Synopsis
The rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Marcia Jeffries is the innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail and is the first to fall under his spell.
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Cast
- Andy GriffithLarry 'Lonesome' Rhodes
- Patricia NealMarcia Jeffries
- Anthony FranciosaJoey DePalma
- Walter MatthauMel Miller
- Lee RemickBetty Lou Fleckum
- Percy WaramGeneral Haynesworth
- Paul McGrathMacey
- Rod BrasfieldBeanie
- Marshall NeilanSenator Worthington Fuller
- Alexander KirklandJim Collier
Recommendations
- 100
San Francisco Chronicle
This is one of the greatest films of the 1950s, a prophetic film about the dangerous power of modern media. - 100
TV Guide Magazine
A raw, penetrating, and terrifying portrait of humanity. - 90
Variety
Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg, who teamed to bring forth On the Waterfront, have another provocative and hardhitting entry, based on Schulberg's short story The Arkansas Traveler. It's a devastating commentary on hero-worship and success cults in America. - 90
Vanity Fair
Half a century after Elia Kazan made A Face in the Crowd, the performances–by Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, and Anthony Franciosa–are still pungent, the dark tale of media manipulation still resonates, and even fans can't quite define its power. - 83
The A.V. Club
It's like an early version of Network, and it's just as overwrought, but Kazan enlivens the material with a mise en scène so vigorous that it could make anyone buy into the auteur theory. Kazan varies his shooting style, alternating between portraiture, expressionism, and docu-realism for a look and rhythm that's about 15 years ahead of its time. - 63
Slant Magazine
Strong performances and a fiery aggressive tone keep things moving, but A Face in the Crowd is dated and not particularly deep. - 63
Chicago Reader
The script, by Budd Schulberg, is pat and badly proportioned, but the picture has a sharp, dirty appeal. - 60
Time Out
In the opening scenes of Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg's satire on the dangers of television and advertising, Griffith's virtuoso, likeably irreverent performance makes for genuinely amusing viewing; but once he's mixing with the bigwigs, the film-makers' political messages start flying thick and fast, and the drama soon becomes overheated and unconvincing.
