Re-revisiting “A Face In The Crowd”

ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHIEU BOUREL; PHOTOGRAPHS FROM AF ARCHIVE; ALAMY; EVERETT COLLECTION; RONALD GRANT ARCHIVE

Very early in the rise of our sitting president’s political career, I was among those who saw the parallels between this classic (and remarkably prescient) film, “A Face in the Crowd,” and the life of the skilled prevaricator then vying for the nation’s highest office. Like many, I thought that the American public would see through the artifice and make the right decision –– that elevator express ride “going down” didn’t quite come to pass, however.
In this provocative piece from this month’s Atlantic, Jake Tapper revisits the movie and the similarities to our current situation –– and offers some unique observations from the filmmakers themselves. Though they passed away before their “far-flung” ideas fully became a part of our everyday lives, Kazan and Schulberg did realize a few miscalculations they had made . . .