Regular Price $19.98

Starring: Andy Griffith,  Patricia Neal,  Anthony Franciosa,  Walter Matthau,  Lee Remick, 
Directed By: Elia Kazan, 
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Release Date: 1957
Studio: Warner Home Video
Format: Closed-captioned,  Color,  DVD-Video,  Subtitled,  Widescreen,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about A Face in the Crowd

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

Customer Reviews for A Face in the Crowd

Top-Shelf Classic Cinema!
Andy Griffith, in his acting debut, certainly isn't the Andy Taylor we all love. Here, he plays "Lonesome" Rhodes, a charming drifter that catches the eye and fancy of Patricia O'Neil. She puts him on her radio station and he becomes a star. His folksy ways and "every man" personality is played to the hilt, taking along O'Neil, his ever-growing audience, and even a presidential candidate in his masquerade. Not too soon, "Lonesome" is revealed as what he is - not the Will Rogers that his public sees, but a power-mad snake oil salesman that is taking his followers with him. The viewer sees the act, as O'Neil eventually does, too, but in the meantime, Rhodes is remaking the image of Senator Worthington Fuller to make him the next president of the United States.

If you love classic b&w cinema, morality tales, or politics, this will soon be one of your all-time favorites.

It should be required viewing for all political candidates, their staff personnel, volunteers, and in every Civics class in America. The timeless message of people following a charismatic personality all the way to the Highest Office in the Land is as appropriate today as it was fifty years ago.

Various reviewers have compared the film to campaigns ranging from president-elect Obama to the radio programs of Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly.A Face in the Crowd

Great film
This is Andy Griffith like you've never seen him before or since. This is no Sheriff of Mayberry character. Definitely worth seeing.A Face in the Crowd

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.A Face in the Crowd

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 : )A Face in the Crowd

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.

A Face in the Crowd