Elia Kazan directed the film A Face in the Crowd (1957)
three years after completing his confessional masterpiece On the
Waterfront (1954). Kazan directed Brando as dockworker Terry
Malloy, the prize fighter and dock worker. Terry Malloy howls in pain to brother Charley: "I coulda been
a contender. Instead of a bum, which is what I am –
let's face it."
A Face in the Crowd, the second film, may reflect something of a
vanity project between Elia Kazan and writer Budd Schullberg, two devoted
friends spread their wings and indulged in satire and political commentary on
the heels of a masterpiece. The duo cast Andy Griffith, a relatively
unknown actor as an embodiment of the story’s dual message, 1) a modern
cautionary tale demagoguery rising from the heartland and 2) a discussion of
the immense power of television. TV had only been around for a few years. Kazan
sees change on the horizon as Lonesome Rhodes stares down from his
New York City penthouse apartment and comments on the sea of TV antennas
spreading across the rooftops.
Budd Schulberg, screenwriter and story author for Your Arkansas Traveler, describes Rhodes as “a husky fullback three years after he broke training." Andy Griffith fits the bill nicely. He kicks the man in the drunk tank who attempts to waken and shakes himself to consciousness, surprised to learn of the presence of a radio reporter. Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) Plearns his last name is Rhodes and gives him the name Lonesome Rhodes when a first name is not otherwise provided.
The charismatic Rhodes ad libs his way to
Memphis area popularity. When he pokes fun at his sponsor, a mattress company,
they initially pull their ads—but when his adoring audience revolts, burning
mattresses in the street, the sponsor discovers that Rhodes' irreverent pitches
actually increased sales by 55%, and returns to the air with a new awareness of
his power of persuasion. (Wikipedia) And there is the connection to Donald
Trump. Lonesome Rhodes understands media better than the experts.
Rhodes, along with actor Griffith, offers a Southern warmth and hospitality that works well on the airwaves. Cowboys are singers but have a reputation for isolation, singing only to their cattle and the stars, and sometimes get taciturn under the glare of the spotlight. Lonesome Rhodes blooms under the heat of the TV studio lights and the move from Act I to Act II involves a conversion from radio performer to TV star.
Schulberg correctly gleaned that TV would quickly dwarf radio in terms of popularity and certainly in visibility for the stars. Lonesome’s rise as a TV star means more heady success and more money, status and influence with the move to bigger markets but results in greater rejection for Marcia Jeffries at each successive stage. The story moves Lonesome through three locales for the story’s three acts—from Fox, Utah, to Chicago and then to media hub New York.
In Chicago, Lonesome Rhodes begins to sound off on
international relations with a diatribe against China’s behavior in Korea.
Marcia Jeffries tries to reign him in. Schulberg’s narrator relates in the
short story, “I tried to tell him, ‘Lonesome, you’re fine as long as you gag
your way through Old Smoky and tell your jokes about Cousin Abernathy in
Riddle. But don’t you think before you go handing out pronouncements on China
that you should know a little bit about what you’re talking about?’
The response from Lonesome Rhodes provided a great revelation into
Lonesome’s values and motives, guideposts for how Kazan would steer Griffith’s
performance: “In the voice of the people, Lonesome said, ‘The people never
know. The people is mule-stupid as I am. We jest feel what’s right.”
The answer from Lonesome Rhodes to Marcia’s concerns sent shivers
through me… I heard the voice of Glenn Beck, the heartland right wing radio
talk show host. Glenn prides himself on a common sense orientation toward the
daily news. Beck has more teddy bear qualities while Rush Limbaugh is a pitfall
with microphone.
Donald Trump… and Trumpism came to mind in the story of the
improbable rise of Lonesome Rhodes. Donald understood the intimacy of the
microphone and scoured the country doing interviews during primary season while
Hillary Clinton hid in her gilded bunker. He trivialized his opponents with
well-placed insults. Trump rode a bike while his opponents all needed training
wheels. Trump understood the "mule-stupid" side of the people and
gained a better grasp of his followers as he crossed the country attracting
larger and larger crowds. Trump speaks without the benefit of a filter-- and
with no fear or reprisal. Like Lonesome Rhodes, Trump seems to have nothing to
lose.
A Face in The Crowd offers a great
perspective on the up-from-the-gutter reality TV star who learns the subtle
techniques of media communication the only way possible—by doing it. Lonesome
Rhodes c’est Donald Trump. Donald Trump is Lonesome Rhodes.
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