Somebody's looking for you.
Oh, Miss Jeffries.
Good morning, Marcia.
We have just what you're looking for. We get a good haul...
...over the Fourth of July. - Good, come on, let's go.
Here she comes, Bill.
Come in. We'll see what we've got.
Oh, wait a minute, I forgot my tape recorder.
- Boys, this is Miss Marcia Jeffries. - How do you do?
Her uncle owns a radio station here in town. KGRK.
She's doing a roving-reporter program.
Maybe you've been listening.
A Face in the Crowd? And a mighty nice little program it is too.
I know this is a little unusual.
This morning, she's gonna do her program from right in here.
So, Miss Jeffries, the jail of Tomahawk County is at your disposal.
It's very simple. We just talk into this little microphone in a natural voice.
You know, we just sort of chat.
Now, look, it's completely informal.
So... Well, if... If anybody wants to sing a song...
...or tell an anecdote or funny story...
Let me see, now. Hey, Beanie...
...last time you were in here, I heard you singing.
I ain't got my teeth with me this time.
This is radio KGRK, the voice of Northeast Arkansas...
...bringing you its morning feature, A Face in the Crowd.
Whose face? Why, it could be yours.
Or yours or yours, because people are fascinating wherever you find them.
This is Marcia Jeffries, looking for more faces in the crowd.
This time from the Tomahawk County Jail. Say something.
Don't worry, Ma, everything's fine. Nicest jail I've been in in this part of the country.
Hey, you, you can do something.
Just because I got black skin, I'm no minstrel.
I'm sorry, Miss Jeffries, but they're just an ornery bunch.
Where's the drunk we take in last night with the guitar? What's his name?
- Rhodes. That's him there... - Well, go over and wake him up.
Watch him, he's mean.
- Miss Jeffries would like to speak with him. - Hey, wake up!
Morning, Mr. Rhodes, I'm from radio KG...
- Get away! Get away! - The sheriff's here.
I don't care if president of the United States is here.
A man can't get a little decent sleep in jail...
- Who are you? - Well, I'd like to introduce you...
...to our radio audience and have you... - Radio?
...sing a song and spin a yarn... - Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Quit racing your motor.
What do I get out of this?
I mean Mr. Me-Myself-and-I.
- Sheriff? - What's he in here for?
A week. Drunk and disorderly.
If you'd cooperate, I might let you out the first thing in the morning.
Me too, sheriff? I'm his manager.
Sheriff, the boys in here says you don't keep your word any too good.
Well, you live up to your end of the bargain, and I'll live up to mine.
Well, okay. It's a deal. Tomorrow morning.
I'll sing you a song.
When I went east to Sarah Lawrence, that's a college, I majored in music.
I learned that the real American music comes from the bottom up.
When George Gershwin played in New York, it was black-tie music.
But the real beginning of it was in folks who never owned a tie.
I bumped into a fella you never heard of, name of Rhodes.
- Hey, what's your first name? - Jack or Mac, what's the difference?
Calls himself "Lonesome" Rhodes.
Lonesome?
Hey!
Hey, now, don't be rushing me. Cut that thing off a minute.
Give me a chance to lubricate my Adam's apple.
Nothing like a little snake medicine to put you in the mood. Ain't Mama a beauty?
Oh, a guitar beats a woman every time.
You know, I never have seen a woman I could trust like this old guitar.
Love my Mama guitar.
She's always waiting for me to pick her up and hold her.
Never asks me for money or goes cheating around when I ain't looking.
If she gets a little sour, why, I just...
...give her a little twist like so, and we're back in tune together.
- Hey, Lonesome, sing "Rye Whiskey. " - Lonesome.
"Hallelujah, I'm a Bum. "
Oh, she can see that plain enough.
You know, ma'am, whenever a bunch of fellas like us...
...outcasts, hoboes, nobodies, gentlemen loafers, one-time or all-time losers...
...call us what you want to. Whenever we get together, we tell our funny stories.
Me and Beanie and the rest of these hand-to-mouth tumbleweed boys...
...like you see in here.
If whiskey don't get us Then women must
And it looks like
I'm never gonna cease My wandering
Deep down, when we get ready to tuck our heads under our wings and go to sleep...
...we ain't kidding ourselves.
We're so low-down lonely, the fella we couldn't stand the sight of this morning...
...tonight, when they get ready to douse the lights and plunge us into darkness...
...why, that same fella seems like our nearest, dearest buddy.
Ten thousand miles away from home
And I don't even know my name
But I ain't crying.
No, I ain't crying, because I'm gonna be a free man in the morning.
You hear that, fellas? A free man!
The sheriff's gonna open this cage, and I'm gonna be as free as a bird in the morning.
Hey, maybe I can try putting a couple of rhymes together...
Sing something dependable like "Home on the Range. "
I ain't gonna sing no "Home on the Range. "
No, sir, not if it means I rot in here another month.
I'm gonna sing what I'm gonna be!
A free man in the morning.
Oh, goodnight, moon
Moon, you just fade, fade Fade, fade away
Oh, goodnight, moon
Moon, you just fade away
And hurry up, Mr. Sun
Bring on new day
Oh, bring on the sheriff
With his great big old key
Yeah!
Bring on old Big Jeff The sheriff of Pickett, Arkansas
With his great big old fat key
To open up this nasty, filthy jailhouse And make a free man of me
How about that, any objection to being free in the morning?
No, sir, I ain't.
Gonna be a
Free man in the morning Free man in the morning
Or know the reason...
I'm ready as I'll ever be.
Thank you, Lonesome Rhodes, that was just fine.
You mean you had that thing going all the time?
I'm a sneaky type.
- You like him? - Yes, sir.
By golly, Marcia, I think you've got yourself quite a fella there. Yep, quite a fella.
I would like to use him on our early-bird show from 7 to 8.
Would you let me do that, Uncle J.B.?
- Number please, Mr. Jeffries. - Hello. Get me the jail, Gladys.
- The jail? - That's right, the sheriff.
Or should I say "our future mayor"?
That boy may be bashful, Marcia, but he's pretty sweet on you.
The only thing I'm interested in right now...
...is running the best radio program in Northeast Arkansas.
Hello, Big Jeff?
- Rhodes? - Yeah.
That was the agreement. I was only holding him on a drunk and disorderly.
You got no idea which way he was headed?
There's only two ways out...
...and I can't see him going west, because he come from jail there.
You'll likely find him on the east road.
Let's go after him.
There he is.
Hey!
Hi.
Morning!
- We've been looking for you. - Yeah? What for?
Listen, this is my... My uncle, Mr. Jeffries, who owns our radio station.
Well, how's it feel to be a free man in the morning?
- Where you headed now? - Port St. Joe, Florida.
Well, that's a long walk. What's down there?
Plenty of water and plenty of fishing bridges and snapper boats and tarpon rolling.
You know, I've always wanted to catch me a tarpon.
What's to stop you?
I can't afford it. I got a radio station, newspaper, printing business...
...president of the Kiwanis. I can't afford it.
- Come on, Beanie. - Wait, we wanna talk to you.
Listen, I ain't got but four or five days to make it to St. Joe.
Unless I steal somebody's car.
Now, you just wait a minute. We got a job for you.
- Every morning on our station, 7 to 8. - I don't want no job.
- Why not? - It's too much... Too much like work, man.
You got any money?
Oh, Mama will always get me a little meal. If it rains, I can sleep in a jail.
Come on, try it for a day.
How about if you had a plane ticket to Florida?
You can put it in your pocket. If you ever wanna go, you just go.
Well...
Okay. I'll try it for one day.
- I'll turn around. - Let's go.
Marcia, take him over to the hotel and get him a room.
Maybe we better clean him up a little bit.
See you around, Beanie.
Get in the back.
Had a gal Way down in Alabam'
I met her like a lion
Gonna be a free man
Would you mind closing the door?
My goodness, ain't we fussy.
Look, this wardrobe you got, I think I better send it to the laundry for you.
I'll wash it out myself. That way, I can cut out anytime I feel like it.
So early in the morning?
How'd you like to come over here and sort of get acquainted early in the morning?
We really do have to hurry.
I bet you never sat on a hotel bed with a man before, did you?
Oh, really? Look, I'll meet you downstairs.
Free man in the morning Free man in the morning
Ladies, or I guess I should say "girls"...
...boss lady of this here program shoved a paper at me...
...says I ain't got but three more minutes.
That's what I got against working. It's all tangled up with that word "hurry. "
You know, back in my little old town of Riddle, we had a cousin named Harry.
We called him Cousin "Hurry" because he was always running someplace.
Till one day he fell down a flight of steps and broke his fool neck.
We put a sign on his grave says:
"He was in such a hurry, he just couldn't wait to get here. "
I was getting ready to add a verse about being...
...a free woman in the morning.
I bet a lot of you dream about that sometimes...
...with all them breakfast dishes piling up.
And them cranky husbands to get off to work.
Ain't it a shame how they get on you about everything...
