“A Face in the Crowd is a film that has been unjustly overlooked over the years, for it is more pertinent now than ever. Director Elia Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg, inspired by the TV performances of Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy, wanted to explore the dangerous power of the media, which could sell politicians like soap. Andy Griffith stars as Lonesome Rhodes, an Arkansas drunk who is “chosen” to become a popular hero on television and radio, whence he wields great commercial and thus political influence. Lonesome Rhodes plays the guitar (not well, but loudly); exudes and extols the homely virtues (not eloquently, but persistently); and applauds political ignorance as he plays on it.” – Pacific Film Archive In retrospect, the film not only presaged the rise of Donald Trump, but also, perhaps, his fall. With Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau.
