In the pre-dawn hours Turner Classic Movies aired a film which, upon fresh viewing, seems as relevant today as when it was released 51 years ago.
A denim-clad, charismatic drifter, discovered in the drunk tank by a radio producer, rises to phenomenal success by appealing to the American masses.
Behind his hokey and homespun humor lies a megalomaniac, evil to the core, who pushes a fascist agenda onto an unsuspecting and uninformed mass audience.
Director Elia Kazan had the singular talent of squeezing gut-wrenching, primal-scream performances from his actors. It seems unlikely that the man who crafted the acting skills of Marlon Brando in “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “On the Waterfront” and James Dean in “East of Eden,” arguably extracted some of filmdom’s most riveting scenes from the man who played the sheriff of Mayberry.
“A Face in the Crowd” (1956), with equally flawless performances by Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau and Lee Remick, moves easily into today’s genre of right-wing talk radio and TV giants and ideology-bent politicians.
The film, born in the midst of McCarthyism, translates to a world of mass hysteria, fearmongering, nationalism and empire building. With a new viewing, Andy Griffith’s Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes becomes the more frightening, more dangerous persona embodied in the 24/7 world of right-wing punditry.
The demise of a tragic man with Shakespeare’s “tragic flaw” comes only when a duped public wakes up to truth.
I highly recommend this movie. If you’re in for a weekend video fest, experience it along with Barry Levinson’s “Wag the Dog,” starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. Be prepared for revelations.
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dreams
A warm welcome to the naturally curious, the politically engaged and constant learners. I am a retired newspaper editor with a fickle foe, retinitis pigmentosa, or RP. While my sense of sight is waning, my "vision" is not, and, by God, I can still see my dreams!
simply ...
- B.J.
- South Carolina, United States
- constant learner
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1 comment:
On one side of the 45 RPM record was "Romeo & Juliet," and on the other "What it Was Was Football." Breathes there a soul so dead that never broke into urine-dripping laughter at the unknown bumpkin from North Carolina who inspired Ronny Howard to greatness, and created saluting toilet seats. One of the most talented men to ever pass across the silver screen.
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