...because they got no gumption to take it out on the boss?
Well, goodbye, dear, I'm late for work.
I hate to talk against my own kind, but...
...I never seen a man could appreciate...
...how hard you women work.
Why, they think running water over a dish is all there is to it.
They never see you cleaning the grease out of the sink...
...or wiping out of the oven the beef gravy or apple juice...
- ... that sizzles over the dish onto your grill. - Now, how would he ever know that?
Listen to this one. "Dear Lonesome, though I never set eyes on you... "
Hey, listen. "I know you must be a saintly-looking man.
Only a saint could understand the burdens of a housewife like you do. "
All say the same thing. Morning, Bob.
They love his voice, they love his guitar, his ideas.
- They should know some of his ideas. - You're not fooling me, you're proud of him.
Well, listen, there hasn't been mail like this since you started the station.
Hello.
Oh, hello, Wayne.
Oh, so you liked the fella, huh?
Okay, I guess we could put you down for three one-minute spots.
Thanks for calling. Goodbye.
Advertisers actually calling in to buy time.
Looks like this station's liable to make money yet.
Go easy on that, Unc. I don't think he wants to stay.
Now, Marcia, you found him. Now it's your job to keep him here.
That's the time, honey.
Every time you see this well run dry, come over here and prime her again.
- That's right, Lonesome. - I'm afraid that's gonna be your name.
My real intimate friends call me Larry.
You call me Larry, huh?
That's a good chaser.
You always drink like that?
Not always. Back in Riddle, they was pretty strict.
Didn't allow us to touch hard liquor till we was 10 or 11.
Now, is there really a town called Riddle?
Well, tell you the flat truth, it's just a sort of a whatchacallit, a...
- Composite? - Compost heap's more like it.
Where do you come from?
Oh, from all over.
Any town you mention for 500 miles, I bet I lived in it a day or two.
- What'd your father do? - He was a spieler with a two-bit con.
"If each and every one of you will hand me up your 1-dollar bills...
...I'm gonna favor you with a 5-dollar gift. "
You sort of loved him, didn't you?
Ran off and left us when I was knee-high to a beer barrel.
Your mother had to take care of you?
Never mind about her.
What about all those aunts and uncles?
Uncles?
I wish I had a nickel for every time I fell asleep...
...waiting for her to come home. I'd wake up, she'd say:
"Your uncle's sleeping. "
I'd say, "Uncle Lou?" She'd say, "No, this is your Uncle Mike. " Or, "Uncle Moe. "
Seems like there wasn't a town in Arkansas or Missouri I didn't have a uncle in.
Yes, ma'am, my old lady sure was generous about taking in relatives.
Yet you grew up so happy-go-lucky.
You put your whole self into that laugh, don't you?
Marcia, I put my whole self into everything I do.
You mean you turned down an invite from me to go out with this tramp?
- Why, you wanna fight? - No, stop it! Stop it!
Thanks for them pies, gals.
You're gonna spoil me.
Well, I reckon I've sung at you enough for one morning, so...
...maybe I ought to wind up with a joke.
Let's see.
Yeah. I got one.
Sheriff Big Jeff Bess.
You say that ain't no joke?
The fact he's running for mayor strikes me as kind of funny.
You know, back in my little old town of Riddle, the way we elect fellas to office is...
...we try to figure which fella can best be spared from useful labor.
Like, you take the village half-wit...
...now... Now, in most places he's gonna be put on town relief...
...but, now, in Riddle, why, as economy measure, we make him the dogcatcher.
But now, this sheriff of yours...
...now, of course, I don't wanna say nothing agin him...
...but if you got any mutts around you wanna get rid of...
...just take them over to his place to see if he can handle the job.
Here, Whitey. Here, Whitey.
Hey, look at that fool!
But how does it feel?
How does what feel?
Saying anything that comes into your head and being able to sway people like this.
Yeah, I guess I can.
And now an amusing example of grassroot democracy in action.
It seems there's a small-town radio personality called...
...Lonesome Rhodes out in Arkansas...
...who literally sent a mayoralty candidate to the dogs.
Larry? Larry?
Just plow right through them. Keep going and leave the rest to me.
Thanks for bringing up my breakfast, Laureen.
Mr. Steiner. Larry, this is Mr. Steiner.
- He's come all the way from Memphis. - Mr. Rhodes.
I'm one of the oldest theatrical agents in the Mid-South.
I book a lot of acts for the Grand Ole Opry.
I discovered Hank Snow...
...and Webb Pierce. And the first morning I heard you...
...I said to myself, "Abe Steiner, that man's got power.
Not just catchy songs and funny stories. Power. "
How would you like to come to Memphis, son?
Memphis?
Mr. Rhodes, you put me in mind of Will Rogers when he first came to Memphis.
I can make you a star, boy, if you put yourself in my hands.
Shucks, mister, I'm just a country boy.
I ain't even sure I wanna stay in this danged old radio business.
I'm not one of these high-pressure fellas. But do you mind if I call you again?
No.
Miss Jeffries.
Grand Ole Opry. That's the big time.
It never hurt none to play hard to get.
You ought to know about that.
You don't seem to be pining for lack of company.
I get extra hungry in the morning.
You cold-fish respectable girls.
Inside, you crave the same thing as the rest of them.
- Tell old Lonesome the truth. - You're on in eight minutes.
It's so hot this morning the creek just give up.
I mean it was bone dry.
So I guess the young'uns figure they ain't got no place to swim.
But my boss...
...old J.B. Jeffries, he's got a fine swimming pool right here in town.
Why don't all you kids go over to his place for a ducking.
J.B. Will be proud to have you.
Jeffries' big day.
- Personality, Lonesome Rhodes!
You hear them? You hear them splashing and a-yelling?
That's your curly-headed little darlings enjoying J.B. Jeffries' kind of hospitality.
- Mr. Rhodes. The phone for you. - He's on the air.
That's all right. Who is it?
It's the program manager at the Memphis TV station.
- He said Mr. Steiner told him about you. - Well, shucks.
I can talk to him here on the air.
Since all these folks out here are my friends, I ain't got nothing to hide from you.
Hello there, partner!
What's that? You want me to come on your TV in Memphis?
With this kisser of mine? All I gotta say is, you're a brave man.
Five hundred dollars a week, huh?
- Confederate? - Five hundred dollars a week?
We can do better than that.
Partner, leaving Pickett's like leaving my own flesh-and-blood kin.
Now, if I got to take leave of these good folks...
...why, I'd rather try it gratis, for nothing, for a couple of weeks.
And if you ain't satisfied, or if I get homesick for Arkansas...
...why, back I come, and nobody gets hurt.
But now, if we find we get along...
...you make it, oh, $ 1000 a week.
Yeah, you get the idea.
Oh, yeah, and transportation for yours truly and my little gal Friday.
Not to mention Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Marcia Jeffries.
I'm glad you're going with him. Take good care of him for me.
- I'll sure try. - Take good care of yourself.
Board!
Marcia!
Come on, honey. Come on, we'll be late. Come on.
- Come on, the train will leave. Come on. - Board!
Bye! Bye, Lucy. So long, Luther. You write to me, now.
I'll think of you good people.
Boy, am I glad to shake that dump.
I was only kidding, honey.
You ought to know me better than to believe everything I say.
Bye! Bye! Goodbye and God bless you, good people!
If I knew you'd put lipstick on me, I'd have never come.
Stop complaining, you look beautiful. Mel Miller.
The station's assigned him as your writer.
Writer? You're gonna have the easiest job in the world...
...because I never learned much reading. - I'll just block out the continuity for you.
What are you, Eastern college?
No, I went to school over in Nashville. I was Vanderbilt '44.
Okay, Vanderbilt '44.
Mr. Rhodes, we're ready for you now.
Hey, what are you doing to that makeup?
Now, this way, please.
Foot up here, look at the camera. And relaxed, like this.
Ten seconds. Ready on one. Stand by, two.
And just be perfectly natural, easy and relaxed and real country.
Now, when that red light is on, that camera is on you.
Now, put this in your mouth.
I think that straw is gonna be a very nice touch.
And here he is, a newcomer to Memphis television...
...but sure to become an old friend.
A Face in the Crowd, starring that Arkansas traveler Lonesome Rhodes.
What do you want?
Howdy.
You know, I never have seen myself on one of these things before.
So if I stop and admire myself on this... What do you call it?
- Monitor. - Yeah, monitor.
Show the folks what I'm talking about, will you?
You know, the... The director said all I had to do was...
He said all I had to do was act like I was looking straight at you.
But what he forgot to say was there'd be a great big old red eye looking straight at me.
You know, that old eye does look kind of familiar, though.
Reminds me of my old Uncle Abernathy...
...after a night of drinking that fine old five-star corn liquor.
He put a star on the bottle for every day it aged.
If a ocean was moonshine And I was a duck
I'd dive...
I got too hot a fire in my boiler to sing this morning.
