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About
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.
Theatrical
Jun 1, 1957
DVD / Blu-ray
May 10, 2005
Theaters
1
Director
Writer
Producer
Music
Tom Glazer
Studio
Newtown Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures
Quotes
See all →The Inevitable Decline of Fame
Lonesome Rhodes
Listen, I'm not through yet. You know what's gonna to happen to me?
Mel Miller
Suppose I tell you exactly what's gonna happen to you. You're gonna be back in television. Only it won't be quite the same as it was before. There'll be a reasonable cooling-off period and then somebody will say: "Why don't we try him again in an inexpensive format? People's memories aren't too long." And you know, in a way, he'll be right. Some of the people will forget, and some of them won't. Oh, you'll have a show. Maybe not the best hour or, you know, top 10. Maybe not even in the top 35. But you'll have a show. It just won't be quite the same as it was before. Then a couple of new fellas will come along. And pretty soon, a lot of your fans will be flocking around them. And then one day, somebody'll ask: "Whatever happened to, uh... whatshisname? You know, the one who was so big. The number-one fella a couple of years ago. He was famous. How can we forget a name like that? Oh by the way, have you seen, uh, Barry Mills? I think he's the greatest thing since Will Rogers.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Manipulating Public Perception and Audience Behavior
Actor on Rhodes show
You really sell that stiff as a man among men?
[about Senator Fuller]
Lonesome Rhodes
Those morons out there? Shucks, I could take chicken fertilizer and sell it to them as caviar. I could make them eat dog food and think it was steak. Sure, I got em like this... You know what the public's like? A cage of Guinea Pigs. Good Night you stupid idiots. Good Night, you miserable slobs. They're a lot of trained seals. I toss em a dead fish and they'll flap their flippers.
[thinking his microphone is off]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Cast
Full credits →A
Andy Griffith
Larry 'Lonesome' Rhodes
P
Patricia Neal
Marcia Jeffries
A
Anthony Franciosa
Joey DePalma
W
Walter Matthau
Mel Miller
L
Lee Remick
Betty Lou Fleckum
P
Percy Waram
General Haynesworth
P
Paul McGrath
Macey
M
Marshall Neilan
Senator Worthington Fuller
A
Alexander Kirkland
Jim Collier
C
Charles Irving
Mr. Luffler
H
Howard Smith
J.B. Jeffries
K
Kay Medford
First Mrs. Rhodes
H
Henry Sharp
Abe Steiner
R
R.G. Armstrong
Teleprompter Operator (uncredited)
L
Lois Nettleton
Mr. Macey's Nurse (uncredited)
D
Diana Sands
Homeless Woman (uncredited)
R
Rip Torn
Barry Mills (uncredited)
B
Beverly Bentley
Page Girl (uncredited)
J
John Bliss
Barefoot Baritone (uncredited)
N
Noah Keen
TV Director (uncredited)
