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110-541: 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. The character was inspired by Schulberg's acquaintance with Will Rogers Jr. The successes of Arthur Godfrey and Tennessee Ernie Ford were also acknowledged in the screenplay. The film launched Griffith into stardom, but it received mixed reviews on its release. Subsequent reappraisals have been kinder to

220-611: A World War II hero, played his father in two films, and was elected to Congress. Mary became a Broadway actress, and James "Jim" was a newspaperman and rancher; Fred died of diphtheria at age two. The family lived in New York, but they spent summers in Oklahoma. In 1911, Rogers bought a 20-acre (8.1 ha) ranch near Claremore, Oklahoma , which he intended to use as his retirement home. He paid US$ 500 an acre, equal to $ 16,350 per acre today. From about 1925 to 1928, Rogers traveled

330-488: A candidate's image? Ballyhoo: "I hope there is some sane people who will appreciate dignity and not showmanship in their choice for the presidency" (October 5). What of ugly campaign rumors? Don't worry: "The things they whisper aren't as bad as what they say out loud" (October 12). After Rogers gained recognition as a humorist-philosopher in vaudeville, he gained a national audience in acting and literary careers from 1915 to 1935. In these years, Rogers increasingly expressed

440-652: A constant supply of labor. Those who were punished under this system were either put in local jails for a short time or sent to armed forces. This system was abolished during the Mexican–American War to increase conscripts . The Ordinance of Labourers 1349 was the first major vagrancy law in England and Wales. The ordinance sought to increase the available workforce following the Black Death in England by making idleness (unemployment) an offence. A vagrant

550-560: A cowboy. Rogers's cowboy was an unfettered man free of institutional restraints, with no bureaucrats to order his life. When he came back to the United States and worked in Wild West shows, he slowly began adding the occasional spoken ad lib, such as "Swingin' a rope's all right... if your neck ain't in it." Audiences responded to his laconic but pointed humor, and were just as fascinated by his frontier Oklahoma twang. By 1916, Rogers

660-687: A fear that Europeans would go to war again. He recommended isolationism for the United States. He reasoned that for the moment, American needs could best be served by concentrating on domestic questions and avoiding foreign entanglements. He commented: "Rogers' philosophy was reactionary, dispiriting and provincial, despite every affectation of bonhomie and tolerance. It scorned ideas and the people who held them, it relied on vague evolution rather than direct action, its fixed smile concealed rigidity of opinion that middle America need not be disturbed from its own prejudices and limitations."—Film critic David Thomson in A Biographical History of Film (1976) Rogers

770-546: A guest of U.S. Ambassador Dwight Morrow . Rogers gave numerous after-dinner speeches, became a popular convention speaker, and gave dozens of benefits for victims of floods, droughts, or earthquakes. Rogers traveled to Asia to perform in 1931, and to Central and South America the following year. In 1934, he made a globe-girdling tour and returned to play the lead in Eugene O'Neill 's stage play Ah, Wilderness! . He had tentatively agreed to go on loan from Fox to MGM to star in

880-555: A habitual drunk, or living on the social welfare benefits or pensions of others. This law established as vagrants all those healthy adults who are not engaged in gainful employment. Vagrancy laws proven unacceptably broad and vague may have been found to violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . Such laws could no longer be used to obstruct

990-491: A hole, about the compass of an inch about, would be burned through the cartilage of his right ear with a hot iron. A rogue who was charged with a second offence, unless taken in by someone who would give him work for one year, could face execution as a felony . A rogue charged with a third offence would only escape death if someone hired him for two years. The Vagabonds Act 1572 decreed that "unlicensed beggars above fourteen years of age are to be severely flogged and branded on

1100-472: A home or employment. Vagrants have been historically characterised as outsiders in settled, ordered communities: embodiments of otherness , objects of scorn or mistrust, or worthy recipients of help and charity. Some ancient sources show vagrants as passive objects of pity, who deserve generosity and the gift of alms. Others show them as subversives, or outlaws, who make a parasitical living through theft, fear and threat. Gyrovagues were itinerant monks of

