A Face in The Crowd (1957)

[Atreus DC]

Who has seen this one? Talk about a movie adhead of its time. And my goodness... Andy Griffith?!?! I didn't know that he had it in him! Does anyone else love this film as much as I do?

[Sevorin]

I'm old enough to have seen this movie when it first came out. I can still remember reading Budd Schulberg's film script in a cheap paperback that was published when the film was released.

I like this movie. I always have. But, man alive, it is really over the top! The idea of a vicious good ol' country-boy bastard getting enough popular clout to reveal himself as a proto-fascist may satisfy liberal sensibilities, but the sort of entertainer depicted as Lonesome Rhoades is probably closer to Will Rogers or Bob Burns. In our history, they tended to hang with the Democratic party rather than the right-wing industrialist assholes that sponsor Lonesome's TV show. (Not to suggest that either Rogers or Burns was a vicious bastard, just that they were countrified entertainers who indulged in political commentary). So I don't think this movie should be seen for its political analysis.

The script and direction are terrific -- until the lunatic last third's paranoia vitiates the intelligence of the rest of the picture. A few moments just seem ridiculous -- like, for example, Tony Franciosa suddenly providing vocal rhythm for Lonesome's song in the advertising firm's office -- but, for the most part, this is Class-A drama from a pair of artists, writer Schulberg and director Elia Kazan, whose own political conduct has been criticized by the liberal community.

And what a cast! Just spouting off their names -- Franciosa, Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick, Rip Torn, etc. -- can flabbergast you. Topping them all off, of course, is Andy Griffith. For those people who only know him as a hick sheriff jawing with Barney Fife, his performance in this movie will be a revelation. In fact, this was the Griffith that I first knew about, and when he did comedy it was of the Broadway variety, as in No Time for Sergeants, or comedy-drama like Onionhead.

The last thing I thought Griffith was like was a simple, good-hearted rube. He surely has a good heart, but when I ponder how he pissed away his talent on sit-coms and dumb-ass TV lawyer shows, I feel as bad as I do about Agnes Moorehead's career. When he got the chance, as in a TV movie about Nixon -- with all the names changed -- Griffith showed some of his old stuff as an ex-president meant to be LBJ. He was also good in a TV version of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author.

So much of A Face in the Crowd is so good that the bad parts make me cringe. But I'll always hold it in high regard. I'm glad it so impressed you that you set up this discussion.

[Kevin]

This is a film that is proudly displayed in my DVD collection. If I had a list of underrated movies, it'd be at or near the top. Is it not one of Griffith's first roles in feature film? It certainly predates his type-casting as a good-hearted country boy.

Bottom line, its a great film that is a little disconcerting for Andy Griffith fans who are used to seeing him in light-hearted comedies or in his TV series.