Critical Reception
Upon its original release, A Face in the Crowd earned somewhat mixed reviews, one of them from Bosley Crowther of The New York Times. Though he applauded Griffith's performance ("Mr. Griffith plays him with thunderous vigor..."), at the same time, he felt that the character overpowered the rest of the cast and the story. "As a consequence, the dominance of the hero and his monstrous momentum ... eventually become a bit monotonous when they are not truly opposed." Crowther found Rhodes "highly entertaining and well worth pondering when he is on the rise", but considered the ending "inane".
Over the decades, however, critical opinion of the film has warmed considerably. As of mid-2011, A Face in the Crowd has a 91% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 23 reviews.
Read more about this topic: A Face In The Crowd (film)
Famous quotes containing the words critical and/or reception:
“To take pride in a library kills it. Then, its motive power shifts over to the critical if admiring visitor, and apologies are necessary and acceptable and the fat is in the fire.”
—Carolyn Wells (1862–1942)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)