What's the matter with you big-city fellas, anyhow?
Hey. Don't you all ever go to bed around here?
Last night I settled down for my 12-hour nap in the hotel...
...and "moly hoses," what a honking...
...and lights flashing and gals giggling on the street.
So I called down to the desk on this telephone they got in every room.
"What's going on?" I says to the clerk. "It ain't New Year's Eve by any chance?"
"No," he said. "It's just 10:00 at night in Memphis. "
So I pulled back on my duds...
...and I went out to take a look-see what all the commotion was.
Hey. Hey, Mr. Cameraman, move that old red eye a little closer.
He's already telling us what to do.
I wanna talk face-to-face with them friends of mine out there.
Hey, which one of these holes I look in?
You know... You know, one thing I could see right off about a big city...
...there's a whole lot of people in trouble out there.
You don't see it much in the daytime when everybody's...
...hustling around, rushing from where they is to where they ain't.
But it's at night, you know, late at night...
Around 4:00 in the morning is what I call the "dividing line. "
All you got left then is folks in trouble.
I wanna tell you people something...
...that happened this morning just before the sun was ready to come up.
I'm gonna tell you, and see if it don't happen to you the way it happened to me.
If it don't move you the way I think it will...
...you're just a bunch of big-city pickle-hearts.
And I'm gonna pack up my one shirt and the Bible my daddy give me...
...and my cigar-box guitar, and I'll get me on home to Riddle.
He's telling the truth about one shirt, but I haven't seen the Bible.
When he talks about walking the night, I couldn't write it that well.
Now, come on out here. Don't be scared of this thing...
...least any more than I am. This one?
Hey, a colored woman. In Memphis, that takes nerve.
I told you, he's his own man.
You just tell the folks the same thing you told me.
Well, you see, it's my house.
It burnt down. She's got seven young'uns and no insurance.
Oh, Hilda, look who they're having on television now. It's about time.
So she just walked around and around because she didn't have no place else to go.
I didn't know a single living soul in Memphis.
Are you kidding?
What do you gonna bet you got 20,000 friends out there?
Each one ready to prove it to you by sending half a buck...
...so you can get back to Millington...
...and build a decent house for them brats of yours.
Now, please, nobody send in more than four bits...
...because you may not be able to spare it yourself.
Miss Cooley, maybe you think...
Every pot over $ 10, let's cut half for that house of hers.
- and they gonna be a-looking out for you. Ain't you, folks?
Yeah. Come in, door's open.
Lonesome, you should see how the money's pouring in.
Young man, you've graduated from sustaining. You've got a client.
- What in the ever-loving world is that? - A mattress company.
- You get your 1000 a week. - Get his shirt. Stand still, you slob.
- Get your hand in here. - There you go.
Yeah, yonder she comes.
Sure is prettier music than a cigar-box guitar.
There's 18,541...
...of these things so far, and we ain't hardly started yet.
Miss Cooley says thank you. You're good people.
You folks are building a house.
Ain't nothing in this world you can't do...
...when you let your best side take over.
Oh, I see my old clock-watcher going this a-way.
He wants me to make sure I leave time for the commercial.
You didn't know I had a sponsor, did you?
Neither did I till they woke me up this morning.
He's a good-looking scoundrel, ain't he?
What? Yeah, I got the commercial on me somewhere. Let's see, yeah.
See, it's, "Johnny Longshot's tip for the daily double... "
No, no, that ain't it. Let's see...
"Lonesome, darling, you ain't forgetting your little Arkansas Annie?"
No, that surely ain't it.
This is it, this is it.
"Friends, comma, why not invest in sleep insurance, question mark?
That is what you will be doing when you buy your Luffler Easy Rest Mattress, period.
Comes in six tasty flavors... "
- Isn't he wonderful? - That's our next commercial.
Personally, when I'm dog-tired, I can sleep on the floor.
One of the best night's sleep I ever had was in a boxcar.
They say that... That a firm mattress is better for your spine.
If you're gonna follow that all the way...
...ain't it better to just sleep on the floor?
But if some of you softies insist on sleeping on a bed...
...I reckon you can do worse than a Luffler Easy Rest.
End of commercial.
Maybe also the end of Lonesome Rhodes.
Seriously, I was on the phone with Mr. Luffler for half an hour.
I'm sure he's seen us. He hasn't even looked around.
Says he's got a contract loophole, and if you kid his commercial once more...
...he's going to walk right through it.
- Hey, hiya, Lonesome. - Hi.
Oh, hey, hey. Boy, I almost forgot.
Got you a food ticket at the White Owl for the plug you gave.
- Yeah? - Guess you didn't know...
...I do "schlock-meistering" on the side.
- Schlock-meistering? - You slip in a remark, innocent-like...
...about a product, and they pay in kind.
You know, a case of beer, free drinks at the Yellow Rose Café.
I tell you, boy, it mounts up.
Isn't that illegal? Stealing time from regular sponsors?
Illegal?
Honey, nothing's illegal if they don't catch you.
- See you around. - Okay, see you around.
- Who was that? - Joey DePalma, Luffler's office boy.
He won't be an office boy long.
Mr. Luffler said he don't like me to talk nasty about his mattress.
Shucks, I said you could get a good night's sleep on one of them.
If you was real tired.
There I go again.
But I just can't get my mouth around some of them things they wanted me to say.
Well, I'll try.
"And now a message of importance. "
Now, you good people ain't so dumb you don't know what's important.
Atom bomb's important, and things like that.
A Luffler mattress won't break your back, but it sure ain't no world-shaking message.
Just in case you won't be seeing me again...
Hey, fellas, come on.
Here's a little song to remember me by.
Give me a E.
Well, goodbye, Mr. Luffler
And thanks for the ride
I like to have your money But I'd rather have my pride
On these corny old commercials We just cannot agree
So you can tear up my contract
Make a free man of me
- Gonna be a - Free man
- In the morning - Free man
In the morning Or know the reason why
- Yes, Mr. Luffler? - Get me my lawyer.
Yeah?
Who...? Who is it?
It's me, Lonesome. Larry.
Thought I'd say goodbye.
Just a minute.
Just thought I'd tell you I'm gonna hit the road.
- Where to? - Oh, what's the difference?
For Mr. Luffler.
He wants to fire me unless I promise to show him my scripts in advance.
There ain't no scripts. It's just me.
- It was me. - Larry, stay.
Well, what you did for Miss Cooley...
- No, I'm not my brother's keeper. - You are, and you don't know it.
No, I don't kowtow to no mattress company.
See you in jail sometime.
Well...
...we shook them up a little bit.
- Got a ride for our money. - Larry.
You come here.
Do I call you...? Call you a cold fish, Marcia?
Marcia.
Short for "marshmallow. "
My marshmallow.
This way, please.
Move it along. Come on, move it, move it, move it.
Joey, the boss wants you.
That's terrible.
- From the day that you hired Rhodes... - No more phone calls.
...our sales have increased 55 percent. - I smell smoke.
I know he's hurt your feelings, but as a merchandise man...
...I must say that a 55-percent jump in sales is quite a painkiller.
- I'll think it over. - You called?
Yes. I can always get him back.
- They're for the credit department. - Oh, yes, sir.
Joey. You're a smart lad.
Do you think I acted hasty in the firing?
I wouldn't let anybody ridicule my product.
- Now what? - Your wife on one.
Yes, dear.
Would you mind your own business, dear?
And tell the ladies' garden club to mind its own business.
Credit department. Get Browning, Schlagel and McNally...
...in New York City now. Don't worry, it's kosher.
- Mr. Luffler gave me a message. - Know the number?
It's the biggest agency there. Browning, Schlagel and McNally.
Now, try information, huh?
Browning, Schlagel and McNally. Long-distance from Memphis?
Just a moment. A Mr. Joseph DePalma from Memphis.
He represents Lonesome Rhodes.
What a crazy business we're in. It's about some joker called Lonesome Rhodes...
...on a local Memphis stat... Hey. He topped both CBS...
...and NBC down there.
Hello? Mr. DePalma?
Yeah, hello, I just thought I ought to let you know Lonesome Rhodes...
...is being flooded with offers. Yeah.
Yeah, if you happen to be interested, 5:00 is our deadline.
Right. I'll call you back at 5.
Fine.
- Well, pleasure, baby. - I caught that show on my vacation.
He's a living doll.
Well, could be.
E.B.D. And O. In New York City.
Marcia.
Marcia?
Marcia, you told me to pick you up in time for the show.
- Hey, have you seen Lonesome? - You may find him in there.
Where? Here?
- Oh, you mean in here? - Wait a minute, sir...
...I wouldn't barge in there if I were you. - I'm not you.
Hey, hey, Lonesome. Lonesome boy. Hey.
Yeah, yeah, who is it?
It's destiny, that's who it is. It's your destiny.
- Who is it? - Hi.
- What the...? What...? What...? - Honey child, I sold your show.
- To who? - To the big time.
Ever hear of Browning, Schlagel and McNally? The advertising company.
