A Face in the Crowd (1957)
1.85:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
Dolby Digital 2.0
Warner Home Video, $19.97

In a dusty corner of Arkansas in the mid-1950s, a green but ambitious local radio reporter, Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal), brings her daily “Face in the Crowd” program to the county jailhouse to interview the “catch” of the Fourth of July weekend. An assortment of drunks and hobos perk up when the vivacious journalist slides her microphone close to their mouths and coos, “People are fascinatin’ wherever you find ’em!” One savvy “drunken disorderly,” Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes (Andy Griffith), seizes the moment and manages to charm young Marcia with his homespun crooning and straightforward idealism. Wooed both personally and professionally, Marcia finds her star in Lonesome, who becomes an instant hit with her working-class listeners and is quickly given his own show. Soon, lucrative advertisement deals bring out Lonesome’s more manipulative side, and it isn’t long before television networks come calling. After Marcia creates a TV version of Lonesome’s show, aided by a writing staff headed by Mel Miller (Walter Matthau), Lonesome’s popularity grows and he becomes increasingly corrupt. He finally becomes the most popular celebrity in America, and even Washington comes calling for advice on how to win public favor. Horrified at the monster Lonesome has become, Marcia and Mel bond over their shared heartbreak. “It’s dangerous,” says Mel. “You gotta be a saint to stand off the power that little box can give you.”

A Face in the Crowd is Elia Kazan’s powerful adaptation of Budd Schulberg’s The Arkansas Traveler, and the picture marked the Hollywood legends’ second collaboration, after On the Waterfront. To bring the project to the screen, Kazan enlisted cinematographer Harold Stradling, ASC (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Easter Parade), who had previously shot A Streetcar Named Desire for him. Kazan wanted a stark style of black-and-white that would accurately represent the world of television. Some complications arose during preproduction because of the need to photograph actual TV screens and actors within the same frame, and Stradling asked Gayne Rescher, ASC (Rachel, Rachel) to assist in the complicated camerawork and share his credit on the film. The resulting picture boasts a no-frills, almost documentary style for its first half, and a suitably nightmarish tabloid style for its second half.

Warner Home Entertainment’s recently released DVD of A Face in the Crowd offers a fairly solid picture transfer that accurately reproduces the cinematographers’ bold, monochromatic scheme. The only image flaws are periodic appearances of scratches and print dirt that suggest worn source materials. The monaural audio track is clean and free of distortion.

The DVD includes the film’s theatrical trailer and a newly produced 29-minute documentary that features interviews with Griffith, Neal, Schulberg, supporting actor Anthony Franciosa, film professor Leo Braudy and Kazan author Jeff Young. Although too much of the segment is taken up by a fascinating discussion of Schulberg and Kazan’s controversial testimonies to the witch-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee, the documentary features illuminating observations from the actors regarding Kazan’s directing style, and an excellent interview with Schulberg. It’s regrettable that this featurette isn’t longer, because each of the participants has quite a bit to say.

More than 40 years after its original release, A Face in the Crowd remains a frightening reminder of the media’s power in American culture; in many respects, the picture’s ideology was ahead of its time. Memorably played by an excellent cast and brutal in its depiction of savage narcissism, the film has only improved with age. This DVD presentation brings the tale of Lonesome Rhodes, “The Demigod in Denim,” home with a sickening poignancy.

A Face in the Crowd is also available in Warner’s “Controversial Classics Collection” boxed set, which retails for $79.95 and also features Advise and Consent, The Americanization of Emily, Bad Day at Black Rock, Blackboard Jungle, Fury and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang.

— Kenneth Sweeney