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Andy Griffith stars in the role of a down-on-his-luck vagabond from Arkansas who's got exceptional story telling talent. Goes by the name of 'Lonesome Roads'. He manages to obtain some celebrity first with a slot on a local radio program, then doing product endorsements on TV, and finally lands his own national television show. Becomes so popular that his opinions as expressed on live TV make or break both products and people. The Washington DC political establishment rushes in to coral his talent by giving him the job of endorsing a US presidential candidate. Lonesome Roads can't lose! He's on his way to a job in the next Presidential cabinet!But the man has a few major defects of personality. He boasts, swaggers, lies, drinks like a fish, and thoroughly antagonizes people close to him that he should respect. No spoiler here, I'll just say things don't go well in the end for Lonesome Roads.
There are many good things about this film. Dialog is crisp, the many sets and scenes are very well done, and the acting is top quality. If I have any reservation about this film, it's Andy Griffith playing the role of huckster a bit too loudly. But that's what this film is about, a huckster and demagogue rising to dizzying heights of power.
"A Face in the Crowd" is currently a freebie on Roku's Tubi channel. Recommended!
Edits: 05/03/24 05/03/24Follow Ups:
Highly recommended in whatever format viewed!
Cheers,
AuPh
Over the top, but hilarious in a 1950s manner.
Great and prophetic movie. And very relevant 65yrs later. Seeing genial ole' Andy Griffith is this role was shocking, and that is just the tip of the iceberg in this movie.
Kazan was a controversial director. He allegedly incriminated hollywood associates when he testified before the HUAC inquisition. He was trying to avoid the blacklist, but ironically ended up on a sort of 'grey' list because many in holywood refused to work with him after.
There is no "allegedly" here--he did this:
"In 1952, Kazan appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities and named eight of his old friends from the Group Theater who in the 1930s, along with him, had been members of the American Communist Party...
"Norma Barzman, Lee Grant, Jules Dassin, Walter Bernstein, all victims of the blacklist, among others, cannot forgive Kazan for what he did. As Barzman explains, 'His lifetime achievement was the destruction of lives.' "
This article from the LA Times lists the people that Kazan named:
https://documents.latimes.com/elia-kazan-names-eight-former-reds/
Talented AND controversial. It is a real shame his output was somewhat limited.... Kazan, Joshua Logan, Fred Zinnemann, Hitchcock, William Wyler, Robert Wise, David Lean and Billy Wilder represent the very best of the golden age of Hollywood... Kazan's best are certainly, East Of Eden, Splendor In The Grass, Gentleman's Agreement, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and On The Waterfront. Every time I rewatch any of the above films there is always some new nuance that I previously missed on previous viewings which is testament to what a great filmmaker Kazan was.....
about Kazan only having made 19 film is that it's been relatively easy to see all of them. Even the few duds he made were worth seeing. His best films were and are stellar. One of my favorite moments in cinema is the scene in Streetcar when Vivian Leigh is alone in the apartment with the flower seller outside. It's hallucinogenic.
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