Boy, I got them bidding against the Cutner Agency, MCA...
- MC who? - And a dozen others you won't know.
Look, B.S. And M. Wants you for The Vida Jakes Hour.
Eight o'clock, coast-to-coast. I told them we'd let them know at 1700 hours.
- Boy, I tell you, we're on to New York. - We are?
They asked if you had a New York agent. Like to meet your New York agent?
A bum out of jail in Pickett, Arkansas and a Memphis office boy! Hey.
I'm a roving gambler Ramble all around
Whenever I see a deck of cards I lay my money down
Go, baby!
Whenever I see a deck of cards I lay my money down
- I lay my money down - Here, will you sign this? Hey.
Oh, yes, I'll sign
Thank you. Oh, thank you.
Now, in the last quarter, gentlemen, and Miss Valerie...
...we have spent over $300,000 of General Haynesworth's money...
...to make this country Vitajex-conscious.
And all we've succeeded in doing... Next chart, please.
- Is dropping from 10 percent of the market to 7.
- Now, I... - I'm late for the dog-food meeting now.
- Can I say my say and go? - Yes, doctor.
Miss.
Now, I've gone over this product pretty carefully in the lab.
Vitajex has a few grains of aspirin.
A little sugar that might give you some energy.
But, well, frankly, general or no general, we have nothing to sell.
Will you strike that from the transcript, Miss Murray?
You know that General Haynesworth always reads the product group reports.
I can't help it. I was hired as a research chemist.
Dr. Wylie, there's nothing wrong with Vitajex, is there?
It won't kill you, if that's what you mean.
It's relatively harmless, like many old patent medicines.
Thank you. Let's get this train back on the tracks.
- Miss Mills. - With all due respect to our TV department.
He hates our guts.
And its sudden enthusiasm for Lonesome Rhodes.
I think we need a... A dignified sell.
I'd like to see a 15-minute participation on the Ed Murrow show.
Mr. Rhodes is here, sir.
Jim boy, don't you think it...? Well, I mean, it's irregular.
Well, I just thought if you and the boys got a look at him, Mace...
...you'd see why the TV shop is sold on him.
- Gentlemen, Lonesome Rhodes. - Hiya, folks.
Howdy.
I come to help you sell these little kidney pills, whatever the heck they are.
Hey, what's the matter? Ain't you got no spittoons around here?
Denise, would you bring the gentleman a spittoon?
Now, what's your particular problem, Mr. Fuzzy-Lip?
Sit down, Mr. Rhodes. You may as well know Vitajex is the sixth sister...
...in the international drug family. They're ready to put out a smaller pill...
...and to cut the... - Before we make any hasty decisions...
...I'd recommend...
Look at these poor little white pills you're trying to peddle.
Look kind of pale.
There's no charge to them.
Hey, I got an idea. Let's make them yellow.
Yellow's the color of sunshine, energy.
Gives a fellow that get-up-and-go that sets him up with the ladies.
You get the idea? Like this: "If you wanna be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed...
...why, just gobble up a handful of Vitajex, and your battery's charged. " Watch.
I am ready.
I mean, I'm in the mood!
My personality undergoes a startling change.
I have a spittoon...
Oh, I'm gonna get you, you little redheaded filly, you.
That's what Vitajex does to me, and I ain't even swallowed them yet.
And you college geniuses want dignity on your program.
Where I'm from, if a fella looks too dignified...
...we figure he's looking to steal your watch. I'll move your merchandise.
He's not exactly General Haynesworth's...
Peace.
Oh, Vitajex
What you doing to me?
Oh, Vitajex What you doing to me?
You fill me full of ecstasy
- Oh, Vitajex, what you doing to me? - Yeah!
Vitajex
What you doing to me?
You fill me full of ooh And ecstasy
Vitajex Puts the gleam in your eye
You fill me full of ooh
Keep your eye on that rating.
Do it again.
Vitajex puts the gleam in your eye
It fills you full of:
And each pill contains 97 units of energy-giving endracain.
Vitajex, jex, jex Makes you go, go, go
Vitajex, jex, jex
Keep your eye on that rating.
That's why Vitajex gives you that get-up-and-go.
Do you have trouble with your girl? Does she look elsewhere?
Here's how Vitapig solved his problem.
Oh, Vitajex.
- You fill me full of ooh and ecstasy - See what I mean?
This is General Haynesworth.
I've just seen Lonesome whatshisname on the television...
...and I like him.
Why don't you take Vitajex like Lonesome Rhodes does.
She's talking about the new large economy size.
I bought my boyfriend a 10-year supply.
- And now, the soft sell. - Oomph.
Keep your eye on the rating.
- Vitajex, Vitajex... - Vitajex, what you're doing to me.
- Now, the hard sell. - Vitajex, Vitajex.
Vitajex, 39.8.
General, I... I'm willing to put myself on record.
I say he's a risk. Uncooperative and unpredictable.
Why, we've spent tens of thousands of dollars to find out the key words like...
..."bracing" and "zestful. "
Rhodes has the audacity to tear our copy up in front of the audience.
Thirty-nine-point-eight.
- Hey, General, where are you? - General, if you'll forgive us...
...we have to get back to town. - Why, hello, girls.
How's Princeton '28 and old eight for the stump?
I make these Madison Avenue fellas unhappy.
I'm not in the business to make them happy.
I'm in the business of getting the public to buy Vitajex.
- Exactly. - Excuse us, dear.
- Of course. - Poor old Mace.
He's had one heart attack. You're winding him up to another one.
- Well, General, that's his hard luck. - Hello, senator.
- Did you have a fine flight? - Splendid, splendid.
- I'll join you when I get freshened up a bit. - My houseguest, Senator Fuller.
I'd like to see him in the White House.
- They call him "last of the isolationists. " - In some left-wing New York papers.
Rhodes, I want you to get to know people like that.
I'd like to sort of take you under my wing and educate you.
Shucks, General, I'm just a country boy.
Young man, never forget Will Rogers.
He was just a gum-chewing, rope-twirling cowboy.
But he got to where he was telling off presidents and kings.
General, my thinking is the second section of the same train.
I've always gone in for long-range planning.
Right now, Lonesome is merely popular. Oh, very popular.
But Lonesome Rhodes could be made into an influence, a wielder of opinion.
An institution positively sacred to this country, like the Washington Monument.
I suspect your idealistic young lady disagrees with me.
But my study of history has convinced me that in every strong and healthy society...
...from the Egyptians on, the mass had to be guided with a strong hand...
...by a responsible elite.
Let us not forget that in TV we have the greatest instrument for mass persuasion...
...in the history of the world. - I don't mean to flatter you, sir...
What? Oh, yes. Let's have a go at it, shall we?
Roger. Roger!
Are you jotting this down?
First, I'll see if I can sell him on the idea of a LIFE cover.
Remind me to call him for lunch.
I proudly dedicate to you the latest hybrid iris...
...of our horticultural laboratory...
...the Oonus fraoratorum.
We girls call it the Lonesome Rhodes iris.
I christen thee the USS Rhodes.
And so, in behalf of our great commonwealth...
...I'm proud to dedicate one of nature's wonders.
Henceforth and forever to be known as Mount Rhodes.
And now, Lonesome, back in those difficult days...
...you had a pal.
We flew him to New York tonight to help recall the struggle and joys...
...of times gone by, because, Lonesome Rhodes...
...you lived it.
Hey, Lonesome!
Beanie!
You ugly scoundrel. Where you been anyhow, huh?
Go out and get you some good-looking clothes.
You've been looking ugly as long as I can stand.
White Plains, New York. Thank you, thank you.
Yeah. Hey, listen to this, listen to this:
"Dear Lonesome, the boys in our ward at the veterans' hospital just got together...
...and donated $9.75."
You ask me how I can keep going 17 hours without sleep?
Man, this is better than sleep.
- Didn't I tell you, kid? Didn't I tell you? - Do you still want me to hold this sign?
As general manager of the Sherry Towers, it's my honor to present you a gold key...
...to the two top floors of New York's finest hotel.
- To the very top, boy. - Yeah, you can't go much higher than that.
Hello. Oh, Larry.
Oh, what...? What time is it?
Marcia, you... You gotta come over.
I never should've let Joey sell me on living in a penthouse over the offices.
Twenty-five rooms to be alone in.
I feel like a shipwrecked fella on an island.
Oh, Larry, I know that island. It's populated by a tribe of friendly girls.
Marcia, honey, do you believe me when I say it's a matter of life and death?
Call me soon, doll.
- Larry? - Lf you don't come...
...I'll dive off this balcony into the park, and I'm 10 blocks from the lake.
Marcia, come out here a minute.
I had a girl up here tonight.
I get restless.
Well, I lied to you, but when it's over, I'm more lonely than I was before.
Marcia, will you come out here a minute?
Look at all them TV aerials sticking up like branches down there.
There's a whole forest of them from here to San Diego.
