Tonight's final film in my tribute to Patricia Neal is the 1957 drama, A Face In The Crowd. the film's title is taken from a small town morning radio show program run by Marcia Jeffries. She goes around interviewing regular, every-day folks for her show. One day she interviews some men imprisoned in a county jail in northern Arkansas. Here she meets Larry Rhodes (Andy Griffith), whom she dubs "Lonesome Rhodes". Rhodes is a big hit and soon he is a regular feature on her show. Rhodes has a home-spun folksy way of talking to people that charms them. This conceals his "off the air" personality, where he belittles those around him and treats everyone with contempt.
Rhodes success leads to a television show in Memphis and eventually a coast to coast show in NYC. Is ability to influence the audience to purchase the sponsors products is seen by some as a way to win elections and soon you have a confluence of politics, media, personality and power.
The film belongs to Andy Griffith and his performance is very different than the lovable sheriff he played on his TV show. Griffith plays his character with the charm of a snake oil salesman, but underneath there is something dark and unpleasant. There is a quick moment when we first me him in jail. A jail mate wakes him up and you can see a flash of anger and hatred on his face. then when he sees the female reporter he quickly turns on the charm with his 100 watt smile. Neal is excellent as the woman who sets Rhodes on the path of success and watches as his hunger for power and fame consume him, until she feels she must stop him once and for all. Walter Matthau makes an early career appearance as a writer on Rhodes TV show. he has nothing but contempt for Rhodes but is not man enough to say anything. And lee Remmick makes her film debut as a baton twirling high school girl who comes under Rhodes spell.
The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Shulberg. It has great momentum in the beginning but meanders a bit in the final act. While watching it I could not help think of the political populists such as Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. It's amazing that this film foresaw the power of television to package and sell politics to the masses back in 1957.
At The Movie House rating *** stars.
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