The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
Back to trending 
A Face in the Crowd
Drama · 1957
The rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Marcia Jeffries is the innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail and is the first to fall under his spell.
Movie details
A Face in the Crowd
“POWER! He loved it! He took it raw in big gulpfuls … he liked the taste, the way it mixed with the bourbon and the sin in his blood!”
1957 Drama 2h 5m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
8.1 / 10
19.5K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
95 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
72 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.6 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
The rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Marcia Jeffries is the innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail and is the first to fall under his spell.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over A Face in the Crowd?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Elia Kazan
Written by
Budd Schulberg
Andy Griffith
Larry 'Lonesome' Rhodes
Patricia Neal
Marcia Jeffries
Anthony Franciosa
Joey DePalma
Walter Matthau
Mel Miller
Lee Remick
Betty Lou Fleckum
Percy Waram
General Haynesworth
Paul McGrath
Macey
Court is in session
Put A Face in the Crowd on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.