All of them waiting to hear what I got to say.
That's why you woke me up in the middle of the night?
Marcia, what I'm trying to say is, all of them millions of people believing in me...
...doing what I tell them to...
...scares me.
Honest. General and all them big shots a- trying to educate me.
Educate you or use you?
That's it, see, the general says our country needs me. I'm supposed to be an influence.
That's mighty tall grass, Marcia.
We're getting in deep, Marcia.
A thousand times deeper than we dreamed when we were starting out in Arkansas.
On the set I'm beginning to act like I just ate the western hemisphere for breakfast.
But then, down here in the boiler room, I know I need advice.
Not the kind I get from Joey or the Madison Avenue high-domes...
...who say "gesundheit" before I even pucker up to sneeze.
No. And now, when I'm coming to the top of the mountain...
...I need you, because you level with me.
You're my lifeline to truth, and...
Well...
Marry me, Marcia...
...will you?
That's what I called you over here for.
Can't keep anything alive up here.
Dust in this city kills everything.
Larry.
Don't play with me.
Don't hurt me.
An old-fashioned marriage Is my kind of marriage
- A marriage that never grows old - Marcia, there's a lady to see you.
- A lady? - I guess so, she's got a dress on.
I don't wanna see anybody up here.
Okay, I'll tell her to pick it up and move it out.
- I'm sorry, ma'am... - I... I... I...
Are you the...?
I am Mrs. Rhodes.
You related to Mr. Rhodes?
But you're not his... His mother.
His wife.
All right, Beanie.
Isn't he something?
You mind if I mute this brass a little?
So...
You're Lonesome's new tootsie, huh?
Lonesome.
That's a hot one.
I hope you have better luck keeping him lonesome than I did.
I think you should understand that I'm just a business associate of Mr. Rhodes.
Ain't you the whole box top, though?
The floor manager of your program is my brother-in-law's first cousin.
He told me where I could find you.
So you come off it, little lady.
You mind if I do?
I'm through with it.
Mr. Rhodes might have done me the courtesy of telling me.
Oh, Mr. Rhodes don't do no courtesies to nobody.
I could write a book about him.
Is that your purpose, to collect some more material?
Oh, I came to collect...
...but it ain't material.
Unless you get Larry to pay me 3 grand a month...
...not only will I not divorce him...
...but I will make it plenty hot for the both of you.
I already got some feelers from Confidential magazine.
I'm not engaged to your husband.
Larry, he thinks he has to take a bite out of every broad he comes across.
Then he calls them a tramp, and he drops them, and...
All sort of psycho-something-or-other, you know.
I caught him red-handed with my best girlfriend.
- He broke my jaw. - Seems to be working quite effectively now.
Mrs. Rhodes, if you'll excuse me, I'm very busy this morning.
Well, tell Larry 3 G a month, then he's yours.
Happy second honeymoon, Austin and Wilma.
An old-fashioned marriage Is my kind of marriage
It's a sincere-type song, should be a big hit.
Oh, shut up.
Friendly greeting, Sunday-go-to-meeting Just plain folks
Bible-reading, pork-chop-feeding Just plain folks
- Stew on the table, mule in the stable - These are our Barefoot Baritones.
- They're rehearsing our new theme song. - Very catchy.
- Lonesome just wrote it. - Actually, those two fellas there wrote it.
Of course, their names aren't on it.
Now, General, General, we wanted to show you this.
Lonesome designed it himself. A reaction machine.
You just push these little levers here. It can laugh:
Giggle:
- Ain't that a booger? - Ingenious.
Thinking of putting them on the market. The Lonesome Rhodes Automatic Reactor.
Mechanical laughter and applause, what are we coming to?
We're coming to a bigger model, that's what we're coming to.
I'm sorry to end this. Been most interesting.
But I've got a date at my club. Lunch with Senator Fuller.
What's the matter with you?
General, I wish you had time to see our whole operation...
...the various departments... - You're wound tight this morning.
- What's the matter? - Next time you propose...
...you might consider getting unmarried first.
Listen, Beanie told me. It ain't as bad as you think.
See, I got a divorce couple of years ago in Mexico, but the judge got indicted for fraud.
- So my ex claimed that the divorce... - Here are the latest ratings, Mr. Rhodes.
Hallelujah!
Rhodes, 41.4. Opposition, 19.5.
Boy, that other fella's gonna be jumping out of windows.
Oh, so, like I say, the ex claimed the divorce was a fraud too.
I got a lawyer working it out in Juarez.
He said if I go there, he'd get her off my back in 24 hours.
Don't play with me. I'm not one of your girls.
On a stack of Bibles, Marcia.
Saturday, I'll be down in Pickett judging the Arkansas Drum Majorette Contest.
I'll go straight from there to Mexico. Next time you hear from me, it'll be from Juarez.
Believe me.
- Dreadful. That is just dreadful. - "Classics adapted while you wait.
We also take in laundry. " That's a new one.
Hey, welcome to the Black Hole of Calcutta.
- One place they didn't show the general. - Naturally. Here you see the lepers...
...of the great television industry. Men without faces.
They even slide our paychecks under the door so they can pretend we're not here.
Think of the satisfaction of being a small cog in the great wheel of humanity...
...known as Lonesome Rhodes.
Get her. Sounds like she's coming over to our side.
- Why don't you quit? - Why don't you quit?
Because I'm deeply involved with him.
Spoken like a lady.
You got his introduction ready?
The hometown boy, not only making good but making everybody.
For a mild man, you sound vicious.
Didn't you know? All mild men are vicious.
They hate themselves for being mild and hate the extroverts...
...whose violence seems to have an attraction for nice girls...
...who should know better.
"Today A Face in the Crowd takes you on a sentimental journey.
As Lonesome Rhodes, your old Arkansas traveler...
...goes home to the typical dirt-road, cotton-picking town of Pickett, Arkansas. "
- where America's favorite country cousin first got his humble start.
And where he now returns to the simple folks who saw and loved him first.
To choose, on his latest Face in the Crowd, the lucky and talented girl...
...whom he will select from hundreds of contestants...
...as Miss Arkansas Drum Majorette of 1957.
And here's the man you've been waiting for. Here he is.
Look at them. Look at them!
Ain't they the most?
I mean the most! Corn-fed gals. Country people.
The heart of America.
The salt of the earth.
Hey, Beanie, Beanie, "L.R."
"We love L.R."
Hi, Lonesome!
Hi, you-all!
It's dangerous.
What, baton twirling?
No. Power.
You gotta be a saint to stand off the power that little box can give you.
I got a button! I got a button!
It's wonderful.
Lonesome Rhodes, rah-rah-rah!
Friendly greeting, Sunday-go-to-meeting Just plain folks
Bible-reading, pork-chop-eating Just plain folks
Stew on the table, mule in the stable Just poor folks
Bill and Mabel, Levi label Just plain folks
She's only 17.
She looks like a very sweet child.
Just plain folks
Friends.
My heart is too full to say anything more...
...than welcome back to Pickett.
A great artist, a great humanitarian...
...a great American.
Our very own Lonesome Rhodes.
Friends...
...fellow Arkansasians, fellow Americans.
I know I should start off with a funny story about them kinfolk of mine in Riddle...
...but I just feel too humble this afternoon...
...as I look out upon this fine representative body...
...of wholesome young American womanhood.
You know, I've been a fan of baton twirling from way back.
I think it's a honest-to-God American art form.
Here's a number I wrote and recorded for the Gold Oak label.
Thought you kids might enjoy twirling to it.
Here she goes, "Mama Guitar. "
Oh, yeah. Our first contestant will be...
...Miss Suzanne McKinley of Beaglestown.
Let's have a real doozy, Suzie.
And now Miss Linda Bruce from Ganderstown.
Go, girl, go!
From the town of Snakebite, Miss Peggy May Polhodie.
Let's see you twirl it and swirl it, Peggy May.
I give you Miss Mary Jane Johnson...
...from the neighboring village of Pocahontas.
And now Miss Betty Lou Fleckum.
And I say that the winner...
...by unanimous decision, and that's me...
...is little Miss Betty Lou Fleckum...
...Miss Arkansas Drum Majorette of 1957.
I'm so ex... Excited.
I'm so...
You're my idol, honest.
I pasted your picture on the ceiling over my bed...
...so you're the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning.
Well, bless your heart.
- Mike. - Hey, that was a great show today.
I have a family, you know.
- Hello, Faye, Sam. - Mace.
- Good show, Dad. - Yes, I think it had size.
Hi, Burl, Virginia.
- Mace, that baton bit was the living end. - Thanks, Betty.
As Lonesome said, it's an American art form.
Glass of water, Joe.
- Peach of a show, Miss Jeffries. - Thank you.
Should boost the rating.
Poor Macey.
He lives on a diet of nitroglycerin and Trendex ratings.
Call it a Bible, but it's really a death warrant with decimal points.
- Hello, Bennett. - Mr. Cerf?
Thanks for the drinks.
