A Face in the Crowd (1957) on Netflix

A female radio reporter turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star.

"A Face in the Crowd" charts 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.

—alfiehitchie

Marcia Jeffries is the creator and on air host of a local northeast Arkansas radio program called "A Face in the Crowd", where she finds the common man to perform on air. For the show, she finds a country drifter name Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, whose improvised songs and straight from the heart talk - often anti-establishment - captures the imagination of the radio listening public. But as Lonesome's fame increases - which includes becoming a regional television personality to a national commentator of social good to a political adviser to an aspiring politician - his true nature comes to light, that of a vain, self-important man who has contempt for the public, who he believes he can manipulate into thinking anything, and anyone who stands in his way. Conversely, many are wanting to get whatever pound of flesh they can from Lonesome. Marcia is there with him as he navigates through his rise to fame, but she may have some say in what ultimately happens in his life, especially as it starts to affect her.

—Huggo

Larry 'Lonesome' Rhodes is in jail when radio personality Marcia Jeffries interviews him and has him sing a song for her weekly radio program. He proves to be quite popular with his homespun humor and decidedly populist song lyrics. He soon has a radio show of his own that becomes so popular that he gets his own television show. Soon everyone wants a piece of him with ships and buildings being named after him. He rises to the occasion and comes to very much enjoy the attention and the power that he has. He begins to exercise that power and becomes arrogant and dismissive of those around him. He is eventually brought down in a very public way.

—garykmcd

In Pickett, Arkansas, Marcia Jeffries goes to the local jail to interview the prisoners for her radio program called "A Face in the Crowd". She finds the boisterous drunken drifter Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes that plays guitar and tells jokes becoming the show a great success. Soon Lonesome becomes popular in the small northeast town and is invited to move to Memphis to have his own television show and receiving a high salary. Lonesome brings his mentor and lover Marcia with him and together with the writer Mel Miller, the show is also successful. When he is invited to move to New York, Lonesome realizes how powerful and manipulative he is attracting the attention of politicians. But he changes his personality with arrogant attitude toward his collaborators and disrespecting his audience in the beginning of his fall.

—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

When philosophical country/western singer Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Andy Griffith) is "discovered" in the local lock-up by television talent coordinator Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal), she decides that Rhodes deserves a guest appearance on a TV variety show. The gangly, overly humble Rhodes is an instant sensation and he quickly ascends toward super-stardom-attracting fans, sponsors and endorsement deals-until he is the most powerful and influential entertainer on the airwaves. Beloved by his public audience, they would never believe that he has turned into a scheming, power-hungry manipulator with Machiavellian political aspirations. What Rhodes does not realize is that the higher the rise, the farther the fall. A Face in the Crowd features a stellar cast beyond the powerful performances of Griffith and Neal, including Lee Remick, Walter Matthau, and a slew of celebrity cameos from the likes of Burl Ives, Mike Wallace, Betty Furness, Bennett Cerf, Faye Emerson and Walter Winchell, among others.