A Face in the Crowd
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Movie Reviews of A Face in the Crowd
Movie Review: More Relevant Today Than Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
With all the remakes, I can't believe that this movie has never been remade, but how can you beat perfection? However, this film is actually more relevant today than it was in the 50's because it deals with the power of celebrity and how it can control not only everyday life, but also politics. Andy Griffith stars as a country bumpkin singer who is discovered by Patricia Neal while he is in an Arkansas jail after having been arrested for being drunk and disorderly. He is somewhat of a nomad who she convinces to stick around and host a local radio show. He becomes a beloved figure among the locals and finds that he has the power to influence people to do as he says as he dispenses advice in a friendly and folksy way over the radio. Word spreads and his fame grows and he is offered a television job in New York City where he becomes more power hungry, believing his own publicity. He is easily able to manipulate the public and because of this ability, political powers are clamoring for his advice and patronage. He wasn't a nice guy to begin with and finds this power more than intoxicating. The movie has a wonderful ending that should never be tampered with. In addition to Andy Griffith's perfect and stellar performance, there are some wonderful supporting performances that more than hold their own against him. You have a very young Walter Matthau as an idealistic writer who sees right through him from the start. You have a beautiful young Lee Remick in her first acting role as a teenager who is infatuated with him. Patricia Neal, who believes she can tame the wild beast, and Anthony Franciosa as a young advertising exec who wants to ride the waves of fame right with him. With people so influenced and starved for celebrity today, you can see how this kind of media manipulation could take place. Parts of the film are very dated and corny, but it only adds to the charm and effect. Brilliantly directed by Elia Kazan. This is one of my all time favorite black and white movies and there is nothing about it I would change. As I said, how can you tamper with perfection? It's definitely one not to miss.Movie Review: Shocking, intense film...hasn't dated at all....
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of 2 Elia Kazan films I've seen (the other being On the Waterfront), and not only did this film surpass my expectations, it is one of the best films I've seen in the last year. It has the impact of someone smashing glass on your face, it's that powerful. It is very, very timely, and hasn't dated one bit. Kazan was onto something here, on how TV destroys legitimate debate, and how easily manipulated the masses can be with this medium. Andy Griffith gives arguably his best performance as the troubled drunk (which is a nice way of saying a p***k) who becomes a media sensation with the help of Patricia O'Neal (who is very good in her role). Walter Matthau plays a writer on Griffith's TV show who sees through the lies of Griffith's "persona". Sure, Andy's a down home kind of guy on TV, but behind the scenes he's a cruel manipulator, an egomaniac, an adulterer, a thief, and an all around a*****e. Soon Andy's having dinner with important people, and starts advising candidates on how they should run their campaigns and their administrations. It's not too long after that he feels he should get a cabinet post of some kind. And he's muscling O'Neal out of her job as producer, because his ego thinks he's the greatest human being to walk the Earth. But when O'Neal has had enough of his philandering (O'Neal and Griffith have an affair during the film), she switches on the mike when the closing credits are being run for Andy's show. Andy is trashing his audience, and when they hear this, his whole career falls apart. Things haven't changed too much these days, with political candidates (on both sides) being manipulated by their handlers and by television, and how none of them seem real, because they look like they are programmed. Matthau's speech at the end of the film is one of the best closing speeches ever in a film. It's so true, so effective, and so undeniable. This film refuses to leave you off the hook at the end, and it makes for a really chilling and unforgettable experience.
