A Face in the Crowd (1957)

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

Budd Schulberg (story)
Budd Schulberg (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 October 1957 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An Arkansas hobo becomes an overnight media sensation. But as he becomes drunk with fame and power, will he ever be exposed as the fraud he has become?

Plot Keywords:

Fame | Hobo | Power | Jail | Guitar

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Andy Griffith	...	Larry 'Lonesome' Rhodes
Patricia Neal	...	Marcia Jeffries
Anthony Franciosa	...	Joey DePalma
Walter Matthau	...	Mel Miller
Lee Remick	...	Betty Lou Fleckum
Percy Waram	...	Gen. Haynesworth
Paul McGrath	...	Macey
Rod Brasfield	...	Beanie
Marshall Neilan	...	Senator Worthington Fuller
Alexander Kirkland	...	Jim Collier
Charles Irving	...	Mr. Luffler
Howard Smith	...	J.B. Jeffries
Kay Medford	...	First Mrs. Rhodes
Big Jeff Bess	...	Sheriff Big Jeff Bess
Henry Sharp	...	Abe Steiner

Also Known As:

Budd Schulberg's A Face in the Crowd (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #18502) | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Biograph Studios, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Newtown Productions

Trivia:

The Vitajex tablets that Lonesome Rhodes hawks have 6 grains of dextrose, 5 grains of inert material, 2.5 grains of caffeine, and 3.5 grains of aspirin. That's roughly equivalent to a 16 oz café latte and two baby aspirin tablets.

Goofs:

Continuity: When introducing his new bride, Lonesome's jacket goes from being buttoned to being open and back to being buttoned again.

Quotes:

Marcia Jeffries: You always drink like that?
Lonesome Rhodes: Not always. Back in Riddle they was pretty strict. Didn't allow us to touch hard liquor till we was 10 or 11.
Marcia Jeffries: Now is there really a town called Riddle?
Lonesome Rhodes: Well, tell you the flat truth, it's just a sort of a whatchacallit, a...
Marcia Jeffries: ...Composite?
Lonesome Rhodes: Compost heap's more like it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Facing the Past (2005) (V)

Country corruption and TV production

Their collaboration cemented in infamy with "On the Waterfront", Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg create this thang. And what a thang it is! Andy Griffith gives the performance of his career, and nobody knows it. Much like Lonesome Rhodes'

elusively corrupt character, this film has become one revered by some, and

unseen by those that should see it most.

Schulberg shows a charismatic vagrant and his hayseed charm revolutionize

television. Along with the increased income, fame greedily kills the bumpkin

within, and turns him into something much worse, if you can believe it: a TV star. Schulberg wrote another provocative work, his book about Hollywood and its

dirty denizens, "What Makes Sammy Run?". Study him and this fantastic and

awe inspiring Kazan film, and you will see why great films that followed winked and tipped their hat; films that include Paddy Chayefsky's "Network", Jimmy

Brooks' "Broadcast News", Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" and P.T. Anderson's

"Magnolia".

This film truly is a masterwork and an incredible, incredible performance by

Andy Griffith. 10 outta 10!