Seriously Saturday Night At The Movies

SERIOUSLY SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
Let's raise our intellects while we raise our glasses. We'll trade insights during the post-film discussion, as we explore mind-expanding documentaries and thought-provoking films.

HOW DOES THIS WORK?
We open at 4:45 PT for a little meet & greet, then at 5:00 we 'go dark' (turn off our Zoom mics and cameras) and view the film on our individual TVs, computers, or other devices. Ten minutes after the movie ends (to allow for a trip to the fridge, phone call, etc.), we return to Zoom, turn on our mics and cameras, and begin the discussion. Of course you can watch the film ahead of time, if you prefer, and join just for the discussion.

THIS WEEK
A Face in the Crowd, directed by Elia Kazan
2 hr 5 min
Available on various streaming platforms found here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/a-face-in-the-crowd

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.

"A Face in the Crowd was and is a satire for the enlightened minority . . . about the threat posed to democracy when TV personalities achieve magnetic sway over the masses and wield their popularity like a whip. If Fascism comes to America, this film suggests, it'll be wearing the friendly, donkey grin of a good ol' boy. Written by Budd Schulberg (who also did the screenplay for [Director] Kazan's On the Waterfront), A Face in the Crowd is a dark-hued tall tale about a rough-diamond charismatic—Andy Griffith's singer-joker Lonesome Rhodes—who catapults into national celebrity, only to become the puppet of a populist scheme orchestrated by corporate overlords, who exploit his likability as a lever of social control. Rhodes is no innocent buffoon; he's as cynical as his paymasters." - James Wolcott, Vanity Fair