Griffith leaves co-stars Neal and Walter Matthau (in the role of Ineffectual Well-Intentioned Liberal) in the dust. Pat Rosson, a son and grandson of cinematographers who appeared onThe Andy Griffith Show,The Twilight Zoneand the soap operaThe Young Marriedsas a child. Griffith as Rhodes absolutely demolishes everything in his path, whether he's charming or blustering or, as in the scene below with Patricia Neal, uncapping his monstrous ego and letting the demons out to play. It's the ferocity of Griffin, then 31 and largely unproven as a dramatic actor. But what you really remember about the picture, what gives it a visceral force that's undiluted a half-century later, isn't its preachy moralism (however on the mark its preachy moralism may have been). Budd Schulberg's screenplay is meant to be a cautionary tale about the power of TV, then a young medium of unknown potential, to rouse rabble and inflame the emotions. "A Face In The Crowd" sketches the story of Lonesome Rhodes, a half-drunk drifter who lucks into a local radio slot and rises quickly, gaining and losing a vast national following in the process. He also treats Andy and Barney as hicks, telling them that once his father gets to hear of what they've done, they'll get fired. The young man drives a flashy convertible and obviously comes from a well-off family. In the program, Taylor says that Opies mother died when he was very, very young. Andy arrests 19-year-old Ronald Bailey after he sideswipes farmer Fletch Dilbeck's truck. It remains one of the glories of American film, not least for the incendiary performance of a young Andy Griffith, who died today at 86. What ever happened to Opies mom on The Andy Griffith Show. (Or maybe he's just getting raked over the coals for suggesting it more like Aaron Sorkin than anybody else.) Fifty-five years ago, the director Elia Kazan made a funhouse-mirror version of the same observation. Aaron Sorkin has been getting raked over the coals lately for suggesting that a single person with a national audience and the good sense to get angry can save television. Claim: An image shows a young Frances Bavier, the actress who played Aunt Bee Taylor on " The Andy Griffith Show," posing for a pin-up style photo.
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