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| A Face in the Crowd | 
 enlarge | Director: Elia Kazan
Actors: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $11.98
You Save: $8.00 (40%)
New (40) Used (8) Collectible (1) from $11.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  85 reviews
Sales Rank: 10837
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 125
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D33526D
ISBN: 0790792133
UPC: 085393352622
EAN: 9780790792132
ASIN: B0007TKNHO
Theatrical Release Date: 1957
Release Date: May 10, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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Product Description
Discovered by Marcia Jeffries Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes is a homespun hobo who's about to become famous. But as usual more fame leads to more power and more power leads to more corruption. The film also features many celebrities appearing as themselves (Burl Ives Mike Wallace Betty Furness Bennett Cerf Faye Emerson Walter Winchell and others).Running Time: 125 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 085393352622
Amazon.com essential video
More timely now, perhaps, than when it was first released in 1957, Elia Kazan's overheated political melodrama explores the dangerous manipulative power of pop culture. It exposes the underside of Capra-corn populism, as exemplified in the optimistic fable of grassroots punditry Meet John Doe. In Kazan's account, scripted by Budd Schulberg, the common-man pontificator (Andy Griffith) is no Gary Cooper-style aw-shucks paragon. Promoted to national fame as a folksy TV idol by radio producer Patricia Neal, Griffith's Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes turns out to be a megalomaniacal rat bastard. The film turns apocalyptic as Rhodes exploits his power to sway the masses, helping to elect a reactionary presidential candidate. The parodies of television commercials and opinion polling were cutting edge in their day (Face in the Crowd was the Network of the Eisenhower era), and there are some startling, near-documentary sequences shot on location in Arkansas. An extraordinary supporting cast (led by Walter Matthau and Lee Remick) helps keep the energy level high, even when the satire turns shrill and unpersuasive in the final reel. There's an interesting parallel in Tim Robbins's snide pseudodocumentary Bob Roberts: both these pictures have almost as much contempt for the lemmings in the audience as for the manipulative monsters who herd them over the cliff. --David Chute
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| Customer Reviews: Read 80 more reviews...
Not the Andy Griffith you are used to. Incredible film ! January 6, 2009
Want to see Andy Griffith give an over the top performance ? Well he gives the wildest performance of a lifetime as Lonesome Rhodes. He plays a loud mouthed country boy who can sing, and radio hosts/talent scouts use him on his station, and continues to grow until he become a rich obnoxious, overbearing, wheeling, dealing evil businessman. He is TREMENDOUS in this movie,just so over the top. He gets too big for his britches. His love interest, Patricia Neal, well sort of , sees he is becoming too much and decides to pull the plug n his career. Incredible film from start to finish. Nothing like the Andy Griffith you are used to seeing...
A great great film that I highly recommend. Nothing like Ive ever seen before, not like this.
Top-Shelf Classic Cinema! November 30, 2008
Andy Griffith, in his acting debut, certainly isn't the Andy Taylor we all love. Here, he plays "Lonesome" Rhodes, a charming drifter that catches the eye and fancy of Patricia O'Neil. She puts him on her radio station and he becomes a star. His folksy ways and "every man" personality is played to the hilt, taking along O'Neil, his ever-growing audience, and even a presidential candidate in his masquerade. Not too soon, "Lonesome" is revealed as what he is - not the Will Rogers that his public sees, but a power-mad snake oil salesman that is taking his followers with him. The viewer sees the act, as O'Neil eventually does, too, but in the meantime, Rhodes is remaking the image of Senator Worthington Fuller to make him the next president of the United States.
If you love classic b&w cinema, morality tales, or politics, this will soon be one of your all-time favorites.
It should be required viewing for all political candidates, their staff personnel, volunteers, and in every Civics class in America. The timeless message of people following a charismatic personality all the way to the Highest Office in the Land is as appropriate today as it was fifty years ago.
Various reviewers have compared the film to campaigns ranging from president-elect Obama to the radio programs of Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly.
Great film October 13, 2008
This is Andy Griffith like you've never seen him before or since. This is no Sheriff of Mayberry character. Definitely worth seeing.
A Masterwork! Everyone who loves democracy must see it! August 9, 2008
Anyone who thought G.W. Bush was dumb, and thought that he 'lost' in his debates with Kerry, need only see this masterpiece of political drama to get their larnin'! The acting, the directing, the camera work are all astounding, and they need to be, for the script is a subtle and intelligent tale of cynical realism about the media, politics, and soulless marketing.
Andy Griffith is mesmerizing as a 'genuine hick' who shows the television establishment how easy it is to snuff democracy into a true, American, neo-fascist cowboy hat! Don't skip the documentary "Facing the Past," included with the DVD.
Great Film!!!! August 7, 2008
Got this film for a class I had to watch it for and was not expecting to enjoy it. It really surprised me!!! Andy Griffith was amazing!!!! for sure a must see film : )
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