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Published: Sep 23, 2009
Category: Drama
Success, as Woody Allen observed, only makes you more of what you already are.
If you don’t believe that, just consider the case of Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, the main character in "A Face in the Crowd."
When we first see him, he’s a drifter doing short time in an Arkansas jail. He’s cheerful, handsome, and, in a good ole boy way, mildly charismatic --- he’s Andy Griffith, in his first movie role.
Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) shows up. She’s got a radio show called “A Face in the Crowd”. Its premise: Everyone has talent. And here’s Larry Rhodes, strumming his old "Mama Git-tar." Of course this Sarah Lawrence graduate is going to switch on her tape recorder while he sings an original song called "Free Man in the Morning."
Romance follows. So does an audience. Soon he’s got a national TV show and bigtime sponsors.
Just one little problem: This is not the Andy Griffith of “Mayberry R.F.D.” He’s a drifter not because he's had some bad luck but because he's a blowhard, an egomaniac and a fraud. And the train he’s riding always has the same destination: a crude populism that’s really all about him. Listen:
Lonesome Rhodes: This whole country's just like my flock of sheep!
Marcia Jeffries: Sheep?
Lonesome Rhodes: Crackers, hillbillies, hausfraus, shut-ins, pea-pickers --- everybody that's got to jump when somebody else blows the whistle. They don't know it yet, but they're all gonna be 'Fighters for Fuller'. They're mine! I own 'em! They think like I do. Only they're even more stupid than I am, so I gotta think for 'em. Marcia, you just wait and see. I'm gonna be the power behind the president --- and you'll be the power behind me!
Maybe the suckers can’t grasp his contempt for them, but they do grasp another trait that’s standard equipment on guys like Lonesome --- women. In quantity. So Lonesome passes over Marcia to marry a high school cheerleader (Lee Remick, in her film debut). No bets on how long he’ll be faithful to her….
Instead of spoiling the final act, let me just note that this 1957 film was written by Budd Schulberg and directed by Elia Kazan --- the team that created “On the Waterfront.” That 1954 film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director. This film? A classic --- but it wasn't a success like "On the Waterfront." It won no Oscars. [To buy the DVD of “A Face in the Crowd” from Amazon.com, click here.]
It wasn’t just that Americans knew the film was loosely based on Arthur Godfrey, a lovable television host with a big dark side. I suspect it was also the subject matter --- the conning of the mass audience. Because the thing is, people --- and Americans in particular --- love being conned. Given the choice between a simple lie and a complex, ambiguous truth, we vote for the lie. And we don’t thank you if you puncture our balloon.
“A Face in the Crowd” punctures many balloons.