Posted on 10/19/2012 10:06:50 AM PDT by Vision
This is your Turner Classic Movie channel alert!
Tonight...must see...Andy Griffith...A Face in the Crowd(1957), 8pm est
"A female radio reporter turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star."
Overview & Cast
So you just believe this?
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, eh?
Regardless of his politics, he played the hillbilly to the Max. No Time for Sergeants, through the original series of The Andy Griffin Show, he was an excellent actor. This movie portrays how success can corrupt anyone who is not educated (formally or informally)about humility
What did Beck say about it?
It’s looked great, but work kept me from watching.
I remember Andy Griffith and Ron Howard telling me that I was a racist for not supporting Obama last time around.
Great movie. I’ve noticed it has been on several times a year the last 2 or 3 years. I just saw it a month or two
ago.
I have seen both. I thought Andy did his most “acting” in Faces. As far as WITS, it’s Fourteen or Fight! It was a fun movie and I’d watch it again if it comes on TCM. As far as surreal movies Videodrome and Mr. Frost are memorable.
Griffith later told an interviewer that the movie “changed” him and began to affect his relationships with friends and family, so he never sought another screen role like Lonesome Rhodes. However, he did play villains in several made-for-TV movies in the 1970s, and it was always something of a surprise to see him as a bad guy.
A friend of mine who worked in advertising for many years had some dealings with Griffith back in the 80s, when he did commercials for the Shoney’s restaurant chain. He told me that Andy could be a pain in the ass from time to time; he was late on the first day of the shoot (he elected to drive from his home in North Carolina to the South Carolina restaurant where the commercial was being filmed) and was rude to some fans who heard he was in the area and requested his autograph.
However, my friend says he was much more cooperative during later taping sessions, and Griffith was well-regarded by his colleagues on the various TV shows he starred in.
I agree with your assessment of his performance in “Face.” It was by far his best dramatic role, and Griffith deserved an Oscar nomination for work. The reason he didn’t is rooted in Hollywood politics; by the time the film appeared, director Elia Kazan had voluntarily testified before Congress about communists in Hollywood, angering many in the entertainment industry. Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg were also the first to recognize the unholy alliance between Hollywood and politics, namely the Democratic party (the politicians who appear on Lonesome Rhodes’ TV show were almost certainly Dims). So, that only reinforced industry bias against the film.
Still, Griffith’s work was certainly Oscar-worthy. I didn’t see the film until I was in college (early 80s) and I was amazed at the power of his performance. Reportedly, Elia Kazan had doubts about Griffith’s ability to play the role (given his background as a monologist and comedian), but Andy blew him away in the audition and the rest is history.
As for how Griffith might have fared as a film actor, he would have probably been type-cast and eventually faded, or become a character actor. The smartest thing he ever did was sign on as Andy Taylor and negotiate a deal that gave him 15% of the show. He was set for life when that show left the air, because the “Andy Griffith Show” made millions in syndication alone.
That is not a very good movie.
Seeing this as his greatest acting achievement is a bit of the old anti-comedy bias, methinks. Merely because it was a serious movie with certain Big Ideas does not make his acting any better. Although, most of what we have to compare it to is a sitcom, which naturally leaves no room to grow or develop. Still, I felt as if he wasn’t doing much more than riffing off his bumpkin persona.
Apparently one of Soro’s people gave a copy of it to him.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/what-present-did-george-soros-personally-send-glenn-beck/
Just to clarify, I realize people prefer showier performances. But it can be harder to play the straight man than the card, and in my opinion we are wildly unbalanced as to the type we praise.
Then again, the showier roles are the easier to notice, and if we started tipping the balance the other way it’s be harder to get people to agree. There’s acting as exhibition and acting as convincing people that you aren’t acting, and if you do the latter by definition people are less likely to praise you for it. Because how can they if they didn’t notice?
An old movie with a humorous twist on the media manipulation angle is “Nothing Sacred” with Frederick March and Carole Lombard. Directed by William Wellman.
Hilarious movie.
Griffith played an evil murdering powerful white southerner in the TV movie “Murder in Coweta County” in the early 1980’s. It was based on a true crime from the 1940’s. His character murdered a white sharecropper. Griffith was very, very believable in the role.
Andy Griffith was a card carrying lefty...so no thanks.
Look at our new FB page Hollywood Left and Right. We aim to diss the libs and praise the conservatives who work in the entertainment industry.
JUST SAY NO TO J. LO! Time to stop giving these folks our money.
It's different, gripping, with a darn good story and acting.
I highly recommend it to all who are open to something a little off-beat.
Leni
Sunday afternoon TCM is playing “Onionhead” starring Andy Griffith as a Coast Guard cook. I’ve never heard of the movie. It’s a comedy. Any good?
I guess Andy did a pretty good job of acting ... I was too busy appreciating the cheerleader’s legs! :O
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