1210-477: A host of other controversial topics in a way that found general acclaim from a national audience with no one offended. His aphorisms, couched in humorous terms, were widely quoted, for example, "I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat." One of Rogers's most famous sayings was "I never met a man I didn't like" and he even provided an epigram on this famous epigram: When I die, my epitaph , or whatever you call those signs on gravestones,

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1320-573: A month and begin shooting the film. Kazan and Schulberg spent much of July and August in Memphis and in Arkansas. Patricia Neal's involvement was announced by early August. Griffith, Lee Remick, Charles Irving, Charles Nelson Reilly and uncredited actors Lois Nettleton and Rip Torn all made their film debuts in A Face in the Crowd . On the set, Griffith faced difficulty generating the intensity of

1430-662: A new law moved the emphasis from criminalization into social assistance. Forced labor sentences were abolished in 1971 and anti-vagrancy laws were repealed in 1987. In Germany, according to the 1871 Penal Code (§ 361 des Strafgesetzbuches von 1871), vagabondage was among the grounds to confine a person to a labor house . In the Weimar Republic , the law against vagrancy was relaxed, but it became much more stringent in Nazi Germany , where vagrancy, together with begging, prostitution, and "work-shyness" ( arbeitsscheu ),

1540-430: A nonpartisan point of view and became a friend of presidents and a confidant of the great. Loved for his cool mind and warm heart, he was often considered the successor to such greats as Artemus Ward and Mark Twain . Rogers was not the first entertainer to use political humor before his audience. Others, such as Broadway comedian Raymond Hitchcock and Britain's Sir Harry Lauder , preceded him by several years. Bob Hope

1650-564: A run at the Young Vic in London on September 10, 2024. Its music is composed by Elvis Costello and the script is an adaptation of Budd Schulberg's book by Sarah Ruhl . Vagrancy Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging , scavenging , or petty theft . In Western countries, vagrancy

1760-576: A simple cowboy; his characters evolved to explore the meaning of innocence in ordinary life. In his last movies, Rogers explores a society fracturing into competing classes from economic pressures. Throughout his career, Rogers was a link to a better, more comprehensible past. In 1926, the high-circulation weekly magazine The Saturday Evening Post financed a European tour for Rogers, in return for publication of his articles. Rogers made whirlwind visits to numerous European capitals and met with both international figures and common people. His articles reflected

1870-746: A small town banker ( David Harum ) in 1934, and a rustic politician ( Judge Priest ) in 1934. He was also in County Chairman (1935), Steamboat Round the Bend (1935), and In Old Kentucky (1935). His favorite director was John Ford . Rogers appeared in 21 feature films alongside such noted performers as Lew Ayres , Billie Burke , Richard Cromwell , Jane Darwell , Andy Devine , Janet Gaynor , Rochelle Hudson , Boris Karloff , Myrna Loy , Joel McCrea , Hattie McDaniel , Ray Milland , Maureen O'Sullivan , ZaSu Pitts , Dick Powell , Bill "Bojangles" Robinson , Mickey Rooney , and Peggy Wood . He

1980-433: A travelogue series in 1927. After that, he did not return to the screen until beginning work in the ' talkies ' in 1929. Rogers made 48 silent movies, but with the arrival of sound in 1929, he became a top star in that medium. His first sound film, They Had to See Paris (1929), gave him the chance to exercise his verbal wit. He played a homespun farmer ( State Fair) in 1933, an old-fashioned doctor ( Dr. Bull ) in 1933,

2090-499: A vagabond could be jailed. Vagabonds, beggars and procurers were imprisoned in vagrancy prisons: Hoogstraten ; Merksplas ; and Wortel ( Flanders ). There, the prisoners had to work for their living by working on the land or in the prison. If the prisoners had earned enough money, then they could leave the "colony" (as it was called). On 12 January 1993, the Belgian vagrancy law was repealed. At that time, 260 vagabonds still lived in

2200-527: A vagrancy law in America typically has rendered "no visible means of support" a misdemeanor , yet it has commonly been used as a pretext to take one into custody for such things as loitering , prostitution, drunkenness , or criminal association . Prior to 2020, the criminal statutes of law in Louisiana specifically criminalized vagrancy as associating with prostitutes, being a professional gambler, being

