For many of us, Andy Griffith came into our lives as small-town sheriff Andy Taylor on the actor’s eponymous TV series. Of course, he morphed into elderly attorney Matlock eventually, but without a doubt, The Andy Griffith Show remained as his main claim to fame.

It also set up our perception of Griffith the person, as it became easy to confuse the actor with his laid-back, “aw shucks” TV character. Griffith boasted other facets to his acting talents, though, as seen in 1957’s A Face In the Crowd.

Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) hosts an Arkansas radio show entitled A Face In the Crowd, and she uses this broadcast as a way to showcase the musical talents of “common folk”. She discovers a drifter named Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Griffith), and he quickly becomes a popular sensation.

As Lonesome’s fame increases, so do his aspirations. Lonesome rises through the media ranks and envisions a career in politics as a populist, even if his true beliefs go in a different direction.

Had I written this review in 2009, I’d have taken a different approach, but since I’m doing it in 2019, it becomes impossible to ignore comparisons between Lonesome and the current inhabitant of the White House. Perhaps “impossible” stretches the possibilities, but given the similarities between the paths Lonesome and Trump took to political power, it’d feel odd if I didn’t confront that particular topic.

Granted, Lonesome doesn’t actually run for office, as he remains the man behind the curtain, but he still taps the desires of the so-called “common man” and feigns beliefs he doesn’t possess. Both he and Trump also share a path to power driven by media domination.

Lonesome exploits a more primitive media and resides in an earlier society where misdeeds actually matter, though. When Lonesome reveals his true beliefs, his career dies, whereas the laws of political gravity don’t seem to impact the current administration.

In addition to the similarities between Crowd and the modern climate, the film acts as a precursor to 1976’s Network. Both aim barbs at media and both feature “lone prophets” at their cores.

However, Lonesome offers a much uglier character than Network’s Howard Beale. Although both tap into mass audiences via their blunt comments, Lonesome acts as a much more contrived personality. Beale states his case because he suffers a mental breakdown, whereas Lonesome knows exactly how he manipulates his audience.

Because of this, Network becomes more of a satirical criticism of media, whereas Crowd splits its time between that subject and its political bent. This wider view doesn’t make Crowd better than Network, but it offers a different viewpoint.

And it’s a viewpoint that holds up well after more than 60 years. As noted, the media landscape of Crowd differs considerably from our current circumstances, but the barbs and criticisms remain relevant.

As noted, Crowd brings a different view of Griffith, as Lonesome shows a darker side of the actor’s repertoire. He probably plays Lonesome in too broad a manner, but Griffith still manages to get to the scheming heart of the faux populist.

On the negative side, the movie takes too long to end, as it dallies forever even after Lonesome’s fate seems sealed. Also, a TV writer played by Walter Matthau gets stuck with too much moralizing and exposition, traits that make his scenes a drag.

Even with these drawbacks, though, Crowd continues to offer a solid critique of politics and the media. It remains a strong production that hits most of its targets.

A Face In the Crowd appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie came with a solid transfer.

Sharpness mainly satisfied, as most of the film offered strong accuracy. Occasional shots could veer a little soft, but the majority of the movie boasted positive delineation.

Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects manifested themselves, and I saw no edge haloes. With a nice layer of grain, I didn’t suspect issues with digital noise reduction either, and print flaws rarely marred the presentation, as I noted only a couple small specks.

Blacks looked deep and dark, and the image brought us appealing contrast and whites. Low-light shots seemed smooth and well-depicted. Outside of the sporadic soft elements, this was a top-notch presentation.

As for the film’s PCM monaural soundtrack, it seemed acceptable for its era. Dialogue became the main component, and it worked reasonably well. The lines could seem a bit reedy, but they remained intelligible and lacked edginess.

Music appeared fairly full, while effects – a minor factor – came across as acceptably accurate. No signs of noise interfered with the audio. This wound up as a more than workable soundtrack for something from 1957.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the original DVD? Audio seemed a bit warmer, though there wasn’t much that could be done to improve the 60-plus-year-old source.

Visuals became a different matter, as the Criterion Blu-ray offered a major improvement. The Blu-ray boasted superior accuracy, blacks, contrast and cleanliness, as it lost the DVD’s flaws. This was an obvious and substantial step up in quality.

The set’s first two components also appeared on the DVD. In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a featurette called Facing the Past. In this 29-minute, 10-second show, we hear from screenwriter Budd Schulberg, biographer Jeff Young, USC English professor Leo Braudy, and actors Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Anthony Franciosa.

“Past” looks at the film’s background and political influences, the anti-Communist movement and director Elia Kazan’s involvement, and the Kazan/Schulberg collaboration. We also learn about story/characters, cast and performances, photography and visual design, and the movie’s reception/legacy.

“Past” manages to capture some of the film’s main participants, and that adds to its impact. We find a useful examination of various filmmaking issues, though I think it lets Kazan off a little easy in terms of his anti-Communist testimony.

The remaining extras are new to the Criterion Blu-ray, and we start with an Interview with Biographer Ron Briley. In this 20-minute, 43-second piece, Briley looks at aspects of Kazan’s life and career as well as elements of Face.

Inevitably, Briley repeats some of the information from “Past”. Still, he adds new information and makes this a fine general look at the different subjects.

We also find an Interview with Biographer Evan Dalton Smith. In his 19-minute, 43-second chat, he discusses aspects of Andy Griffith’s life and career, with some emphasis on Crowd. Smith brings us a mix of solid insights.

The package concludes with a booklet. It includes credits, photos, an essay from critic April Wolfe, parts of Kazan’s intro to the published screenplay, and a 1957 profile of Andy Griffith. The booklet adds good value to the set.

Though aspects of the way it depicts society seem quaint compared to modern politics, A Face in the Crowd nonetheless offers a powerful, prophetic tale. Packed with strong performances and a timeless theme, the movie holds up well after more than six decades. The Blu-ray provides strong visuals as well as positive audio and a fairly informative set of supplements. A prescient flick, Crowd still proves effective.

To rate this film visit the prior review of A FACE IN THE CROWD