upstill@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Steve Upstill) (10/25/85)
When you've been a film buff as long as I have, it's a rare and welcome event to see a great film for the first time. It's even rarer to see a film you'd hardly heard of, one that has almost no recognition as a classic, and have it jump immediately into your all-time ten best list. I saw a movie like that last Wednesday. Its title is "A Face in the Crowd". Andy Griffith (yes!) stars as a small-time drunk who we first see in jail being interviewed for a local radio program called "A Face in the Crowd". The film chronicles his rise to a superstar of the early days of television, his effect on his audience, and the effect of his popularity on him. Patricia Neal (who?) is the woman who first interviews him, and later loves him, futilely. The picture was directed by Elia Kazan (Streetcar Named Desire, On THe Waterfront, East of Eden) from a script by Budd Schulberg. Released in 1957, this represents the pinnacle of Hollywood social-consciousness filmmaking, not because of some mushy-headed "message", but due to its astonishing insight into the new beast of television, and the power with which it carries the viewer to share it. In one scene, Andy Griffith's character gives a two-sentence summary of the nature of the change television would bring to politics that chilled me to the bone. Schulberg's script is a work of literature. I never heard a wrong line or an off-character moment, and Griffith's character is as vivid in my mind as a real human being can be. Kazan's direction makes you realize the possibilities of the film medium. Patricia Neal is admirable, and Walter Matthau is excellent as a "college-boy" observer of the whole scene. But it is Andy Griffith who really blew me away. This is the performance of a lifetime (his first in a film), and I consider it a major tragedy that he is not considered one of our great actors (maybe because he has a Southern accent?). His is an epic role, both in sweep and detail, and he carried it off without a single misstep, without a trace of artifice or craft. Try as I might, I never once saw anyone but Lonesome Rhodes up there on the screen. You might get the idea that I liked this picture. You would be correct. I only hope others will see it and be as amazed as I still am, two days later. This is the scariest movie I've seen in a long time, maybe forever. Steve Upstill
reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (10/28/85)
In article <10796@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> upstill@ucbvax.UUCP (Steve Upstill) writes: I second the recommendation of "A Face in the Crowd". This was one of those pictures that not many people saw, but which was liked by almost everyone who saw it. > >But it >is Andy Griffith who really blew me away. This is the performance of a >lifetime (his first in a film), and I consider it a major tragedy that he >is not considered one of our great actors (maybe because he has a Southern >accent?). Andy Griffith really is a very fine actor. In my opinion, he was done in by TV. His big break was "No Time For Sargeants" on Broadway, then on film. After that, he was offered a TV show which became vastly successful. As a result of that show, he became typecast as the downhome, country-wise, lovable sheriff of a small Southern town. The only roles he got were rather dull characters in rather dull family pictures. Recently, he's begun to get better parts, frequently playing villains. I suppose he made a ton of money off "The Andy Griffith Show", but it certainly cost him the chance for a major acting career, or at least delayed him for 20 years. -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher
leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (10/29/85)
> >When you've been a film buff as long as I have, it's a rare >and welcome event to see a great film for the first time. >It's even rarer to see a film you'd hardly heard of, one >that has almost no recognition as a classic, and have it >jump immediately into your all-time ten best list. I saw a >movie like that last Wednesday. Its title is "A Face in the >Crowd". > This is one of a number of very good, very bitter films of the fifties. Lonesome Rhodes is based somewhat on Arthur Godfrey, though the latter did not go in for politics. You did not mention that the film also introduces Lee Remick as a teenager whom Rhodes marries. The problem with the film is that the ending is a little too easy and pat. I'd like to see FACE IN THE CROWD shown more, but broadcasters seem to think that it lacks appeal. If you want to watch for another film of similar stature, that is almost forgotten, watch for a film on TV called THE BIG CARNIVAL. In theaters it was called ACE IN THE HOLE. It is the story of how reporter takes a relatively minor story -- a man trapped in a cave -- and cynically blows it up to a story of national importance. Kirk Douglas stars, Billy Wilder directs. Also watch for the only slightly better known PATHS OF GLORY, directed by Kubrick. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper