The story centers on Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, a drifter who is discovered by the producer (Neal) of a small-market radio program in rural northeast Arkansas, and who rises to great fame and influence on national television.

[1][2] In late 1950s America, radio journalist Marcia Jeffries encounters drunken drifter Larry Rhodes while recording a segment at a rural Arkansas jail.

Marcia enlists the support of the show's writer Mel Miller and witnesses the charismatic Rhodes ad-lib his way to Memphis-area popularity, effectively criticizing local politicians along the way.

When Rhodes reaches his penthouse home, he finds nobody there, except for his friend Beany and a handful of African American servants, whom he dismisses when they do not respond to his demands.

Before they leave, Mel predicts Rhodes's future: his career is not completely over, and he will likely find further TV work soon, but will never again enjoy the same level of popularity and prestige.

The film was produced under the working title of The Arkansas Traveler,[3] which was the name of Budd Schulberg's source short story from his 1953 collection Some Faces in the Crowd.

[4] Schulberg had stated that a conversation with friend Will Rogers Jr., son of Will Rogers—who was known for earthy anecdotes and folksy style—had inspired him to create the Lonesome Rhodes story.

[5] Director Elia Kazan and Schulberg based the character of Lonesome Rhodes on Arthur Godfrey, as well as on Billy Graham and Huey Long.

[3] In April 1956, columnist Walter Winchell wrote that Andy Griffith was due to leave the cast of his Broadway show No Time for Sergeants at the end of July, vacation for a month and begin shooting the film.

[7] On the set, Griffith faced difficulty generating the intensity of the stage and asked to have discarded chairs available to destroy in order to instigate his rage before filming.

[3] Location shooting occurred in Memphis, Piggott, Arkansas and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where the fair and baton-twirling competition scenes were filmed.

The Poplar Bluff scenes involved 5,000 extras paid $1 per hour, 380 dogs[9] and baton twirlers and musicians from six high school bands from Arkansas and Missouri.

[10] Remick spent two weeks in Piggott with a teenage baton twirler to improve her twirling skill and local accent, although a double was utilized for several baton-twirling scenes.

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called A Face in the Crowd a "sizzling and cynical exposure" and wrote: Lonesome Rhodes, the two-faced hero, is pretty much the whole show, and what he symbolizes in society is barely hinted—or discreetly overlooked.

As a consequence, the dominance of the hero and his monstrous momentum, driven home by a vast accumulation of TV detail and Mr. Kazan's staccato style, eventually become a bit monotonous when they are not truly opposed.

[16] Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Far and away outstanding in their stellar performances are Griffith, Miss Neal and Matthau, with Franciosa also very capable.