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 Classic Hollywood
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From Here to Eternity
Directed by Fred Zinnemann • 1953 • United States
Starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah KerrBurt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr make waves in this landmark blockbuster about raging passions and stormy personal dramas on a Hawaiian military base in the lead-up to the attack on Pearl Har...
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By the Sad Sea Waves
Directed by Alfred J. Goulding • 1917 • United States
Starring Harold Lloyd, ‘Snub’ Pollard, Bebe DanielsIt’s trouble on the water when a man tries to woo his sweetheart by pretending to be a lifeguard.
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Haunted Spooks
Directed by Hal Roach and Alfred J. Goulding • 1920 • United States
Starring Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Wallace HoweA hapless young man is roped into an arranged marriage to help a girl claim her inheritance: a haunted house!
