Andy Griffith and A Face in the Crowd

Back in 1957 Elia Kazan made a movie I’ve never heard of before, A Face in the Crowd, and I just saw it Sunday morning (while scraping away at a wax for my latest glass casting….)

Wow.

It’s partly because of the cast–how wrong can you get with Walter Matthau, Patricia Neal, Tony Franciosa and a young and adorable Lee Remick?–but mostly because of the writing…and Andy Griffith…and eerie parallels.

Andy Griffith is brilliant and a bit over the top in a role that combines his good-ole-boy “No Time for Sargeants” character with the demagoguery of Huey Long. It’s his first movie role, apparently, and one of his rare appearances as a bad guy.

The story’s about a charismatic hayseed from Arkansas, Lonesome Rhodes, with an uncanny lock on popular sentiment, and an unquenchable lust for sex and power. The woman who bails him out of jail, Patricia Neal, masterminds his evolution into the Will Rogers of television and, eventually, a dangerously effective kingmaker. Though addicted to the power they generate, she finally realizes what he’s become and destroys him.

Kinda makes you wonder whether a sequel would have had Patricia Neal running for President…

In any case, it makes some interesting points about politics and television (especially for 1957), with sad predictions for the future, and is well worth watching if only as a period piece. There are sly inferences throughout that are fun to catch (the positioning of the lecherous Rhodes in front of the sign above is one, and the elevator ride at the end is another).

Great movie marathon for journalists and marketeers: Clooney’s striking Good Night and Good Luck, the original Manchurian Candidate, Broadcast News, Network, Wag the Dog, The Insider, All the President’s Men…and now this movie.

Good grief. We’re going to be up all night!

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