Opening

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A Face in the Crowd

A Face in the Crowd (1957)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 1

audience

93

liked it
Average Rating: 4.2/5
User Ratings: 4,575

My Rating

Movie Info

Andy Griffith makes a spectacular film debut in this searing drama as Lonesome Rhodes, a philosophical country-western singer discovered in a tanktown jail by radio talent scout Patricia Neal and her assistant Walter Matthau. They decide that Rhodes is worthy of a radio spot, but the unforeseen result is that the gangly, aw-shucks entertainer becomes an overnight sensation not simply on radio but, thereafter, on television. As he ascends to stardom, Rhodes attracts fans, sponsors and

Unrated,

Drama, Classics

Budd Schulberg

May 10, 2005

WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES

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All Critics (24) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (2) | DVD (2)

A Face in the Crowd has never ceased to be relevant.

February 27, 2008 Full Review Source: Village Voice
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What starts out as a seemingly liberal tract rapidly becomes a smug, cynical exercise in misanthropy.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment (1)
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This sizzling and cynical exposure... also presents Andy Griffith as the key figure in his first screen role.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Andy Griffith, as a hick radio star modeled on Arthur Godfrey, delivers an astonishing, sinister performance in Elia Kazan's 1957 essay on media demagoguery.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A fascinating early look at the unholy alliance between politics and entertainment, the corporations controlling it all. With Griffith's wild performance, even though the film has its flaws, it's worth viewing.

July 10, 2012 Full Review Source: Doddle

Another fruitful collaboartion between Kazan and Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront), a poignant film about celebrity, the mass media, and the political process.

April 8, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

It's a biting 'rise and fall' satire, sending out a warning to watch out for legends created on the boob tube.

November 29, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment (1)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A raw, penetrating, and terrifying portrait of humanity.

November 1, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

In 1957 it was prescient; today it's a textbook chapter on how the television medium has shaped our lives.

May 15, 2005 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

...an important cautionary tale for all of us not take everything we see and hear at face value.

May 15, 2005 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

Next time you feel like you're getting fooled again by a demagogue, rent this movie and get centered

May 13, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

Didactic but highly effective little black comedy from the folks who gave you 'On the Waterfront.' Andy Griffith is downright scary.

December 31, 2004
Nitrate Online

The remarkable thing about A Face in the Crowd is the way in which this 50-year-old film only seems to become only more relevant with the passing of time.

November 20, 2003 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The first half of A Face in the Crowd is genuinely intriguing and competently handled by Kazan, but it quickly degenerates into moralizing diatribe.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

Audience Reviews for A Face in the Crowd

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.
December 28, 2008
flixsterman
Randy Tippy

Super Reviewer

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.
June 18, 2007
kenstachnik

Super Reviewer

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Latest News on A Face in the Crowd

July 3, 2012:
Andy Griffith: 1926-2012
The TV icon, director, film star, singer, and writer has passed away at the age of 86.

Foreign Titles

  • A Face in the Crowd (1957) (DE)
  • A Face in the Crowd (1957) (UK)
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