Miss J, just came for you.
One thing about this place, it's like the office.
Not quite. Joe, two more, please.
And this time, would you just let the vermouth blow a kiss at the gin?
Oh, fine, our barefoot boy won't be flying in tonight.
"Hopping to Juarez. Get Arthur Godfrey to fill in for me.
Tell him I'll do the same for him someday.
Counting on you to hold the fort. "
Boy, this shoulder's getting a permanent callus from holding that fort.
What's in Juarez?
Bars.
Lawyers, quick marriages...
...quick divorces.
Then this is it?
You're blushing.
It's these 60-to-1 martinis.
I suppose I should be a gentleman, wish you all the happiness.
I think I'll just be a cad and hope he chokes on a Vitajex pill.
You look nice.
Larry!
- Looks like he's found an all-original... - It's for the bride.
Listen carefully, this is front-page stuff.
Officer, I'm his fiancée.
- Did he say "married"? - Sure did.
This little lady has just done me the honor of becoming Mrs. Lonesome Rhodes.
We do'd it in Juarez.
Easy, fellas, I just got her.
They eloped.
- Stand back, guys. - Go ahead, smile at them.
Miss. Miss, I'm Earl Wilson. What are you measurements?
What are you trying to do down there? You out of your mind?
- Get it up there a little. - That's it.
Their names are Tico and Pico.
Tico and Pico, kids.
Well, sir, here she is.
That's my little Arkansas sweet potato, Betty Lou.
I ain't been so happy since I fell into Grandpa Baskim's...
...hogshead of corn liquor and just guzzled my way down to dry land.
I don't reckon I'll be a free man tomorrow morning.
But if this ain't freedom, man, it's the next best thing.
Hey.
And now you wanna see what first caught my eye?
And what second caught my eye.
And what keeps on and on catching my eye.
Ladies and gentlemen...
...I give you Mrs. Lonesome Rhodes...
...doing her unbelievable double-fire baton-twirling dance...
...to the scherzo from the Seventh Symphony...
...by Ludwig van Beethoven.
- Mr. Rhodes. - Tico and Pico.
- I could eat you up. - Could I talk to you?
- I don't want agency jokers nagging... - This is important.
I've been with Browning, Schlagel and McNally 17 years...
...in full charge of the drug account.
The general just told me he's taking his business away.
Your young Mr. DePalma has wormed his way...
Look, Macey, Joey DePalma's doing a heck of a job.
But you know this business. It's cutthroat. If a...
Look, Macey...
Well, if a rating nosedives, or if you lose a client...
...even if it isn't your fault, the account executive is the goat.
Mr. Rhodes, if... If I lose this account, I'll be fired.
I've got a son at Princeton.
Mr. Rhodes, you... You've seen my... You've seen my office.
A corner office with four windows.
You know how long it takes at Browning, Schlagel and McNally to get a corner...?
I was afraid to marry you, and that's the truth.
The dirt-root, cotton-picking truth.
Last time, you said you were afraid not to.
Both were true.
You sort of overawe me.
You know more than I do.
I can feel you being so goldarned critical all the time.
You and that smart-alecky Mel.
And you don't really approve of me. That's so, ain't it?
You're getting to be all the things you used to harpoon.
See what I mean?
The bigger I get, the smaller you make me feel.
- You take Betty Lou... - Larry, don't try to explain.
Betty Lou is your public...
...all wrapped up with yellow ribbons into one cute little package.
She's the logical culmination of the great 20th-century love affair...
...between Lonesome Rhodes and his mass audience.
Well...
...I wish you wasn't so bitter.
I'm not bitter.
If I sound stridently female about Miss Drum Majorette, I don't mean to be.
I knew you married her just as a way of not marrying me.
Look, Marcia...
...I'm not forgetting what I owe you.
I'm gonna give you a healthy slice of our whole operation.
Say 10 percent of my end.
You won't have to lift your finger with what I'm giving you.
Giving me? Giving me?
You're not giving me anything.
And you're not throwing me off the train like poor Abe Steiner either.
A Face in the Crowd was my idea.
The whole idea of Lonesome Rhodes belongs to me.
I always should've been an equal partner. Now I'm gonna be an equal partner.
I'm gonna get something I deserve.
- Doesn't sound like you, Marcia. - And I want it on paper!
Okay. All right.
I'll tell Joey to draw up the papers.
Look at yourself in the mirror, Marcia.
You'll see a millionaire.
There's always Vanderbilt '44.
He's gone back to Memphis. I think he wants to forget us both.
I thought he'd wait for you till there was ice on the equator.
That's how long he did wait.
When newspaper people ask me, "Walter, where do you get all that news?"
I invariably tell them, "I usually get it from an awful lot of people...
...who promised somebody else they'd keep it secret. " As for example:
Just what is Lonesome Rhodes going to talk to General Haynesworth about?
"Oh, General. "
"Oh, Lonesome Rhodes. "
And now Mike Wallace interviews Senator Worthington Fuller.
Senator Fuller, you mean to tell me that you are not infected with the presidential itch?
The itch?
Senator, is it not a fact that you have a date tomorrow night...
...for what is known as "Madison Avenue coaching" from Lonesome Rhodes...
...in General Haynesworth's private projection room?
I have said it calls for the closest scrutiny.
I am unable to persuade myself...
...and to believe in the belief that flagrant squandering of American wealth...
...at home and abroad is a road to a sound peace.
Thank you, all...
...and good evening, all.
Lights!
I know that's not what the American people want to hear.
- I think I know what's best for them. - We think so too.
That's why everyone here wants you to be the next president of the United States.
But your problem is getting the voters to listen to you...
...getting them to like you enough to listen to you.
Senator, I've got to be blunt.
Your TV appearances have been... Well, catastrophes.
Wouldn't you say so, Lonesome?
By the way, I asked you to check ratings when the senator was on Face the People.
Brutal.
Oh, excuse me, 4.2.
- Go right ahead. - We've got to face it.
Politics have entered a new stage, a television stage.
Instead of long-winded public debates, the people want capsule slogans.
"Time for a change. " "The mess in Washington. "
More bang for a buck. Punch lines and glamour.
Yes, Mr. Pervis, even glamour.
General, my papers have supported Worthington Fuller...
...from the first day he ran for office.
He's not a grandstander, a backslapper or a baby-kisser.
That's exactly what he's got to become.
A majority in this country don't see eye-to-eye with him.
We've got to find 35 million buyers for the product we call Worthington Fuller.
- I think you underestimate the respect... - Respect?
Did you ever hear of anyone buying any product, beer, hair rinse, tissue...
...because they respect it?
You gotta be loved, man.
Loved.
I may be a bit old-fashioned, but it seems to me there is still a distinction...
...between politics and, well, the field you're in.
- Bull. - I beg your pardon, sir.
Sorry if I tread on your corns, but I said, bull.
Politics is people.
- Mr. Rhodes... - Now, John...
The general asked me to cut my rehearsal short to come here.
- Lf you don't wanna hear my thinking... - Do go on.
I'm sorry to make a disturbance, but, General...
Senator, I'm a professional. I have to look at the image on that screen...
...same as I'd look at a performer on my show.
And I'll have to say...
...he'll never get over to my audience.
Not to the 65 million people who welcome me into their living rooms each week.
And if I wouldn't buy him, do you realize what that means?
If I wouldn't buy him...
...the people of this country aren't ready to buy him for that job...
...on Pennsylvania Avenue.
I got a fella here, know where I found him?
I don't think he'll mind my saying it.
In jail. He's stupid.
He's got no mentality. He thinks with his feet.
But I trust those feet.
Now, if he don't laugh, if he don't think the show is any good...
...then I know there's something wrong with it...
...something people just ain't a-gonna take to.
You see what I mean?
Now, Beanie...
...what did you think of the personality you just saw on the screen?
- Well, I... - Come on, give it to us straight.
Flatter than last night's beer.
You see your problem now, senator?
How you gonna get this man, this bush monkey, to vote for you?
Frankly, I don't know.
Well, maybe I do.
Do you know what you need to lift your rating from 4.2...
...to 51.7?
You need... Now, hold on to your hat, my friend.
You need a whole new personality.
A new personality?
But, frankly, that's impossible.
Now, wait just a moment.
For instance, do you have a pet?
My wife and I have a Siamese cat.
Beanie.
My public love dogs.
One pitch with a hound is worth 10,000 words.
That mutt didn't do Roosevelt any harm, did it? Dick Nixon either.
- That's good. - No, I'm sure you're right.
How about a nickname?
Only dishonest thing about "Curly" Fuller is the way he combs his hair.
Curly.
- That's rather amusing. - See?
Shows you got a sense of humor about that fine head of skin you got there.
No hard feelings now, we're talking television.
Don't press your lips together so much. Gives you kind of a sissy look.
Keep your mouth relaxed, so you can say:
Once in a while.
- Sounds sort of crazy to you, doesn't it? - No.
