"Under the tumbling, variegated flow of characters in A Face in the Crowd is a sharp warning: There is power in television. It can be perverted" (Elia Kazan, 1957). A Face in the Crowd is a fascinating film that has been unjustly overlooked over the years, a film that seems more pertinent now than ever. Director Elia Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg, inspired by the TV performances of Richard Nixon and Joseph McCarthy, desired to explore the dangerous power of the media, which could sell politicians like soap. Lonesome Rhodes is an Arkansas drunk who is "chosen" to become a popular hero on television and radio, whence he wields great commercial and thus political influence. Lonesome Rhodes plays the guitar (not well, but loudly); exudes and extols the homely virtues (not eloquently but persistently); and applauds political ignorance as he plays on it. He joins a fascist group that manipulates his megalomania to a climax, after which Lonesome Rhodes is dumped on the trash heap of forgotten heroes. Andy Griffith, in an extraordinary performance, perceptively plays Lonesome Rhodes not like a television character, but like television itself: as he expands in power and popularity, he grows increasingly leering and self-righteous. Patricia Neal is also memorable as the radio reporter who helps create the monster. (JB)