A Face in the Crowd
A Face in the Crowd chronicles the rise and fall of Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes (Andy Griffith), a boisterous entertainer discovered in an Arkansas drunk tank by Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal), a local radio producer with ambitions of her own. His charisma and cunning soon shoot him to the heights of television stardom and political demagoguery, forcing Marcia to grapple with the manipulative, reactionary monster she has created. Directed by Elia Kazan from a screenplay by Budd Schulberg, this incisive satire features an extraordinary debut screen performance by Griffith, who brandishes his charm in an uncharacteristically sinister role. Though the film was a flop on its initial release, subsequent generations have marveled at its eerily prescient diagnosis of the toxic intimacy between media and politics in American life.
Special Features
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interview with Ron Briley, author of The Ambivalent Legacy of Elia Kazan
- New interview with Andy Griffith biographer Evan Dalton Smith
- Facing the Past, a 2005 documentary featuring actors Griffith, Patricia Neal, and Anthony Franciosa; screenwriter Budd Schulberg; and film scholars Leo Braudy and Jeff Young
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic April Wolfe, excerpts from director Elia Kazan’s introduction to the film’s published screenplay, and a 1957 New York Times Magazine profile of Griffith
New cover by Marc Aspinall
Special Features
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interview with Ron Briley, author of The Ambivalent Legacy of Elia Kazan
- New interview with Andy Griffith biographer Evan Dalton Smith
- Facing the Past, a 2005 documentary featuring actors Griffith, Patricia Neal, and Anthony Franciosa; screenwriter Budd Schulberg; and film scholars Leo Braudy and Jeff Young
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic April Wolfe, excerpts from director Elia Kazan’s introduction to the film’s published screenplay, and a 1957 New York Times Magazine profile of Griffith
New cover by Marc Aspinall
Cast
- Andy Griffith
- Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes
- Patricia Neal
- Marcia Jeffries
- Anthony Franciosa
- Joey DePalma
- Walter Matthau
- Mel Miller
- Lee Remick
- Betty Lou Fleckum
- Percy Waram
- General Haynesworth
- Paul McGrath
- Macey
- Rod Brasfield
- Beanie
- Marshall Neilan
- Senator Worthington Fuller
- Alexander Kirkland
- Jim Collier
Credits
- Director
- Elia Kazan
- Story and screenplay by
- Budd Schulberg
- Director of photography
- Harry Stradling
- Director of photography
- Gayne Rescher
- Songs by
- Tom Glazer
- Songs by
- Budd Schulberg
- Score
- Tom Glazer
- Edited by
- Gene Milford
- Production manager
- George Justin
- Sound
- Ernest Zatorsky
- Sound editor
- Don Olson
- Wardrobe
- Florence Transfield
A scene from A Face in the Crowd
