View source for A Face in the Crowd

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{{quote|''"I'm not just an entertainer. I'm an influence, a wielder of opinion, a force... a force!"''|Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes}}

Before [[Andy Griffith]] became a television legend playing a likable small-town sheriff, he portrayed a completely different type of celebrity in '''''A Face in the Crowd''''', a dark look at the corruptability of sudden fame and power. In his film debut, Griffith plays Larry Rhodes, a rural drunk, drifter and country singer who becomes an overnight success when radio station promoter Marcia Jeffries ([[Patricia Neal]]) and her assistant Mel Miller ([[Walter Matthau]]) put him on the air. Behind the scenes, he turns into a power-hungry monster who must be exposed.

Budd Schulberg, who purportedly modeled the lead character on radio and TV personality Arthur Godfrey, adapted his short story "The Arkansas Traveler" for director [[Elia Kazan]]. The film also marks the film debut of [[Lee Remick]].

''A Face in the Crowd'' was added to the [[National Film Registry]] in 2008.

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* [[Accidental Public Confession]] / [[Engineered Public Confession]]: Rhodes' downfall, when [[Is This Thing Still On?|the mic is turned on when he wasn't expecting it to be]]. Considering that the film was released in 1957, this might be the [[Trope Maker]] for [[Engineered Public Confession]].
* [[All Guys Want Cheerleaders]]: Rhodes divorces his wife in order to marry 17-year-old drum majorette Betty Lou Fleckum (Lee Remick's character).
* [[Nice Character, Mean Actor]]: "Lonesome" Rhodes comes off as a folksy home-spun philosopher who somehow becomes a media success. His downfall comes when his disillusioned girlfriend [[Is This Thing Still On?|deliberately broadcasts]] [[Accidental Public Confession|what he ''really'' thinks of his audience]] during the closing credits of his TV program.
* [[Please Don't Leave Me]]: Rhodes screaming "Don't leave me, Marcia", long after his girlfriend had left, even after she'd admitted she'd been the one to sabotage his career.
* [[Strawman News Media]]: The "media are vapid" subtype of the trope; Rhodes's behavior is ignored or encouraged by his backers.

{{Needs More Tropes}}

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