On this page we will offer you suggestions from our staff…

Bonnie’s Pick: A Face in the Crowd

Bonnie

Directed by Elia Kazan
Not Rated
Starring: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Walter Mathau, Lee Remick
This film is as relevant today as it was in 1957 when it was first released. A Face in the Crowd was one of the first intelligent attempts to examine the impact of mass media on average citizens. If you’ve ever heard MSNBC commentator, Keith Olbermann, call Fox News guy Glen Beck, Lonesome Rhodes – well, this is where that reference originated. Andy Griffith makes a spectacular film debut in this searing drama as Lonesome Rhodes, a philosophical country-western singer discovered in a tanktown jail by radio talent scout Patricia Neal and her assistant Walter Matthau. They decide that Rhodes is worthy of a radio spot, but the unforeseen result is that the gangly, aw-shucks entertainer becomes an overnight sensation not simply on radio but, thereafter, on television. As he ascends to stardom, Rhodes attracts fans, sponsors and endorsements by the carload, and soon he is the most powerful and influential entertainer on the airwaves. Beloved by his audience, Rhodes reveals himself to his intimates as a scheming, power-hungry manipulator, with Machiavellian political aspirations. He uses everyone around him, coldly discarding anyone who might impede his climb to the top.

Henrietta’s Picks: Bagdad Cafe

Henrietta

Directed by Percy Adlon
Rated PG
Starring: CCH Pounder, Marianne Sagebrecht, Jack Palance, Christine Kaufmann
Released in 1987, this West German film is set in the California Desert. A husband-and-wife pair of Bavarian tourists become stranded when their car breaks down; after a quarrel, the wife, Marianne Sagebrecht, gathers her luggage and stalks off. She stops at the Bagdad Cafe, a fleapit truckstop run by outspoken C.C.H. Pounder, who is also having husband problems. The Cafe has become a magnet for some of truly odd character: temperamental Hispanic cook George Aguilar, tattoo artist Christine Kaufmann, and onetime Hollywood set designer Jack Palance. Despite obvious personality differences, Sagebrecht and Pounder become friends. Bagdad Cafe was later adapted into a short-lived American sitcom starring Jean Stapleton and Whoopi Goldberg.