The rise of a raucous hayseed named Lonesome Rhodes from itinerant Ozark guitar picker to local media rabble-rouser to TV superstar and political king-maker. Marcia Jeffries is the innocent Sarah Lawrence girl who discovers the great man in a back-country jail and is the first to fall under his spell.

"POWER! He loved it! He took it raw in big gulpfuls … he liked the taste, the way it mixed with the bourbon and the sin in his blood!"

Credits

Elia KazanDirector

Andy GriffithLarry 'Lonesome' Rhodes

Patricia NealMarcia Jeffries

Anthony FranciosaJoey DePalma

Walter MatthauMel Miller