I realize it's a new technique, and I've got to face it.
- That's why I came. - That's a boy, Curly.
You just put yourself in my hands.
I'll have them loving him. I mean loving him!
You know, that's just what he did for Vitajex.
He ought to be in the cabinet.
I'll be going to bed now, sir.
Good night, Sidney. Lonesome, I don't know anyone in the country...
...who could've won the senator the way you did.
- It was a brilliant piece of... - Shut up, I'm thinking.
Lonesome. Listen to me, as your adopted father.
You have only one flaw, the way you've begun to suddenly shoot out of control.
Like this evening, almost walking out on the senator.
And you're beginning to antagonize the press. You'll grate.
Cracker Barrel.
Lonesome Rhodes' Cracker Barrel.
- What's that? - My new show.
I want you to set it up right away.
Get me a whole bunch of colorful country- looking characters all sitting around...
...listening to Lonesome Rhodes sound off about everything...
...from the price of popcorn to the hydrogen bomb.
You don't like it?
Well, just forget it.
All I've gotta do is pick up the phone...
...and I can get Tim Andrews of National Motors to back it for me in a minute.
I'm not just an entertainer.
I'm an influence, a wielder of opinion.
A force.
Now Shelton Cigarettes, Best Friend Dog Food and Vitajex...
...bring you the voice of grassroot wisdom:
Lonesome Rhodes on The Cracker Barrel.
You know, boys...
...what really bugs me about our limey cousins...
...is the way they keep on trying to act like a first-class outfit...
...when their store is having to close branches all over the world.
- That's telling them, Lonesome. - That's telling him.
He's getting more global every minute.
That's the Lord's truth.
Well, look who's stopping by to chew the fat with us...
...around the old cracker barrel. Senator Worthington Fuller.
Howdy, Curly, how's my old bunkmate? Fine. It's a real pleasant surprise.
- Come on in and meet the boys here. - Hello, men.
Sit down here on the cracker barrel and get your feet up.
That's a boy, now you look at home.
Well, here we are, all set for real...
Hello, Mr. Miller. Long time no see, et cetera.
- The usual? - Oh, yeah.
And just let the vermouth blow a kiss at the gin.
Yes, in just a little while, I'm gonna be tossing some questions...
...at old Curly Fuller here. I should say, Senator Worthington Fuller.
- You waiting for someone? - No. I'm just having a quiet drink.
I don't remember your doing that before.
I have to talk to a thousand people a day.
This gives me a chance to unwind.
We didn't know that swallowing too much raw politics can put a crease in your head...
...a lot deeper than that homemade Kickapoo joy juice...
...that we used to concoct back in Arkansas.
I wished you'd give me the real cotton-picking truth about how you feel...
...on the subject of more and more and more social security.
I'm glad you asked me that question, Lonesome.
I'd say that people today are obsessed...
I mean, real gone for security.
They want protection, coddling from the cradle to the grave.
I say that weakens the moral fiber.
Daniel Boone wasn't looking for unemployment insurance...
...and old-age pension.
All he needed was his ax and his gun...
...and a chance to hew a living out of the forest with his own hands.
- Real woodsy, ain't he? - That's telling them, senator.
You heard one that time. That's a boy.
That's the spirit that built this country.
Joe, would you turn that sound down a little bit, please?
- not big government.
I'll say one thing for him, he's got the courage of his ignorance.
Well, how's our old station in Memphis?
I didn't go near it.
I've been writing a book about:
I call it Demagogue in Denim.
Never had such a good time in my life.
Well, you look wonderful.
All those months he was calling me Vanderbilt '44 and Frontal Lobe...
...when I should've been punching him in the nose.
Well, now I got the book to punch him in the nose.
Is it gonna be published?
Came up to sign the contracts. Publishers are real high on it.
They think the time is right to pull the mask off him.
- Let the public see what a fraud he really is. - Mel, I wouldn't say that.
What would you say?
Well, it's just that it's harder for him to be as simple as he was...
...with all those generals and senators and political big shots hanging around him.
You're still with him.
Well, at least I tone down some of the crazier notions he wants to spout on the air.
And I seem to be the only person he can talk to anymore.
I keep a lot of people from getting fired, and...
Well, there's an awful lot of money at stake.
Our agency, the one with International Drug Account...
...is grossing over 100 million a year.
And how are the Mama Guitars selling?
Mel, I found him.
He's mine for better or worse, and I keep doing my small bit to make him better.
Know what you are? You're the locker room...
...where he eases up after the fight, win or lose.
You're the shock absorber for collisions with ex-wives and models...
...and new wives and assorted tramps.
The wheel of efficiency without which the streamlined express...
...called Lonesome Rhodes plunges off the track and leaps to destruction.
I can hardly wait to read that book.
Don't you worry, I've spared you more than you've spared yourself.
I know.
I'll call you again sometime, when I think you're ready.
Hey, Betty Lou, take a look at this Gallup Poll.
I got Curly up from 3 percent of the voters to 11.
Eleven! That's a lucky number. He's gonna be in.
Hey, sweet patootie...
...look who's home, your big papa man.
You're not going to hit me.
Don't play the noble defender of the sanctity of marriage with me.
I know where you've been when Betty was waiting up for you.
You hit me, and it'll be all over the papers.
You're fired. You're through with Lonesome...
I've got news that'll move you and shake you.
I'm president of Lonesome Rhodes Enterprises.
I own 51 percent of the voting stock.
You're in bed with me, Larry. In bed.
Get me Beanie.
Think I'll just freshen up my soda.
Beanie.
Get Mrs. Rhodes a "broomette" on the next train to Little Rock.
You don't own 51 percent of the stock. You're fired.
Fired?
Oh, Lonesome... Lonesome, nothing...
Nothing happened, really.
I'm gonna treat you like any performer on my show that flops.
I got a contract with you.
You'll get your money every week as long as you stay in Arkansas.
But I don't wanna go home.
Ed Sullivan wants me to do my double-fire baton dance on his show Sunday night.
You can do your double-fire baton-twirling dance...
...in the ladies' room of the Little Rock depot.
Marcia, can you hear me? Get up! Wake up!
It's me, big me! The king!
Come on, Marcia, open up.
I said, hurry up on this door, Marcia.
Lonesome's back.
Just got rid of Betty Lou. Sweet-talking little floozy.
She'd have ruined me, that's what she'd have done.
- Fix me a drink. - What are you doing?
We'll be more careful than we used to be.
I'll stay married till I get my appointment.
- Your what? - This is still top-secret.
The general's been talking to Fuller.
He's selling him on the idea of creating a new cabinet post for me.
"In time of imminent crisis and danger. " That's the way the general puts it.
Who could rally the people better than I could?
Hold them in line right behind the government.
If we put Fuller across the way I know we're gonna...
...he's gonna owe me that.
Secretary for national morale.
How's that sound to you, Marcia?
Secretary for national morale.
General's asking to shake on it...
...after the big banquet to launch Fighters for Fuller.
- Fighters for Fuller. - Yeah, Fighters for Fuller.
How do you like that name, huh?
I made it up. Everybody's nuts about it.
I got 20 of the biggest men in this country coming...
...to get Fighters for Fuller rolling. I got an admiral, two governors...
...some of them big investment-house boys and a cabinet minister.
- Which one? - I don't know.
- I told the general to pick one out for me. - They're coming to your party?
Oh, honey. If I ask them, they gotta come.
Baby, they'd be afraid not to come.
I could murder them like this:
I'm afraid it's true.
What's true?
Right here, tonight...
...you might have that much power. - See the new ratings this morning?
Fifty-three-point-seven.
Just picked up another million.
This whole country's just like my flock of sheep.
- Sheep. - Rednecks...
...crackers, hillbillies, hausfraus, shut-ins, pea-pickers.
Everybody that's got to jump when somebody else blows the whistle.
They don't know it yet, but they're all gonna be Fighters for Fuller.
They're mine. I own them. They think like I do.
Only they're even more stupid than I am, so I gotta think for them.
Marcia, you just wait and see.
I'll be the power behind the president...
...and you'll be the power behind me.
You made me, Marcia.
You made me.
I always say that.
I owe it all to you.
All to you.
I know it. I know it.
I know it.
Turn the light out.
I'm tired.
Big day tomorrow.
Real big day.
Come on, come on, I got to get some sleep.
Marcia!
Marcia, where you going?!
All I can say is, tonight's show is gonna be a mess.
Now you tell me the show's in a mess. Now you tell me.
Yes, but you see, Marcia never showed up all day.
- She's the only one who can coordinate. - Coordinate, hell.
You mean to tell me the success of my show...
...depends on one self-important, neurotic, temperamental female?
I'm fed up with the whole lot of you incompetents, nincompoops, bootlickers.
Would you like some hot coffee, Mr. Rhodes?
Is that your subtle way...
...of trying to tell me I'm "swacked"?
Well, I'm not drunk, just disgusted!
- I'll handle it. - Of course you will.
Ad-lib.
