“A Face in the Crowd” is a drama movie about a radio producer who finds a seemingly talented drifter and puts him on the air. Soon, his local popularity garners him a television appearance, which he parlays into nation-wide television stardom. He uses his influence to endorse a presidential candidate for personal gain, while his hubris, greed, and womanizing threaten his rise to the top. The electrifying drama proceeds from there. Elia Kazan (“Gentlemen’s Agreement” 1947) tightly directed this film from a focused script by Budd Schulberg, adapted from his 1952 story “Your Arkansas Traveler.”
Andy Griffith delivered a memorable performance as the volatile Larry Rhodes. This was Griffith’s first major role and it propelled him to stardom. This character was markedly different from his later signature role of Sheriff Andy Taylor, the persona he gained from starring in “No Time for Sergeants” the following year. Several of his co-stars also made their feature film debut in “A Face in the Crowd,” including Lee Remick, Charles Irving, Lois Nettleton, Rip Torn, and Charles Nelson Reilly.
Other actors in what is really a great ensemble effort includes Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, Kay Medford, Paul McGrath, Rod Brasfield, Marshall Neilan, Alexander Kirkland, and Percy Waram. Also appearing in cameos as themselves are Bennett Cerf, Faye Emerson, Betty Furness, Virginia Graham, Burl Ives, Sam Levenson, Mitch Miller, Sydney Pollack, John Cameron Swayze, Mike Wallace, Earl Wilson, Walter Winchell, and Big Jeff Bess as Sheriff Big Jeff Bess.
The very watchable “A Face in the Crowd,” with a running time of 125 minutes, was popular at the box office for producer Elia Kazan Warner Bros. Pictures.
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
cinema
My Review
“A Face in the Crowd” is a drama movie about a radio producer who finds a seemingly talented drifter and puts him on the air. Soon, his local popularity garners him a television appearance, which he parlays into nation-wide television stardom. He uses his influence to endorse a presidential candidate for personal gain, while his hubris, greed, and womanizing threaten his rise to the top. The electrifying drama proceeds from there. Elia Kazan (“Gentlemen’s Agreement” 1947) tightly directed this film from a focused script by Budd Schulberg, adapted from his 1952 story “Your Arkansas Traveler.”
Andy Griffith delivered a memorable performance as the volatile Larry Rhodes. This was Griffith’s first major role and it propelled him to stardom. This character was markedly different from his later signature role of Sheriff Andy Taylor, the persona he gained from starring in “No Time for Sergeants” the following year. Several of his co-stars also made their feature film debut in “A Face in the Crowd,” including Lee Remick, Charles Irving, Lois Nettleton, Rip Torn, and Charles Nelson Reilly.
Other actors in what is really a great ensemble effort includes Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, Kay Medford, Paul McGrath, Rod Brasfield, Marshall Neilan, Alexander Kirkland, and Percy Waram. Also appearing in cameos as themselves are Bennett Cerf, Faye Emerson, Betty Furness, Virginia Graham, Burl Ives, Sam Levenson, Mitch Miller, Sydney Pollack, John Cameron Swayze, Mike Wallace, Earl Wilson, Walter Winchell, and Big Jeff Bess as Sheriff Big Jeff Bess.
The very watchable “A Face in the Crowd,” with a running time of 125 minutes, was popular at the box office for producer Elia Kazan Warner Bros. Pictures.