Ever seen the film "A Face in the Crowd,"

[elperromagico]

Andy Griffith's debut film from 1957? It's a very atypical role for Griffith; he plays a guitar-playing drifter who becomes a folksy radio and TV star. Eventually (of course), his popularity goes to his head, and he becomes a real megalomaniacal jackass. It's a great film, and really very prescient in its portrayal of the power of television.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

1. Excellent!

Everyone who knows Andy Griffith only from his TV shows needs to see A Face in the Crowd. You may not be able to imagine ol' Andy being evil, but he can be scary, as this film proves.

[elperromagico]

2. He jumps back and forth in that film,

from the same "Let me tell y'all a story" character he played on TV, to a wild-eyed, drunken, sex-obsessed maniac. I don't think any other role quite caught his range as an actor. He's really pretty underrated, and that film proves it.

[Miss Authoritiva]

3. That movie holds up so well -- always a sign of a classic.

Griffith is fantastic. And what about the Patricia Neal character -- she knew how to create the Dusty Rhodes character, and how to destroy him too.

[elperromagico]

4. A young Walter Matthau is there as well,

playing "Vanderbilt '44," and finally telling Lonesome where he can get off. Very good early role.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Best line: "I'm just a country boy . . . "