Vitals

Andy Griffith as Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, folksy yet power-hungry media personality

Memphis to New York City, Spring 1956

Film: A Face in the Crowd
Release Date: May 28, 1957
Director: Elia Kazan
Costume Designer: Anna Hill Johnstone

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Today would have been the 100th birthday of Andy Griffith, born June 1, 1926. Already somewhat known as a comedian for routines like his breakthrough 1953 monologue “What It Was, Was Football”, Griffith made his explosive screen debut in Elia Kazan’s excellent 1957 drama A Face in the Crowd, a devastatingly prescient depiction of how susceptible American culture is to populism and celebrity cycloning into demagoguery. Budd Schulberg adapted his own short story “Your Arkansas Traveler” into the screenplay centered around Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, a charismatic drifter plucked from obscurity by radio producer Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) who ascends out of control into an influential public figure. Continue reading →