A Face to Remember

"Ten thousand miles away from home...and I don't even know my name."
-Lonesome Rhodes

Kazan's 1957 classic, "A Face in the Crowd" will soon turn 50 years old. And I have to say, it's not bad for an old timer. The film has held up remarkably well over the last half century, so much that when I watched it last week I was startled by its relevance to today's society. With outstanding performances all around and a musical score that will give you the shivers, this one is definitely a must-see.

When "country boy" Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Andy Griffith) is discovered by the media in a small town jail, it isn't long before his boyish charm and infectious laughter propel him into celebrity on a national scale. The woman who discovered him (Patricia Neal) is soon swept along for the ride, and becomes the one person keeping him from teetering over the edge of reason once he becomes drunk with the power he has gained over the public. Throughout the film, we watch Rhodes' deteriorate, as his once carefree laughter takes on a maniacal tone as megalomania sets in.

We all know a "Lonesome Rhodes": a charismatic, lovable person who can easily win over the common man. These types of personas are everywhere in the media, and are the kind of people we love to love. What we aren't always aware of, and what "A Face in the Crowd" aims to make us aware of, is the power such people wield over our opinions. Kazan carefully weaves into this entertaining story a scathing social commentary on how we as the public allow ourselves to be led around by our noses by media personas we know little about. This is achieved by giving the audience a behind-the-scene look at the "real" Lonesome Rhodes, an egotistical drunk who has nothing but disdain for the "sheep" who watch his show.

Yet Lonesome Rhodes was not always the nasty egoist we see towards the end of the film. "A Face in the Crowd" gives us an inside look at the transformation Rhodes undergoes from an happy-go-lucky incarcerated hobo to a rich, influential, spoiled fake. We are always told that "power corrupts," but this film shows us the gory details of how fame can cause a man to rot from the inside out. And it is indeed with morbid fascination that the audience observes Rhodes' descent.

Rare is the film that can teach us a lesson and still be wildly entertaining. Yet "A Face in the Crowd" does this and more: 50 years later it is still teaching, and still entertaining audiences as much as ever. And I imagine it will for many years to come.