Just keep up with me.
I've saved the show before.
Well, I just wonder what they do with their afternoons.
- Wives and all. - Ready, two.
- One more day like this, and I'm... - Here she comes now.
Where've you been? We've been trying to find you.
Take two.
- It's important. - I don't care.
We still haven't got our commercials routine.
Take three.
I know that's kind of gone out of style, like the corset.
But every once in a while, I ask myself:
"Lonesome, where's that unmodern...
...uncomplicated, unliberated...
...but oh-so-happy one-man woman gone?"
Ain't no use getting ourselves all het up about something we can't change.
Curly and I was duck-shooting over the weekend.
Brought my little movie camera along to show you folks what it was like.
- Roll the film. - Roll film.
Hit it.
You lunkheads up there in the projection room, show us the movie!
You're off the air. They can't hear you.
It's about time.
I wanna talk to you.
I can't tonight because I gotta rush over to the banquet.
But first thing in the morning. In my office, in the morning.
Twenty seconds, Mr. Rhodes, 20 seconds.
Who can take this? I quit today.
Even after the senator had bagged his limit, how he hated to leave that blind.
He says to me... He says, "Lonesome...
Keep the door clear. I'm surrounded by a lot of dimwitted sons of...
Hey, you redneck scoundrels still here?
Why ain't you out working someplace?
Ain't that Curly Fuller a duck-shooting fool?
- Real man. - Sure is.
You know, when we was standing there...
...in that cold water, bellybutton high...
...and the sun is commencing to smile in on us.
Curly looked at me, and he says, "Lonesome...
...the family that prays together stays together. "
That's what he said.
I tell you, that man is a inspiration.
A man among men.
The Cracker Barrel, starring that irrepressible Arkansas traveler.
You're off.
I'm glad that's over.
I'm gonna start shooting people instead of ducks.
For relaxation and for health.
The cigarette that cleans your tobacco without a filter.
- And by Best Friend Dog Food... - Take one.
...your dog's best friend.
And by Vitajex, that old "Vitajex, what you doing to me" pill.
Well, hurry back you-all. Remember what old Uncle Lonesome said.
The family that prays together stays together.
All right, super, one, and start the crawl.
This has been an FBN production...
Fuller, the great hunter.
He's shaking like this.
Oh, if they ever heard the way that psycho really talks.
Choreography, Don Krantz.
Scenic design, James Fitzsimmons.
Costumes by Robert Hodes.
Unit manager, George K. George.
...really sell that stiff as a man among men? - To those morons out there?
Shucks, I can take chicken fertilizer and sell it to them for caviar.
I can make them eat dog food, and they'll think it's steak.
Sure, I got them like this:
You know what the public's like, a cage full of guinea pigs.
Good night, you stupid idiots.
Good night, you miserable slobs.
They're a lot of trained seals.
I toss them a dead fish, and they'll flap their flippers.
No.
Why, he's a monster!
I'm gonna call the station and give them a piece of my mind.
We'll fix you, jerk.
I knew he'd open his big yap once too often and blow my 3 G's.
I can hardly believe that's the same Lonesome Rhodes.
It is, only this time, his personality finally came through.
Give me a drink.
Gotta hurry, boys. Heap-big important date.
You better come in strong tomorrow, I'll be loaded for bear. Come on, Beanie.
Held the elevator for you, Mr. R. The Lonesome Rhodes Express, going down.
- All the way down, lad. - Yes, sir.
Federal Broadcasting Network. That line is busy.
You can tell him I'll never listen to his filthy program again.
So we're slobs, are we? You can tell Lonesome Rhodes for me...
FBN.
Are we paying your network 100,000 an hour...
...to build up our business or destroy it?
Just a minute, General. Get DePalma on the phone.
It was your advertising company that brought Lonesome Rhodes to FBN.
Got to keep this from rubbing off on Vitajex.
I mean dissociate ourselves.
Lonesome Rhodes. That line is busy.
- What'd he say? - It must have been a whopper.
Better come up with a good replacement.
Got you down in a hurry.
Give him a buck for not stopping for the peasants.
How's your rating, Page?
No, Mr. Rhodes has left for the day.
No, I'm sorry, there's no one in the studio.
DePalma, you know your contract, the morals clause.
Any act abusing public confidence.
I think I've got just the boy to fill the gap.
Yeah, Barry Mills.
He's a young Lonesome Rhodes and easier to handle.
Buddy, I'm just a country boy.
Don't spare the horses. I've only got 30 minutes to get into my dinner clothes.
"L.R.'s blooper tops Unk Don's. "
I never seen what people saw in that guy, but he's had it.
Like the sinking of the Titanic. What happened?
Marcia, she went:
- Where is she? - She's still in the booth.
I hear you just wrote the ending to my book.
Yeah?
Just a minute, I'll see if she's here.
It's him.
I've got her. I've got her.
Marcia.
Oh, Marcia, I need you.
Come over right away.
Nobody's come, everybody cancelled out.
Fuller didn't even send me a wire.
The general sent me a wire.
The secretary of the interior sent me a wire.
"Regret to inform you. " "Unavoidably detained. "
"Unable to attend. "
All of a sudden, everybody's too busy.
All of a sudden, I'm... I'm poison.
You laughing at me?
You think I'm washed up, don't you?
The same way I lost them, I'll get them back again.
I'm gonna make them love me.
You're gonna love me.
Say you're gonna love me. Say you're gonna love me.
You're gonna love me.
All right, say you're gonna love me.
All right, you, say you're gonna love me.
Say you're gonna love me. You're gonna love me.
- What's your name? - Francis.
Francis, you're gonna love me. You're gonna love me.
Love me, love me!
Get out. Get out. Get out, you dressed-up black monkeys.
You turn my stomach. Get out!
He sounds like he's finally gone through the roof.
Marcia. Marcia, how soon can you get here? I'm surrounded by traitors.
That engineer, wait till I get him.
I'll fire him. I'll burn him over a slow fire.
Marcia, if you don't come right away, I'll jump!
- I'll jump! I'll jump! - Jump. Jump!
Get out of my life.
Get out of everybody's life.
Jump.
I don't believe you. In an hour, you'll be up there.
- Oh, Mel. - Why didn't you tell him it was you?
- Because it's hard to. - Let's make it harder.
I think you should go tell him face-to-face before he blames it on 20 other guys.
Face-to-face, and then maybe I'll believe you.
It's never as simple as that.
Finally, you gotta force complicated things into simple channels like this.
Either you go up there and tell him it was you who did it and chop it off clean...
...so he never comes crying to you again...
...or you hold his hand, wipe his poor, perspiring brow...
...fan his smoldering, dampened ego so it can burst up into flames and burn...
Secretary for national morale...
...is a job that I was born for.
Somebody ought to send for a doctor. He's been screaming like that for 20 minutes.
In a time of crisis...
...who else could rally the people like Lonesome Rhodes?
Who else could move the people to action...
...like Lonesome Rhodes?
You are looking at America's answer...
...to the crying need...
...for national... - What you doing that for?
- He likes lots of applause. - Beanie.
Maybe I'm just a country boy...
...but if the president tries to stop me...
...I'll flood the White House with millions of telegrams.
I made him, and I can break him.
Yeah!
Yeah, you know I can.
Because the people listen to Lonesome Rhodes.
Because the people love Lonesome Rhodes.
Lonesome Rhodes is the people.
The people is Lonesome Rhodes.
Beanie.
More. Yeah, yeah.
Go, go!
Ten thousand miles away from home
And I don't even know my name
Marcia.
Oh, Marcia.
Yeah.
Marcia.
I knew you'd come. I knew you'd get here.
Listen, Marcia, I lost them.
But all I gotta do is talk with them one more time.
Yeah, I'll tell them I just said that to see how many is really listening.
Yeah. Sure, I'll have them eating out of my hands again just like old times.
- Larry, it was me. - Then I'm back on top again.
First thing I do when I'm back on top...
...I'll get that sound man.
I'll get that dirty, stinking little mechanical genius.
It was me.
It was.
It was me.
I held the key open.
On purpose.
I'm telling you this so you'll never call me again.
Never again.
Okay.
Okay, Marcia.
My marshmallow.
Good luck.
Good luck with Mel.
Let me alone.
Larry, I'm sorry. Forgive me.
Go on.
Listen, I'm not through yet. You know what's gonna happen to me?
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 cooling-off period, and somebody will say:
"Why don't we try him again in a 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 will ask, "Whatever happened to 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 Barry Mills?
I think he's the greatest thing since Will Rogers. "
Beanie!
- Marcia! - Mel.
Don't leave me!
I don't figure him for a suicide.
Marcia!
- Lf I'd only left him in that jail in Pickett. - Marcia, stop it.
You were taken in, just like we were all taken in.
But we get wise to them, and that's our strength.
- Come back, Marcia! - We get wise to them.
Marcia!
Come back!
Don't leave me!
Marcia!
Don't leave me!
Come back!