1957 American drama film by Elia Kazan
A Face in the Crowd is a 1957 American satirical drama film directed by Elia Kazan and starring Andy Griffith (in his film debut), Patricia Neal, and Walter Matthau. The screenplay by Budd Schulberg is based on his short story "Your Arkansas Traveler" from the 1953 collection Some Faces in the Crowd.
The story centers on Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, a drifter who is discovered by the producer (Neal) of a small-market radio program in rural northeast Arkansas, and who rises to great fame and influence on national television. The character was inspired by Schulberg's acquaintance with Will Rogers Jr. The successes of Arthur Godfrey and Tennessee Ernie Ford were also acknowledged in the screenplay.
The film launched Griffith into stardom, but it received mixed reviews on its release. Subsequent reappraisals have been kinder to the film. In 2008, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.