 |
In the recent Obama-McCain debates, we saw the power of television nearly unphased by the growing strength of the internet. At one point, we saw Obama explaining his response to a question from the evening’s moderator; when the camera cut to Senator McCain, he was tightlipped and overly anxious for Obama to stop talking so he could jump in and rebut. While not as damaging to McCain as it was to Nixon, it did contrast Obama’s calm, cool image with McCain’s anxiousness and gut reaction approach.
Cut back to the 50's, with television still in its infancy: In the small town of Pickett, Arkansas, radio personality Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) visits the local county jail searching for some colorful characters to interview for her show, A Face in the Crowd. Here, she finds drifter Larry Rhodes (Andy Griffith), who beneath his liquor breath and dirty clothes has an electric personality that captures the imagination of the local town folk. Marcia renames him Lonesome Rhodes and gets her uncle, who owns the radio station, to put Rhodes on the air.
With Marcia as his producer, he quickly becomes a favorite with the audience. As his popularity grows, Rhodes is invited to Memphis to appear on a television show. He is soon ignoring the script and ad-libbing, insulting the sponsors to the joyous amusement of the audience. As his star rises even higher, so does his megalomaniacal behavior. Joey DePalma (Tony Franciosa), a young and opportunistic staff worker, arranges for Lonesome to get a big advertising spot for Vitajex, an alleged vitamin supplement. Rhodes appears in a series of Vitajex commercials, which eerily anticipate the Viagara commercials of today.
Rhodes' fame is now national and he has millions of people looking up to him as a plain speaking personality who connects, ignites, and even persuades the mind set of the common folk. He becomes a media advisor to a Senator who is running for President, coaching him on how he needs to change his stodgy style for television. A media expert emphasizes that the public likes quick sound bites, punch lines, capsule slogans like “It’s time for a change” (yes, politicians have been promising change for a long time. Both Kennedy and Nixon spoke of change during their 1960 campaign).
As Rhodes, megalomaniacal behavior grows out of control, his career is about to come tumbling down. When Marcia, who fell into a love/hate relationship with Lonesome, leaves the sound board on as the credits roll at the end of his TV show, the audience is allowed to hear the real Lonesome and the contempt he holds for his fans and the American public in general.
Would the kind of folksy banter that propels Rhodes to the top still work today? “You betcha”, as we recently found out, in the Presidential election. We saw just how the folksy, hockey-mom, consignment store image connected with a large cross-section of the population.
The script was written by Budd Schulberg, based on his own short story. Schulberg and director Elia Kazan previously worked together on the Marlon Brando classic On the Waterfront. Schulberg’s other important works include What Makes Sammy Run? and The Harder They Fall. He based the Lonesome Rhodes character on a combination of Will Rogers, 1950’s folksy pea-picker entertainer Tennessee Ernie Ford and early TV personality Arthur Godfrey. Godfrey, who on the air had an amiable personality, was know off the air as a control freak who even fired series regular, singer Julius LaRosa, while on the air. This incident exposed the real Godfrey to the public and like Rhodes, his career would soon spiral into a downward free fall.
Kazan assembled a great cast for the film. At the time, Andy Griffith was starring on Broadway in the hit play No Time for Sergeants when he was recommended to Kazan. Griffith started out as a standup comedian most famous for a monologue he recorded called What is Was, Was Football. The popularity of the record even led to an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1955, Griffith got the lead role in No Time for Sergeants, that of a country boy who joined the Air Force. The play was also responsible for the meeting of Griffith and future long time co-star Don Knotts.
At the time, Griffith's acting experience was limited to the hit play and no one was sure, including Griffith, if he could handle the darker aspects of the character in A Face in the Crowd. For the final scenes in the film, where he had to cry out in desperation as his world was falling apart, Griffith was provided with a bottle of Jack Daniels to help loosen him up. Griffith confirms this himself on the DVD documentary accompanying the film. If you only know Andy Griffith from his TV work, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.
Patricia Neal was already a Tony award winner when selected by Kazan to play Marcia Jeffries. Neal would go on to win an Oscar for Best Actress in 1963 for her strong performance in Martin Ritt’s Hud. Lee Remick was picked by Kazan to play the cheerleader, Betty Lou Fleckum, who becomes infatuated with the snake-eyed Rhodes and eventually marries him. This was Remick’s first film and the first of two films she would make with Kazan. Two years later, she would co-star with the great but tragic Montgomery Clift in Wild River. Rounding out the terrific great cast are Tony Franciosa and Walter Matthau.
When A Face in the Crowd was originally released, it did not do well at the box office. Today, the film has gained a well-deserved cult reputation and should be considered one of the more important films from the 1950’s. Earlier this year, the film was revived for one week at the Film Forum in New York City. On one special evening Patricia Neal and author Budd Shulberg appeared on stage to share their experiences in the making of the film. A podcast of this interview is available on the web.
- John Greco (0 comments)