Irresponsibly adopted by the left to bash their Political Pinata of the Moment (most recently, Glenn Beck) A Face in the Crowd is a cautionary tale for the (populist) left and the right about that dangerous intersection where show biz collides with politics.

As I wrote two years ago:

Roads is the lead character of the recently revived film A Face in the Crowd (1957). Like Network, A Face in the Crowd is about the power the mainstream media presumably wields over the masses, and the making (and unmaking) of a broadcasting demagogue.

Usually typecast as the lovable innocent backwoods boy, Andy Griffith shocked viewers with his portrayal of Rhodes, an amoral drifter with a gift for gab, boundless ambition and no redeeming qualities.

(That’s a true Hollywood rarity, because viewers tend to appreciate villains as long as they are charming.

(Perhaps only Edward G. Robinson’s stupid, humorless, sadistic Scarface [1932] character comes close to Roads in terms of sheer incorrigibility.)