Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Another movie review
I reprint my review of A Face in the Crowd for Zip.ca. In fact, you get a bonus here, because the review was apparently too long for Zip and it got truncated. Now, can I remember what I wrote after that point?
Ahead of its time - Bunuel (Toronto, ON)
Between Meet John Doe and Bob Roberts, there was A Face in the Crowd. Made in 1957, it was definitely ahead of its time in its recognition of the power of television to shape an image for political purposes, and of the demogogic potential of doing so. Larry Rhodes (Andy Griffith) is picked out of an Arkansas jail by a clever radio host, Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal), for her show "A Face in the Crowd" that interviews ordinary people. She nicknames him "Lonesome Rhodes", and with his folksy charm and no-nonsense speech, he becomes an immediate hit.
Of course, he quickly outgrows this backwater, graduating to a television show on Memphis and soon to a major network in New York, thanks to the clever manipulation of an ambitious hustler (Anthony Franciosa). The more popular he becomes, the more he becomes infatuated by his own power. He is manipulated by a rich sponsor to promote the Presidential ambitions of a right wing Senator with no charisma or media savvy; but by the end of the film it's not clear who's manipulating whom.
Marcia, who has fallen in love with Lonesome but is also appalled by the monster she's created, finally pulls the plug on him by allowing the sound to run after he thinks he's off the air. He mocks the Senator and, worse, shows his contempt for his audience. (This episode is based on a famous real incident from this time involving a children's show host.) He shows up at what was to have been a meeting with the Senator and others that would have confirmed his ascendancy. When he realizes he's finished, he has a mental breakdown. He appeals to Marcia to save him, but she finally abandons him.
It's a powerful story, well written and well told. Andy Griffith is a revelation. This is definitely not the smiling Mayberry sheriff I grew up with; it's really a stunning performance, even more so when one realizes that this was his film debut and that beforehand - although he starred in a Broadway play for a year - he was a stand-up comic. In addition to Griffith, Franciosa and Lee Remick - as a baton-twirling nymphette Rhodes suddenly marries as a rating gimmick - appear in film for the first time, and both are excellent. And Rip Torn also debuts in a small role as the man chosen to replace Rhodes after his downfall.
Walter Matthau does a fine job as a bright TV director who quickly sees through Rhodes. (Although his Tennessee accent quickly disappears.) And Patricia Neal is stunning. What a great actress she was. Alas, only she and Griffith of the principals are still alive.
My main complaint is that the film, at 115 minutes, is too long. And the scenes set in the world of broadcasting and advertising are much more persuasive than those in the corridors of political and business power, where the characters seem lifted from a Capra film of the 30s or 40s.
Accompanying the movie on the 2005 DVD release is a short feature which includes interviews with a film historian, a professor, and Griffith, Neal, and Franciosa. (He died only this year.) Also discussed is the sad fact that both the director, Elia Kazan, and the writer, Budd Schulberg - who also collaborated on On the Waterfront - testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1953 and named names. That is, they informed on their friends who had also been members of the Communist Party. Schulberg was 90 when interviewed, and he's unapologetic; but at least he's not as strident as Kazan was at the time. Griffith seems embarrassed to discuss it, since he clearly admires Kazan greatly. Neal, at least, says outright that Kazan was wrong. Considering the great talent of these two men, and that they did in fact have a social conscience and a generally progressive point of view, it's tragic that they chose to act the way they did.
Ahead of its time - Bunuel (Toronto, ON)
Between Meet John Doe and Bob Roberts, there was A Face in the Crowd. Made in 1957, it was definitely ahead of its time in its recognition of the power of television to shape an image for political purposes, and of the demogogic potential of doing so. Larry Rhodes (Andy Griffith) is picked out of an Arkansas jail by a clever radio host, Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal), for her show "A Face in the Crowd" that interviews ordinary people. She nicknames him "Lonesome Rhodes", and with his folksy charm and no-nonsense speech, he becomes an immediate hit.
Of course, he quickly outgrows this backwater, graduating to a television show on Memphis and soon to a major network in New York, thanks to the clever manipulation of an ambitious hustler (Anthony Franciosa). The more popular he becomes, the more he becomes infatuated by his own power. He is manipulated by a rich sponsor to promote the Presidential ambitions of a right wing Senator with no charisma or media savvy; but by the end of the film it's not clear who's manipulating whom.
Marcia, who has fallen in love with Lonesome but is also appalled by the monster she's created, finally pulls the plug on him by allowing the sound to run after he thinks he's off the air. He mocks the Senator and, worse, shows his contempt for his audience. (This episode is based on a famous real incident from this time involving a children's show host.) He shows up at what was to have been a meeting with the Senator and others that would have confirmed his ascendancy. When he realizes he's finished, he has a mental breakdown. He appeals to Marcia to save him, but she finally abandons him.
It's a powerful story, well written and well told. Andy Griffith is a revelation. This is definitely not the smiling Mayberry sheriff I grew up with; it's really a stunning performance, even more so when one realizes that this was his film debut and that beforehand - although he starred in a Broadway play for a year - he was a stand-up comic. In addition to Griffith, Franciosa and Lee Remick - as a baton-twirling nymphette Rhodes suddenly marries as a rating gimmick - appear in film for the first time, and both are excellent. And Rip Torn also debuts in a small role as the man chosen to replace Rhodes after his downfall.
Walter Matthau does a fine job as a bright TV director who quickly sees through Rhodes. (Although his Tennessee accent quickly disappears.) And Patricia Neal is stunning. What a great actress she was. Alas, only she and Griffith of the principals are still alive.
My main complaint is that the film, at 115 minutes, is too long. And the scenes set in the world of broadcasting and advertising are much more persuasive than those in the corridors of political and business power, where the characters seem lifted from a Capra film of the 30s or 40s.
Accompanying the movie on the 2005 DVD release is a short feature which includes interviews with a film historian, a professor, and Griffith, Neal, and Franciosa. (He died only this year.) Also discussed is the sad fact that both the director, Elia Kazan, and the writer, Budd Schulberg - who also collaborated on On the Waterfront - testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1953 and named names. That is, they informed on their friends who had also been members of the Communist Party. Schulberg was 90 when interviewed, and he's unapologetic; but at least he's not as strident as Kazan was at the time. Griffith seems embarrassed to discuss it, since he clearly admires Kazan greatly. Neal, at least, says outright that Kazan was wrong. Considering the great talent of these two men, and that they did in fact have a social conscience and a generally progressive point of view, it's tragic that they chose to act the way they did.
# posted by Stephen @ 8:23 a.m. 
