A Face in the Crowd (1957)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Randy T

  
  This one is disturbing for all the right reasons. Watching Andy Griffith play a money-grubbing, amoral, unlikeable bastard is like watching Mister Rogers play Hannibal Lector. After all, this is the same Andy that kept the streets of Mayberry safe for all those years and the same… More
  This one is disturbing for all the right reasons. Watching Andy Griffith play a money-grubbing, amoral, unlikeable bastard is like watching Mister Rogers play Hannibal Lector. After all, this is the same Andy that kept the streets of Mayberry safe for all those years and the same Andy that taught Opie how to fish and throw a curve ball. It's even more unnerving because Griffith does it so well.

• Ken S

  
  Holy central performance Andy Griffith! This movie is full on fantastic. Elia Kazan has brought to life a story that is years ahead of it's time. A must see.

• Michael G

  
  I never thought I'd ever use the word amazing to describe any performance by Andy Griffith but I've got to hand it to the man -- he was amazing. He played a folksy and infinitely lovable hick and a power-drunk bastard with equal magnificence. Director Elia Kazan's… More
  I never thought I'd ever use the word amazing to describe any performance by Andy Griffith but I've got to hand it to the man -- he was amazing. He played a folksy and infinitely lovable hick and a power-drunk bastard with equal magnificence. Director Elia Kazan's initial shot at a burgeoning form of entertainment serves as an eons ahead of its time lightning rod that's more relevant now than ever. Kazan's direction is fantastic (especially when the spectacular Patricia Neal snaps in the sound booth) and the script is biting. The supporting cast (particularly Walter Matthau) was brilliant and I see yet another movie I want to kick myself in the ass for not seeing sooner. I loved this movie so much I want to freak out.

• Cindy I

  
  WOW. Who knew he had it in him?!! Andy Griffith -- yes, THAT Andy Griffith -- gives a blistering performance in his first film role as Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, a drunk, belligerent drifter "discovered" by Arkansas radio personality Patricia Neal. He starts off… More
  WOW. Who knew he had it in him?!! Andy Griffith -- yes, THAT Andy Griffith -- gives a blistering performance in his first film role as Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, a drunk, belligerent drifter "discovered" by Arkansas radio personality Patricia Neal. He starts off small as a hayseed philosopher/musician, then gets more and more famous until he is a nationwide star and teen heartthrob with his own show. In the process, he becomes (or maybe reveals himself to be) a megalomanical bastard. He's a womanizer, a heavy drinker, loud, abusive, moneygrubbing and insensitive. But also, he is handsome and lusty, and brings Miss Prim Patricia Neal out of her sexual shell. The scene of her inviting him into her hotel room and the kiss in the hall was HOT. The scene close to the end where he is on a balcony, his life and fame falling apart around him, reminds one almost of Adolf Hitler or Mussolini, getting high on the adulation of his fans. How he went from a wildman character like this to mild-mannered Mayberry Sheriff Andy Taylor I will never know. I remember years ago another film -- called Murder in Coweta County -- in which Griffith played an amoral character, and people were shocked -- that is, except for anyone who had ever seen this film. I'm curious though....I wonder if the impact was the same for the people who didn't have Andy Taylor to compare Lonesome Rhodes to? Maybe they were instead amazed how such a complete asshole could play a quiet noble character like Andy? The world may never know...

• Stella D

  
  this is a terrific film and i think the flixster synopsis is spot on. it's interesting to speculate where andy's film career might have gone if he hadn't become a tv icon in the 60's

• Lanning :

  
  So I'm watching this with my sister last night, who's visiting from England, and I tell her it's a powerful performance by Andy Griffith. This is my Robert Osbornean intro to a movie that truly grips me. As we get into the film, she's talking about how great it… More
  So I'm watching this with my sister last night, who's visiting from England, and I tell her it's a powerful performance by Andy Griffith. This is my Robert Osbornean intro to a movie that truly grips me. As we get into the film, she's talking about how great it is that Elia Kazan, a sellout to the Committee on Un-American Activities, she reminds me, can so beautifully capture small town America, but that Andy Griffith is wrong for the part. <p> Well, I beg to differ with my one and only dear sister, but Andy Griffith, I believe, is perfect for this part. <p>My sister maintains that Griffith is not sinister enough to play the part of Lonesome Rhodes. This, I think, is a carryover of the whole Mayberry syndrome. I believe that Griffith is perfectly sinister for this part, and his acting job here shows how much range he has beyond Sheriff Andy Taylor. You watch it, and you tell me. Do you agree with my sister, or do you agree with me? <p> One thing we do see eye to eye on is that the script here is a gem.

• jay n

  
  Incisive, brilliantly acted study of the corrupting influence of power and the venality of a twisted soul. Andy Griffith is mesmerizing, Patricia Neal heartbreaking and Walter Matthau gives one of his best early performances.

• Tim S

  
  This ain't your grandparent's Matlock. Andy Griffith is amazing as the towering, sometimes over the top Lonesome Rhodes. What I liked best about the film was it seems to be waaaaay ahead of it's time as far as seeing the power of television, media, and fame. Although… More
  This ain't your grandparent's Matlock. Andy Griffith is amazing as the towering, sometimes over the top Lonesome Rhodes. What I liked best about the film was it seems to be waaaaay ahead of it's time as far as seeing the power of television, media, and fame. Although the ending left me wanting more, it still was very powerful. And, besides, a young Matthau, very young and beautiful Remick, and Patricia Neal (damn, she's two for two) keep it interesting. I love how Kazan frames his shots and he guides the film through a couple of bumpy parts.

• Mister C

  
  The stunning debut of Andy Griffith

• Alec B

  
  This movie is absolutely terrifying. The combination of the eerily truthful prediction of the conglomeration of business, media, politics, and popular personality to manipulate the public along with Andy Griffith's manic performance (Its probably the best thing he's ever… More
  This movie is absolutely terrifying. The combination of the eerily truthful prediction of the conglomeration of business, media, politics, and popular personality to manipulate the public along with Andy Griffith's manic performance (Its probably the best thing he's ever done) creates a film that still feels relevant, like its warning us of something we still have the capability to stop. I hesitate to praise it too much on that basis, as the film has so many other great elements (Patricia Neal, Kazan's direction) . . . its just outstanding on all fronts.

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