Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: A Face in the Crowd

previously: Showgirls, Black Narcissus and Bring it On

For today's episode of this new participatory series, in which we choose our single favorite images from a feature, the topic is Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957). The film was chosen to commemorate the recent passing of Patricia Neal (1926-2010) and to honor the gifted cinematographer Harry Stradling Sr who was born on this very day in 1901. He went on to shoot landmark musicals, numerous classics and win two Oscars.

Andy Griffith's spontaneous verbosity hypnotizes Americans.
Patricia Neal's expressive watchfulness hypnotizes movie buffs.

A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Confession: I never knew what Keith Olbermann was talking about when he referred to Glenn Beck as "Lonesome Rhodes" but now the association is all too clear. I don't pretend to know if Beck ever had pure motives, but when A Face in the Crowd begins, Lonesome Rhodes (Andy Griffith) is not a phony, but a bonafide man of the people. He's not what one would call a deep thinker but he's sly and he has an as yet unexploited ability to run his mouth off on any topic, and get people to listen, laugh and nod their heads in recognition. He's tailor made for the masses. And this 1957 Elia Kazan movie is so prescient it feels eerily of the moment in 2010.

The title of the film comes from a radio program created by whipsmart but emotionally unguarded Marcia (Patricia Neal). She recognizes Lonesome's potential almost immediately, making him the star of her show. She travels with him up through the ranks of radio and then television where Lonesome eventually becomes a star in the biggest market, New York City. By the film's final act he's a bonafide household name, a powerful opinion maker... and a monster. Rhodes, drunk on his own power, is contemptuous of both the truth and of "his flock" (i.e. the public) who he reasons will believe anything he tells them.

"♪ I'd like to have your money but I'd rather have my pride. ♫"
The still above is an emblematic loudmouth shot, a perfect distillation of early Lonesome. It's beautifully lit by Stradling, boisterously performed and plays a key note in the movie's symphony. Lonesome doesn't want to be controlled, he wants to control. In the scene he's supposed to be delivering a word from his sponsor but instead he rabidly bites the hand that feeds him. (Griffith's performance is as loud and in your face as Burt Lancaster's Elmer Gantry... and the characters are not dissimilar come to think of it.) Director Elia Kazan's staging is emotionally acute, too. This is Lonesome's first real test of his power. Note that he's facing away from the crowd even though he's speaking to them. He's already adopted them as flock; he's one of them, but immediately assuming a position as their representative speaker, rather than the entertainer he actually is.

That's my choice for best shot.

But because Patricia Neal is so special in the movie and there are a million great shots of her, I wanted to highlight one more scene (two shots).


Marcia's enigmatic seduction of Lonesome is lit so masterfully. The light seems to convey loneliness, sensuality and an ominous inchoate dread. Or maybe that's the power of great actressing? Marcia initiates the seduction but she's clearly already lost control of the relationship. Note how small she is with this shadowy giant in the long shot and then how she's shrinking back and blocked from view in the medium shot. The entire scene is moving and strange and their body language as she pulls (?) and he pushes (?) has weird beats of contradiction in it. Neal's face flashes aroused horror. But what is she aroused by and what is she scared of: Lonesome, her desire, the lengths she'll go to to find and keep success? We can't know and by the last beat of the scene, she's completely invisible to us.

[Oscar tangent: A Face in the Crowd is masterfully shot, edited, directed and acted and received a grand total of zero nominations. Uhhhh...]

Other Faces in the 'Best Shot' Crowd
  • Movies Kick Ass "The bigger I get, the smaller you make me feel." This is quite an insightful read.
  • Serious Film also chooses a meta moment..."up close it must be a nightmare."
  • Against the Hype the blabmeister "plunged into darkness" I chose this shot, too, before I actually wrote my article. I'm glad I moved on since Colin says it better than I.
  • Mierzwiak celebrates the expressive planes of Patricia Neal's face. Cinematographer Stradling Sr was famously beloved by Barbra Streisand and its easy to see why. Actresses could completely trust that he'd amp up their mystique and light them like the goddesses they were.
  • Okinawa Assault "The Reverse Norma Desmond"

 Other Films in This Series
*
at 7:41 PM
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