Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for A Face in the Crowd (1957) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick, Percy Waram DIRECTOR: Elia Kazan CINEMATOGRAPHY: Gayne Rescher, Harry Stradling Sr. MUSIC: Tom Glazer PRODUCTION: Newtown Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures

Box Office Performance

Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for A Face in the Crowd (1957). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Development

The film was produced under the working title of The Arkansas Traveler, Schulberg had stated that a conversation with friend Will Rogers Jr., son of Will Rogers—who was known for earthy anecdotes and folksy style—had inspired him to create the Lonesome Rhodes story. The younger Rogers stated that his "father was so full of shit, because he pretends he's just one of the people, just one of the guys".

Director Elia Kazan and Schulberg based the character of Lonesome Rhodes on Arthur Godfrey, as well as on Billy Graham and Huey Long.

▸ Casting

In April 1956, columnist Walter Winchell wrote that Andy Griffith was due to leave the cast of his Broadway show No Time for Sergeants at the end of July, vacation for a month and begin shooting the film. Kazan and Schulberg spent much of July and August in Memphis and in Arkansas.

▸ Filming & Locations

Location shooting occurred in Memphis, Piggott, Arkansas and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where the fair and baton-twirling competition scenes were filmed. The Poplar Bluff scenes involved 5,000 extras paid $1 per hour, 380 dogs and baton twirlers and musicians from six high school bands from Arkansas and Missouri. Remick spent two weeks in Piggott with a teenage baton twirler to improve her twirling skill and local accent, although a double was utilized for several baton-twirling scenes.

Shooting in New York included 61 sets at Biograph Studios in the Bronx, as well as some exteriors. The scene of the network headquarters switchboard was NBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Schulberg remained involved throughout filming. He said, "I went on a trip in 1955 to scout a location in Arkansas, and I've been on the set every day since shooting started in August [1956]."

[Filming] Location shooting occurred in Memphis, Piggott, Arkansas and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where the fair and baton-twirling competition scenes were filmed. The Poplar Bluff scenes involved 5,000 extras paid $1 per hour, 380 dogs and baton twirlers and musicians from six high school bands from Arkansas and Missouri. Remick spent two weeks in Piggott with a teenage baton twirler to improve her twirling skill and local accent, although a double was utilized for several baton-twirling scenes.

Shooting in New York included 61 sets at Biograph Studios in the Bronx, as well as some exteriors. The scene of the network headquarters switchboard was NBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Schulberg remained involved throughout filming. He said, "I went on a trip in 1955 to scout a location in Arkansas, and I've been on the set every day since shooting started in August [1956]."

▸ Music & Score

A stage musical version of A Face in the Crowd directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah began a run at the Young Vic in London on September 10, 2024. Its music is composed by Elvis Costello and the script is an adaptation of Budd Schulberg's book by Sarah Ruhl.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 1 win & 1 nomination total

CRITICAL RECEPTION

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called A Face in the Crowd a "sizzling and cynical exposure" and wrote: Lonesome Rhodes, the two-faced hero, is pretty much the whole show, and what he symbolizes in society is barely hinted—or discreetly overlooked. ... Everyone condescends to him—in the script of Mr. Schulberg, that is—instead of taking positive positions that would better represent reality. ... [A]ll play their roles capably, but they're forced to behave as awed observers, not as flexible factors in the scheme of things. As a consequence, the dominance of the hero and his monstrous momentum, driven home by a vast accumulation of TV detail and Mr. Kazan's staccato style, eventually become a bit monotonous when they are not truly opposed. Reality is proved by inadvertence. We finally get bored with Lonesome Rhodes. Thus the dubious device of having his girl friend switch him on the air when he thinks he is finished with his program (and is scorning his public) is inane. This type would either have become a harmless habit or the public would have been finished with him!

Harrison's Reports wrote: "On a whole, however, it is a fascinating picture, superbly directed and finely acted. Much credit for the film's impact is due [to] Andy Griffith, a newcomer to the screen, for his exceptional performance in the principal role. It is not a sympathetic part, but he plays it with explosive vigor and makes the characterization entirely believable.