A Face in the Crowd Page #8

I’m in the business of putting the public in

the frame of mind to buy Vitajex.

JOEY:

Exactly.

HAYNESWORTH:

(to his wife, seated at a patio table) Excuse us, dear.

MRS. HAYNESWORTH:

Of course. (She goes up to the house)

HAYNESWORTH:

Poor Mace,

he's already had one heart attack...

and I’m afraid you're winding him up

to another one.

JOEY:

49

Well, General, that’s his hard luck.

(Lonesome settles onto a chaise, and Haynesworth calls out to Senator

Fuller who has arrived by sea plane and is coming up the dock.)

HAYNESWORTH:

Hello, Senator!

Did you have a fine flight?

FULLER:

Splendid! Splendid. I'll join you

when I get freshened up a bit.

HAYNESWORTH:

That’s my guest, Senator Fuller. That’s the sort of man I'd like

to see him in the White House.

MARCIA:

Don't they call him

“the Last of the Isolationists”?

HAYNESWORTH:

Oh, maybe, in some of those

left-wing New York papers.

Rhodes, I want you to get to know

people like that.

I'd like to take you under my wing

and educate you.

LONESOME:

Shucks, general,

I'm just a country boy.

(Joey moves close to both of them, grinning.)

HAYNESWORTH:

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.

JOEY:

General, my thinking is the second

section of the same train.

HAYNESWORTH:

50

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 his country,

like the Washington Monument.

(He looks at Marcia)

I suspect your idealistic young lady

disagrees with me...

but my study of history

has convinced me...

that in every strong 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.

JOEY:

General, I don't mean

to flatter you, sir...

HAYNESWORTH:

What? Oh, yes. Well, let’s

have a go at it, shall we?

(Calls loudly to house)

Roger, Roger! (An assistant with a notepas rushes down the steps)

Are you jotting this down?

First, I'll see if I can sell Henry

on the idea of a "Life" cover.

Remind me to call him for lunch.

( MONTAGE OF THE BUILD-UP OF LONESOME’S FAME: Lonesome on the cover of

LIFE Magazine; LOOK Magazine; a truck with a poster advertising a

Journal American feature on “The Happiest Years of My Life – Lonesome’s

Own Story of His Mom and Pop”)

OLD LADY (holding an orchid, to Lonesome)

I proudly dedicate to you...

the latest hybrid iris

of our horticultural laboratory.

The "Unus floratorum"...

51

We girls call it

"The Lonesome Rhodes" iris.

LONESOME (at battleship launching)

I christen thee

the "USS Rhodes". (people cheer)

(dedication of mountain)

POLITICIAN:

And so, on behalf of our

great commonwealth...

I'm proud to dedicate

one of nature's wonders...

henceforth and forever

to be known as...

"Mount Rhodes".

ANNOUNCER (This is Your Life kind of show)

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!

BEANIE:
(making the donkey sound)

Hey, Lonesome!

LONESOME:

Beanie!

You old scoundrel,

where have you been?

Here, go out and get yourself

some good looking clothes. (counts out money in Beanie’s hand) You been

looking ugly about as long as I can stand it.

LONESOME (on a telethon)

White Plains, New York,

thank you, thank you!

(very hoarse)

Yeah, Hey, listen to this...

“The boys in our ward

at the Veterans' hospital...

just got together

and donated $9.75.”

52

You ask me how I can keep going

17 hours without sleep?

Man, this is better than sleep!

(to boy in wheelchair holding a big Vitajex sign; monitor nest to him

shows a close-up of Lonesome’s face)

Didn't I tell you, kid?

Didn't I tell you?

BOY IN WHEELCHAIR:

Do you still want me

to hold this sign?

(cut to New York City, the Sherry Towers Hotel)

HOTEL MANAGER:

As general manager of

the Sherry Towers...

it’s my honor to present you

with a gold key...

to the two top floors of

New York's finest hotel.

(Joey, standing next to Lonesome, grabs it at the same time Lonesome

does. They laugh, and Joey gestures to a huge photo of the hotel

tower.)

JOEY:

To the very top!

You can't get much higher.

(CUT TO:
Marcia’s bedroom, late at night. The phone rings.)

MARCIA (answering phone)

Hello.

Larry?

What time is it?

LONESOME:

Marcia, you -- you've got to come over.

I never should’ve let Joey sell me the

idea of a penthouse over the offices.

Twenty-five rooms to be alone in.

I feel like a shipwrecked fella

on an island.

MARCIA:

Larry, I know that island;

it’s populated with friendly girls.

53

LONESOME:

Marcia, honey, do you believe me, when I say

it’s a matter of life and death?

(to drunken girl being led out of the apartment)

Call me soon, doll.

MARCIA:

Larry?

LONESOME:

If you don't come,

I'll dive off the balcony into the park,

and I'm ten blocks from the lake.

(LATER, Marcia arrives in Lonesome’s penthouse. He is out on the

balcony.)

Marcia, come out here.

(Marcia sees the evidence that he has had a female visitor)

I had a girl up here tonight.

I get restless.

I lied to you. When it’s over

I'm lonelier than I was before.

Marcia, will you come out here a minute?

(pointing to cityscape)

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 waiting to hear

what I have to say.

MARCIA:

Is that what you woke me up for

in the middle of the night?

LONESOME:

Marcia, What I'm trying to say is all them

millions of people believing it...

doing what I tell them to...

scares me.

Marcia, the General and all them big-shots

trying to educate me.

54

MARCIA:

Educate, or use you?

LONESOME:

That’s it, see, the General says

the 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 ever dreamed

when we started out in Arkansas.

(He puts on his farmer hat)

I know I act on the set like I just ate the

western hemisphere for breakfast.

But, down here in the boiler room,

I know I need advice.

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