#6 A Face In The Crowd

"POWER! He loved it! He took it raw in big gulpfuls...he liked the taste, the way it mixed with the bourbon and the sin in his blood!"

Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957) is one of my favorite examples on how corrupt media "heroes" can influence a nation. With the terms fraud and power-hungry being the best to describe these people, viewers are subjected to look up to them as god-like celebrities who know the best for everyone.

Andy Griffith (very immersed in his role) plays Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, an indigent hobo/drifter who, by luck, becomes the local radio star of Arkansas. His charming personality on radio wins the approval of many devoted fans, and lands him a major part in a national TV show.

"Lonesome" then becomes the television star of America, but it is only a matter of time when his fraudness is exposed to everyone.

One of the main aspects that make A Face in the Crowd so unique is that at the time of its release, television was dominating radio as a medium of entertainment. The concern of this was if the television screen might be able to dominate free thinking and could be an instrument of control.

Walter Matthau's role in the movie has a line that deals with this problem:

Although this fear is not transparent in today's society (granted, the way Rhodes is praised in the movie seems very exxagerated-even a mountain is named after him), I feel it is still vital to look back in time and notice how others were concerned about the media and how similar thinking can be applied today. I'm quite certain the essential message of the film is for people (even politicians) to think for themselves and not allow a mortal hooligan be thinking for us instead. Other lessons can also be acquired, but this would be the most significant of them all.

Aside from all of this, Andy Griffith is spectacular in this film. His performance as the cunning power-hungry "Lonesome" Rhodes who descends to complete madness from greed in the end is simply stunning. If you don't feel like watching the movie for its message, then just watch it for Griffith. He definitely shines in this one.