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A Face In The Crowd
RRP: £13.72
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Fantastic movie about greed
Review date: 2008-06-15 Rating: 10 out of 10
It's amazing to me that this movie was made in the 1950s. It's so right on the money with its take on American advertising and greed. Andy Griffith is fantastic as Lonsome Roads, the main character in this incredible journey gone wrong from country boy to top of the world movie star. Other notable performances are by Lee Remick and of course, Patricia Neal. If you want to see the underbelly of how American advertising works, this is a movie you won't want to miss. Similar films include "All About Eve," "Chinatown," and "Day of the Locust" all of which deal with Hollywood and again how the public gets used. The ending of "A Face in the Crowd" is one you won't forget and Griffith's performace is the best of his career. It's amazing that he didn't go on to do hundreds more films. His range of emotions in this movie are unbelievable. Great film---depressing but great.
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Reviews
Unappreciated Kazan masterpiece
Review date: 2007-04-09 Rating: 10 out of 10
`A Face In The Crowd' was directed in1957 by: Elia Kazan (On The Waterfront, 1954; Baby Doll, 1956; A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951; East Of Eden, 1955, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, 1945). He may be perhaps the greatest of all American directors and certainly one of most consistent along with Howard Hawks and Billy Wilder. Kazan was the co-founder of the New York Actor's Studio that taught the Stanislavski theory of acting or Method Acting as it would become known. The idea is to suppress the actor own personality and thereby become the role they are playing. Kazan was looking to move cinema away from the closed romantic realism of classic Hollywood into new territory and subject matter such as: youth, sex, racism and politics. In `A Face In The Crowd' we get to see almost a prophetic look at the corrupting power of the then new medium of television. Television is being used as a medium to sway public opinion in your favour, be it sell vitamin pills or your politics. We also see the coaching of a US senator in the Method to create a change of personality and thus win over the television viewer/voter. Yet as quick as it can make you it can also break you. It seems even more relevant today.
`A Face In The Crowd' starred Andy Griffith (Matlock (TV)) who is brilliant is wonderfully cast in his debut picture as Lonesome Rhodes. He exudes a raw comic energy of a larger than life character that is perfect for the role. He is supported by excellent performances from Walter Matthau and Patricia Neal (The Day The Earth Stood Still, 1951; Breakfast At Tiffiny's, 1961; Hud, 1963). The screenplay was written by Budd Schulberg (A Star Is Born, On The Waterfront) and supposedly based on the career of Arthur Godfrey. The excellent cinematography was by Harry Stradling (A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951; Johnny Guitar, 1954).
A felt that this was a wonderful film similar in many ways to `All The King's Men' (1949, Robert Rossen) and `Network' (1976, Sidney Lumet) and deserves to be more widely known.
The DVD is an excellent transfer with a short documentary featuring Andy Griffith and Budd Schulberg.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Andy Griffith
Anthony Franciosa
Patricia Neal
Walter Matthau
Lee Remick
Creators:
Andy Griffith (Primary Contributor)
Patricia Neal (Primary Contributor)
Gayne Rescher (Cinematographer)
Harry Stradling Sr. (Cinematographer)
Elia Kazan (Producer)
Gene Milford (Editor)
Budd Schulberg (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: VellaVision
Manufacturer: VellaVision
EAN: 8429814120117
Binding: DVD
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-01-02
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 125 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Spanish (Original Language)