A Face in the Crowd **** (1957, Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick, Walter Matthau) – Classic Movie Review 10,896

Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal give perhaps the best performances of their careers in producer-director Elia Kazan’s memorable protest movie about the manipulation of the public by the media, the 1957 black and white drama A Face in the Crowd.

Budd Schulberg’s trenchant story tells of the cynical small-time radio reporter Marcia Jeffries (Neal) who rescues folk-singing hillbilly drifter Lonesome Rhodes (Griffith) from a rural Arkansas jail and turns him into a megalomaniac celebrity as a national TV superstar with great fame and influence.

It also stars Lee Remick as Betty Lou Fleckum, Walter Matthau as Mel Miller and Anthony Franciosa as Joey DePalma.

It features a young Rip Torn (as Barry Mills, uncredited) and several American TV and film faces appearing uncredited as themselves, including Burl Ives, Walter Winchell, Bennett Cerf, Faye Emerson, Betty Furness, Virginia Graham, Sam Levenson John Cameron Swayze, Mike Wallace, and Earl Wilson.

Also in the cast are Percy Waram, Paul McGrath, Rod Brasfield, Marshall Neilan, Alexander Kirkland, Charles Irving, Howard Smith, Kay Medford, Big Jeff Bess, Henry Sharp, Brownie McGhee, and Logan Ramsey.

Schulberg’s screenplay is based on his short story Your Arkansas Traveler from the collection Some Faces in the Crowd (1953). The character of Rhodes was inspired by Schulberg’s acquaintance with Will Rogers Jr and the successes of Arthur Godfrey and Tennessee Ernie Ford are also acknowledged in the screenplay. Kazan said he and Schulberg based Rhodes on Arthur Godfrey as well as Billy Graham and Huey Long.

Schulberg recalled his unusual involvement: ‘I went on a trip in 1955 to scout a location in Arkansas, and I’ve been on the set every day since shooting started in August 1956.’

Patricia Neal and Andy Griffith.

It launched Griffith into stardom in his film debut. Lee Remick, Lois Nettleton (as Mr Mason’s nurse, uncredited), and Charles Irving (as Mr Luffler) all also make their film debuts.

A Face in the Crowd runs 126 minutes, is produced by Newtown Productions, is released by Warner Bros (1957) is shot by Harry Stradling Sr and Gayne Rescher, is produced by Elia Kazan, is scored by Tom Glazer and is designed by Paul Sylbert and Richard Sylbert.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,896

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Lee Remick, Andy Griffith with Patricia Neal on the set of A Face in the Crowd.