Female radio reporter Marcia Jeffries turns folk-singing drifter Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes into a powerful media star who becomes utterly detestable during his meteoric rise.Female radio reporter Marcia Jeffries turns folk-singing drifter Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes into a powerful media star who becomes utterly detestable during his meteoric rise.Female radio reporter Marcia Jeffries turns folk-singing drifter Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes into a powerful media star who becomes utterly detestable during his meteoric rise.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
R.G. Armstrong
- Teleprompter Operator
- (uncredited)
Beverly Bentley
- Page Girl
- (uncredited)
John Bliss
- Barefoot Baritone
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was Patricia Neal's return to the screen after a four-year absence from Hollywood, an absence that was precipitated by a much-publicized affair with Gary Cooper (who was married at the time) and a subsequent nervous breakdown.
- Goofs"Lonesome Rhodes" is in jail for a week for being drunk and disorderly. When he's asked to sing a song, he pulls his guitar out of its case along with a visible bottle of whiskey. It's highly unlikely the police wouldn't have searched his guitar case as a matter of safety. (He could have had a gun in there.) Certainly, they would have found and confiscated a bottle of "hooch", especially from a prisoner who had been charged with drunkenness in the first place.
- Quotes
Mel Miller: [commenting on one of Lonesome Rhodes' on-air tirades after the two have had a falling out] I'll say one thing for him, he's got the courage of his ignorance.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Great Balls of Fire! (1989)
Featured review
Like a lot of people who've commented on this film, I didn't get around to seeing it until late in life, and it seems as relevant today as ever, maybe even more so. I find it interesting that different people, depending on their own viewpoint, project different contemporary personalities into the mold of the film's detestable hero, Lonesome Rhodes. The list of various people Rhodes is compared to includes Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore, or George W. Bush, suggesting that there's enough BS from all sides to go around. I did a double-take on watching this film when the reactionary right-wing presidential candidate that Rhodes promotes begins to pontificate about how un-American the notion of social security is, and how it's high time it was dismantled. That was 1957, and that cause is being worked harder than ever today. I was not aware, until reading some of the other comments here, how central a target Arthur Godfrey was in this story. In fact, I believe Godfrey is actually mentioned by name in the film when Rhodes says something like "Have Arthur Godfrey fill in for me, and tell him I'll return the favor some time."
Anyway, while this film hardly needs yet another accolade, I'll add mine to the list and say that it's one of the great under-appreciated films of its time, and only grows with stature as the years go on. And hallelujah there's now a well-made DVD of this film that includes an interesting documentary in which we hear from Schulberg, Griffeth, Neal, Franciosa, and some film scholars. About time, too.
Anyway, while this film hardly needs yet another accolade, I'll add mine to the list and say that it's one of the great under-appreciated films of its time, and only grows with stature as the years go on. And hallelujah there's now a well-made DVD of this film that includes an interesting documentary in which we hear from Schulberg, Griffeth, Neal, Franciosa, and some film scholars. About time, too.
- How long is A Face in the Crowd?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime2 hours 6 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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