A FACE IN THE CROWD: 1957, a very good year...

I am troubled. Looking over the past three articles that have graced my site, I’ve noticed that they are all about movies that have been ignored within the last five years or so. You must be saying to the computer screen, “Surely, Clint, there are unsung movies from other eras… perhaps something before you were born???” The fact that you say this troubles me greatly. Also, you shouldn’t talk to the computer screen because they’ll put you in a special home, but that’s not really the issue. So it is with this article that I broaden my scope. I shall take us back to the year 1957, a time when Hitler was a scourge to all nations that were doing the jitterbug and having prohibitions while listening to Elvis and also there might have been communists living next door to Herbert Hoover. Okay, so “factual” history isn’t my strong suit. I should also note that I thought about looking in the encyclopedia for some information on 1957, but I decided against it because that would have involved getting up. Now, before I get into the film, I would like to preface my thoughts with… well, some other thoughts. Specifically, thoughts on “the media.” As you well know, we’ve just finished the ’01 Oscar season, a time that causes me to display strong emotions that normal people usually reserve for weddings and funerals. As the time for the big ceremony drew near, I began to read in all of my movie-related magazines about films or actors that were nominated thanks to their studios hype machine or because of their publicists best efforts. I’ve always read these things but, for some reason, this year it really struck me as… odd. Probably because I was really rooting for ALMOST FAMOUS to get a Best Picture nod. However, ALMOST FAMOUS was swatted down by a little film called CHOCOLAT that was produced by Miramax, a studio famous, ne infamous, for it’s full-on assault of Academy members to promote their movies. Now, granted, their movies are generally worthy of the hype, so it’s not exactly a mortal sin that they take an aggressive approach to promotion, but the fact that a campaign such as that can influence voters enough to turn their backs on other good movies… well, my friends, I think that says something about the media and it’s effects on our society. And, yes, I realize that the Academy voters aren’t the best representation of the people at large, but I believe you see my point.

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