Directed by Elia Kazan • 1957 • United States
Starring Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau
A FACE IN THE CROWD chronicles the rise and fall of Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes (Andy Griffith), a boisterous entertainer discovered in an Arkansas drunk tank by Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal), a local radio producer with ambitions of her own. His charisma and cunning soon shoot him to the heights of television stardom and political demagoguery, forcing Marcia to grapple with the manipulative, reactionary monster she has created. Directed by Elia Kazan from a screenplay by Budd Schulberg, this incisive satire features an extraordinary debut screen performance by Griffith, who brandishes his charm in an uncharacteristically sinister role. Though the film was a flop on its initial release, subsequent generations have marveled at its eerily prescient diagnosis of the toxic intimacy between media and politics in American life.
Up Next in Season 1
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Once Upon a Time in the West
Directed by Sergio Leone • 1968 • Italy, United States
Starring Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia CardinaleSergio Leone breathed new life into the western with this masterful epic, which stands as one of the genre’s most timeless artistic achievements. Henry Fonda, cast against his good-guy...
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The Killers
Directed by Don Siegel • 1964 • United States
Starring Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Angie DickinsonErnest Hemingway’s gripping short story “The Killers” has fascinated readers and filmmakers for generations. In 1964, Don Siegel—initially slated to direct the 1946 version—took it on, creating th...
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Red River
Directed by Howard Hawks • 1948 • United States
Starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter BrennanNo matter what genre he worked in, Howard Hawks played by his own rules, and never was this more evident than in his first western, the rowdy and whip-smart RED RIVER. In it, John Wayne found on...
