important, powerful people are looking for him to help with their image that his enjoyment of the power and ability to manipulate others takes him down a dark path.

     A Face in the Crowd is a story about the cult of personality, I think before the term existed. It’s also a story about how modern media can create personalities that in turn can affect public opinion. When this film came out in 1957 television was still fairly new so the realization that it could be used in this way was something of a discovery. We’ve learned over the past couple of decades that the same is true of the internet. Only in this new case, it doesn’t necessarily affect the general public’s opinion, but has created factions of people who only see and believe what they choose to. In this way A Face in the Crowd is prescient. In the times we are living in now, the resolution of this film, I believe, wouldn’t make any difference. It’s difficult to see this movie through the same eyes of a 1957 audience. At that time, Andy Griffith was known as a comic and had starred in a very successful Broadway run of the play “No Time for Sergeants”. His role as Lonesome Rhodes begins as perfect casting for Griffith but evolves into something dark and angry. He had not yet starred in his self titled hit sitcom, as the kindly Andy Taylor. So it was probably easier for audiences to accept him in this role. Seeing it today, we carry a lot of Andy Griffith baggage. It is a little challenging to see him become a monster. This is Andy Taylor, this is Matlock! Not it’s not. It’s a young actor being directed by a master, in Elia Kazan who made Marlon Brando a movie star in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. You can feel some of that same power in Griffith’s performance as Lonesome Rhodes. He’s a presence on screen.

     Andy Griffith was very fortunate to have Kazan as director, but just as fortunate to have the supporting cast he did. Patricia Neal, who’s performance ranges from strong working woman, to lovelorn girl, to nearly beaten down by life. Reminding me of the character she’d play about 5 years later in Hud with Paul Newman. In 1957 she was in her early thirties and could be both a smart, mature woman and a desirable beauty (those eyes… oh my). A young Walter Matthau is the voice of reason and foresees how Lonesome Rhode’s story will pan out. We forget that it wasn’t until the mid 1960’s that he became known more for comedy than drama. Anthony Franciosa plays an eager young manager ready to hitch his wagon to Lonesome Rhodes and rides it until it’s no longer working. Franciosa did appear in a few well regarded films in his career but is probably best known today for his work on television. A very young Lee Remick, about twenty years away from being Damion’s Mom in The Omen, plays a very beautiful girl who catches Lonesome’s eye. Kazan also filled the cast with actual southern characters. Some performers themselves and others just really interesting people they met while on location.

     Upon it’s release A Face in the Crowd was met with mixed reviews, many critics just missing the point of the film entirely. Television was so new that it was hard for many people to understand that it could be abused and not always used for the betterment of the community. Over time, as it’s fictitious tale proved to be more likely than many thought it would be, the film’s reputation has only grown. Andy Griffith himself avoided playing any character like Lonesome Rhodes again. It took a lot out of him and he did not want to be remembered solely for playing “that man”. Today it still works as a cautionary tale, but also plays out as a reminder that such people actually do exist and manipulate the masses every day of our lives. It’s our job as citizens to be individual thinkers and not blindly follow charming and charismatic individuals who don’t necessarily have our best interests at heart.

     I watched A Face in the Crowd on the commercial supported streaming service Tubi, but the film is available on home video. Including a DVD and Blu-Ray release as part of the Criterion Collection listing from between $15 and $40.