Movie Review: One of the great film villians
Summary: 5 Stars
A Face In The Crowd (1957)
I assure you if you watch this film, you'll never look at Andy Griffith the same way again. Griiffith stars as the boorish, seemingly innocent, sociopath named Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes who quickly becomes the most popular man in America. Marcia Jefferies (Patricia Neal), who hosts a radio show called "Face in The Crowd", discovers Rhodes in a prison in Alabama and convinces him to appear regularly after recording and broadcasting his humorous antecdotes and songs. His popularity sky-rockets in the state in a short amount of time and one day, after pulling a public prank on the local sheriff with the help of his listeners, Marcia asks him how it feels to sway people to do his bidding and breifly, but calmly, realizes that he can. As the film progresses, The "Good ole boy" starts to reveal his true colors; Particularly when he becomes very close to his primary tv show sponsor who wants to see a senator in the oval office. The sponsor and senator appoint him to become an un-official "image consultant" and his ego grows to an all time by starting a new show which is the equivalent of today's political pundit shows but just not ashamed of being light-hearted entertainment. Mad with power he one night confesses to Marcia how truely feels about his audience, they are stupid sheep who he will manipulate to vote for the senator into the whitehouse and as a result he would be given a position of "Secretary for National Morale"; The very backbone of the president's power. I won't spoil the ending because it's just good. Andy Griffith was terrific as this maniac who may be a country bumpkin but he knew the power of entertainment and the power of words and naturally gets drunk off this power; Twisting and turning not only his "sheep" but his closer friends. He's a user in the strongest sense of the word and truly a sheep in wolves clothing. This a great illustration of how powerful the media can be if someone could be that manipulative.
Movie Review: We need more Andy Griffith villian movies!!!!!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not going to write about the symbolism or get into political jousting where this film is concerned because that doesn't matter to me in the least. All I know is that from the first time I saw this approximately 10 years ago on AMC one Saturday morning, I've wondered who the hell was Andy Griffith's agent back then and why did he keep him out of movies of this callibur and genre. I barely remembered that Matthau, Remmick and Franciosa were even in it. He engulfed each and every scene he was in like nothing I'd ever seen before. He chewed up anyone else who had the misfortune of even being in the same scene with him in this movie.
With this being one of his first movies (the other standout being No Time for Sargents) you'd think he'd have been typecast as a villian, and maybe that's why his agent avoided his getting this type of role. His take of the down-home county boy radio show ham who hands out bits of wisdom as Lonesome Rhodes starts out like a quaint little fire in a pot-bellied stove that warms you and is comforting. But all of that quickly gets out of control as he is discovered and the flames of his new level of fame whip out of control and engulfs EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE that comes in contact with Lonesome. (Even his loyal listening audience)
Andy's boisterous, obnoxious and outrageous performance might have easily come off as over the top in someone else's hands but he is so believable that you too can feel the wave of ego build inside him yourself, yet you can only do much like Patricia Neal does; stand back with your mouth open in astonishment and hold on for the ride or get run down like a dog in the street. Andy's Lonesome Rhodes character is much like an approaching train wreck, you know it's coming, you know it's going to be a bad scene littered with bodies when it's over but somehow you just can't look away. WHAT A RIDE!!!!
Movie Review: Media Fascist
Summary: 5 Stars
At first the central premise of "A Face in the Crowd" was a little hard for me to swallow. I'd like to think that the general public is a little more discerning and would not be so easily taken in by a megalomaniac like Lonesome Rhodes. But then, the argument goes that Abe Lincoln would never be elected president today. When you think about it our more successful presidencies, depending on your political persuasion, would be Kennedy, Reagan, and Clinton who were all masters of the medium. I'd like to think of this film as more of a cautionary tale of the dangers of the new medium of television. Director Elia Kazan from a script by Budd Schulberg have crafted their parable quite well. I would like to think that Rhodes is not quite the monster that he inevitably became, that he started his career humbly and with good intentions only to be corrupted by forces that manipulated him to the darker side. Andy Griffith, in probably one of the most criminally overlooked performances in American film history, is simply mesmerizing as Rhodes. He manages to convey the folksiness tainted with contempt and self-loathing that ultimately is Lonesome Rhodes. Patricia Neal is superb as Marcia Jeffries, the woman who discovers Rhodes and has mixed emotions about his fame. Walter Matthau is also good as Mel Miller, a writer on Rhodes' show who feels he's sold his soul in the process. I am trying to think of another film that tackled the beast that is television and the only comparable one that comes to mind is "Network". By all means check out the documentary on the film that includes reminisces from Griffith, Neal, and Schulberg. One priceless moment is Griffith recalling the filming of the baton-twirlers scene.