Starring: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick Directed By: Elia Kazan Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Warner Home Video Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: May 10, 2005 Running Time: 126 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1957
Product Description: Discovered by Marcia Jeffries Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes is a homespun hobo who's about to become famous. But as usual more fame leads to more power and more power leads to more corruption. The film also features many celebrities appearing as themselves (Burl Ives Mike Wallace Betty Furness Bennett Cerf Faye Emerson Walter Winchell and others).Running Time: 125 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 085393352622
Amazon.com essential video: More timely now, perhaps, than when it was first released in 1957, Elia Kazan's overheated political melodrama explores the dangerous manipulative power of pop culture. It exposes the underside of Capra-corn populism, as exemplified in the optimistic fable of grassroots punditry Meet John Doe. In Kazan's account, scripted by Budd Schulberg, the common-man pontificator (Andy Griffith) is no Gary Cooper-style aw-shucks paragon. Promoted to national fame as a folksy TV idol by radio producer Patricia Neal, Griffith's Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes turns out to be a megalomaniacal rat bastard. The film turns apocalyptic as Rhodes exploits his power to sway the masses, helping to elect a reactionary presidential candidate. The parodies of television commercials and opinion polling were cutting edge in their day (Face in the Crowd was the Network of the Eisenhower era), and there are some startling, near-documentary sequences shot on location in Arkansas. An extraordinary supporting cast (led by Walter Matthau and Lee Remick) helps keep the energy level high, even when the satire turns shrill and unpersuasive in the final reel. There's an interesting parallel in Tim Robbins's snide pseudodocumentary Bob Roberts: both these pictures have almost as much contempt for the lemmings in the audience as for the manipulative monsters who herd them over the cliff. --David Chute
A Masterwork! Everyone who loves democracy must see it! Anyone who thought G.W. Bush was dumb, and thought that he 'lost' in his debates with Kerry, need only see this masterpiece of political drama to get their larnin'! The acting, the directing, the camera work are all astounding, and they need to be, for the script is a subtle and intelligent tale of cynical realism about the media, politics, and soulless marketing.
Andy Griffith is mesmerizing as a 'genuine hick' who shows the television establishment how easy it is to snuff democracy into a true, American, neo-fascist cowboy hat! Don't skip the documentary "Facing the Past," included with the DVD.
Great Film!!!! Got this film for a class I had to watch it for and was not expecting to enjoy it. It really surprised me!!! Andy Griffith was amazing!!!! for sure a must see film : )
What could have been? Not expecting such a ruthless character played by Andy Griffith, I was expecting a hard time "suspending belief". The first time you see Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes in this movie, he is snarling, angry, and ready to lash out. He spends the rest of the movie trying to keep that part of his persona hidden. It comes out, usually in front of Marcia (Patricia O'Neal). "Aww, I was only kiddin' " She believes him. We, the viewers, know better. He has a disdain for people, and only cares for himself. Yet when he smiles and goes into his "Aw Shucks" mode you forget how evil he is. I love the part where Paricia Neal says he was a hit on her radio show. He turns his head and spits. His singing (Especially in the jail) is raw and sexual. Now, when I see Andy Taylor, I wonder how much he must despise Opie, or if he ridicules Aunt Bea when she is out of earshot.
He is definately worthy of all the adulation he gets from his TV work, but, I wonder how his career may have worked out if he passed on "The Andy Griffith Show" and stuck with movies.
An Oscar-worthy film in many respects The performances of Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, and the directive genius of Elia Kazan deserve resounding praise. "Lonesome Rhodes" is a far cry from The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock characters! And Walter Matthau--like Griffith's performance, just plain mindblowing! The range of these two actors leave me at a loss for words... Patricia Neal was always "on point" as an actress---one of the great ones. It's too bad that this movie fell under the radar back in its day--the Academy missed this one for sure! This cautionary tale is a timeless classic---you'll definitely want this one in your library!
Ironically Prophetic Originally conceived as a warning of what was to come--the confluence of politics, business, and entertainment all through the sights and sounds of television--/A Face In The Crowd/ was originally brushed off by critics and viewers in the 1950s because "it wasn't realistic" (plus some Hollywood politics and reverse blacklisting probably didn't help). Nowadays, this movie is heralded as being prophetic, and in the commentary the screenwriter talks about how he's stopped in the street and told how great this movie is because it describes how things are -now-. The most backhanded compliment one can give to a prophet is to ignore him and then tell him he's right.
Andy Griffith is /excellent/ as a nihilistic conman looking for number one, perhaps too much so. Mr. Griffith claims in his interview that he got far too deep into character, and that's probably why ever since he's played good old Mayberry sheriffs--he's essentially a good man who's seen what bad men are, and he's shied away from it. I can respect him for that. I'll just go on the record as saying that his performance here is so good, so visceral, so -real- that he would've had a hard time topping it as a dramatic actor, and indeed his later history as a 'welcome friend in the TV' only gives this movie just that much more power.
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