Day 50: He's Got The Courage Of His Ignorance

A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)
Directed by Elia Kazan
Starring: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick, Percy Waram, Marshall Neilan

Everybody knows Andy Griffith.  He's the gentle, fatherly sheriff who enforces the law with his warm personality and homespun humor.  Or, if you're a little younger, he's an old defense attorney who exonerates his clients in a cantankerous yet likable manner.

However, if you ever want to see another, seedier side of this American folk hero, look no further than A Face in the Crowd.

Griffith plays a wanderer named Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes.  While being held for drunk and disorderly conduct in a small Arkansas jail, he is discovered by local radio host Marcia Jeffries (Neal), who persuades the sheriff to let Rhodes sing a song for her show.  Rhodes' popularity soars and takes him from a small time radio station in Arkansas to a TV show in Memphis and eventually to New York City.  People just can't get enough of "Lonesome."  But Rhodes is his own man, and his free-wheeling ways make directors cringe and sponsors nervous.  But everything he touches turns to gold, as the Vitajax company finds out when they ask him to endorse their pep pills.  The more popular he gets, the more people want to get a hold of him.  Marcia seemingly succeeds until she finds out that he's sleeping with half the girls in New York.  Fame goes to "Lonesome's" head, and he alienates everyone who helped him get to the top.  Now this down-home hero is friends with some of Washington's elite, who know that the public hangs on to Rhodes' every word.  And they want him in their corner.  Eventually, Rhodes goes mad with power and pushes everything and everyone away to focus on the person who is most important: himself.

This was an interesting film for a number of reasons.  Not the least of which was seeing sweet, wholesome Andy Griffith play a totally corrupt, power-hungry jerk.  I had my doubts to say the least as to whether or not he could pull it off, but he does so with an amazing amount of energy and verve.  His monsterous laugh can, depending on the context, either be infecteous or frightening.  And when his world finally comes crashing down around him, his final scenes are just as powerful as anything Marlon Brando did in A Streetcar Named Desire.  He's nowhere near as subtle, but then, neither is "Lonesome," so he doesn't need to be.

As for the rest of the cast, everyone is in fine form.  Elia Kazan was known as the Actors' Director, and his skills are on display.  Both of my readers will remember that I blasted Patricia Neal's performance in The Day the Earth Stood Still, but she redeems herself here.  She is at the same time powerful and vulnerable.  She deeply loves "Lonesome," but she hates what he's become.  And in the end, she knows she's the one who has to knock "Lonesome" down a peg or two.  Also of note is Walter Matthau as Rhodes' head writer Mel Miller, who is the first to rebel against the down-home demagogue.  And it must be said that, as a young man, Matthau was rather handsome.

Another interesting thing about the film is how experimental it was.  There is one scene in particular that stands out the most.  A series of quick edits show clips from "Lonesome's" various Vitajax commercials, coupled with quick shots of animated sales charts, some odd cartoon ads and a mish-mash of different ad campaigns, all with the phrase "Watch the rating" repeated over and over again.  It's like something out of a fever dream.  Or, at least, a David Lynch movie.  It's downright strange, especially considering the year it came out.  I can't think of one American director who was as willing to experiment with the medium as much as Kazan did.  I can just imagine the "I Love Lucy" generation sitting in the theater and having their minds blown by this squence.  If I had a time machine, I'd love to go back and see how that went over.

Actually, I don't have to.  Thanks to the internet, I have found out that the film did rather poorly on its initial release, perhaps because of its strangeness or overall dark and pessimistic outlook on celebrity.  The film was certainly way ahead of its time, and films that are way ahead of their time rarely do well at first.  But over the years, the film has become a favorite of many, and I think it's one of Elia Kazan's best.