Entertainment Weekly - 01/15/1999
"...Prescient..." -- Rating: B
Entertainment Weekly - 05/13/2005
"[A] scorcher undimmed by time..."
USA Today - 05/13/2005
"It was the decade's most prescient movie..."
Description by OLDIES.com:
Meet Lonesome Rhodes: drifter, storyteller and guitar-picker. He's been in and out of jails aplenty but now he has reason to smile. He's just met his perfect match - a piece of talking furniture known as television.
Andy Griffith made his stunning movie debut as Lonesome, a big ol' teddy bear whose meteoric rise to TV fame is paralleled by his plunge into booze, sex and political corruption. From On the Waterfront's Academy Award-winning collaborators, director Elia Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg, A Face in the Crowd carries the white-hot edge of filmmakers who know the media world from the inside out. Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Anthony Franciosa and film-debuting Lee Remick are other faces you'll remember in this captivating Crowd.
Product Description:
A savagely funny look at the way sudden notoriety and power corrupt. A small-town windbag (Griffith in his film debut) becomes an overnight success when the TV show created for him by network and advertising execs hits the top of the ratings. But behind the scenes he turns out to be a vindictive monster, and the reporter who brought him out of the woods determines to expose him. Based on the short story "The Arkansas Traveler" by Schulburg, who also wrote the script.
Description by Warner Home Video:
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).
Plot Keywords:
Character Study |
Rags To Riches |
Recommended |
Showbiz |
Theatrical Release
Production Notes:
Produced by Elia Kazan's production company, Newtown.
Film debuts for actress Lee Remick, who portrays cheerleader Betty Lou, and actor Andy Griffith.
Additional cast: Percy Waram (General Haynesworth); Rod Brasfield (Beanie); Charles Irving (Mr. Luffler); Big Jeff Bess (Sheriff Hosmer); Henry Sharp (Abe Steiner); Willie Feibel (1st Printer); and Larry Casazza (2nd Printer).
Film Collectors & Archivists: Alpha Video is actively looking for rare and
unusual pre-1943 motion pictures, in good condition, from Monogram, PRC,
Tiffany, Chesterfield, and other independent studios for release on DVD. We
are also interested in TV shows from the early 1950s. Share your passion
for films with a large audience.
Let us know what you have.