2310-531: A vagrant if they could not prove their own standing (title), or if they changed residence without a permission from authorities, rather than punishing loitering or absence of livelihood. Foreigners who had been twice expatriated with prohibition of return to the Russian Empire and were arrested in Russia again were also recognized as vagrants. Punishments were harsh: according to Ulozhenie , the legal code,

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2420-618: A vagrant who could not elaborate on his kinship, standing, or permanent residence, or gave false evidence, was sentenced to a 4-year imprisonment and a subsequent exile to Siberia or another far-off province. In the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (1960)  [ ru ] , which came into force on 1 January 1961, systematic vagrancy (that which was identified more than once) was punishable by up to two years' imprisonment (section 209). This continued until 5 December 1991, when Section 209

2530-526: A vagrant. Thousands of inhabitants of colonial and early national America were incarcerated for vagrancy, usually for terms of 30 to 60 days, but occasionally longer. After the American Civil War , some Southern states passed Black Codes , laws that tried to control the hundreds of thousands of freed slaves . In 1866, the state of Virginia , fearing that it would be "overrun with dissolute and abandoned characters", passed an Act Providing for

2640-638: A weekly column, titled "Slipping the Lariat Over", at the end of 1922. He had already published a book of wisecracks and had begun a steady stream of humor books. Through the columns for the McNaught Syndicate between 1922 and 1935, as well as his personal appearances and radio broadcasts, he won the loving admiration of the American people, poking jibes in witty ways at the issues of the day and prominent people—often politicians. He wrote from

2750-420: A woman claims to be his legitimate wife, and again when he returns from Mexico married to 17-year-old drum majorette Betty Lou. Rhodes and Marcia enter into a profit-sharing agreement after she reminds him of her role in his success. Mel, who loves Marcia, leaves to write an exposé on Rhodes. Joey has an affair with Rhodes's young wife, and Rhodes sends her back to Arkansas. However, he cannot extricate himself from

2860-460: Is absent for a fortnight, he is condemned to slavery for life and is to be branded on forehead or back with the letter S; if he runs away three times, he is to be executed as a felon... If it happens that a vagabond has been idling about for three days, he is to be taken to his birthplace, branded with a red hot iron with the letter V on his breast, and set to work, in chains, on the roads or at some other labour... Every master may put an iron ring round

2970-408: Is finished with his program (and is scorning his public) is inane. This type would either have become a harmless habit or the public would have been finished with him! Harrison's Reports wrote: "On a whole, however, it is a fascinating picture, superbly directed and finely acted. Much credit for the film's impact is due [to] Andy Griffith, a newcomer to the screen, for his exceptional performance in

3080-554: Is going to read: "I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I dident [ sic ] like." I am so proud of that, I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved. Rogers was born on his parents' Dog Iron Ranch in the Cherokee Nation of Indian Territory , near present-day Oologah, Oklahoma , now in Rogers County , named in honor of his father, Clement V. Rogers . The house in which he

3190-508: Is named in honor of him. He served several terms in the Cherokee Senate. Roach (1980) presents a sociological-psychological assessment of the relationship between Will and his father during the formative boyhood and teenage years. Clement had high expectations for his son and wanted him to be more responsible and business-minded. Will was more easygoing and oriented toward the loving affection offered by his mother, Mary, rather than

3300-669: Is often claimed he took a job breaking in horses for the British Army , but the Boer War had ended three months earlier. Rogers was hired at James Piccione's ranch near Mooi River Station in the Pietermaritzburg district of Natal . Rogers began his show business career as a trick roper in "Texas Jack's Wild West Circus" in South Africa: He [Texas Jack] had a little Wild West aggregation that visited

3410-536: Is the best known political humorist to follow Rogers's example. Radio was the exciting new medium, and Rogers became a star there as well, broadcasting his newspaper pieces. From 1929 to 1935, he made radio broadcasts for the Gulf Oil Company. This weekly Sunday evening show, The Gulf Headliners , ranked among the top radio programs in the country. Since Rogers easily rambled from one subject to another, reacting to his studio audience, he often lost track of

A Face in the Crowd (film) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3520-641: The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Far and away outstanding in their stellar performances are Griffith, Miss Neal and Matthau, with Franciosa also very capable. They are nearly all at their peaks in their interpretations, even though the actual reading of lines is not too easy to understand at times. Schulberg has, however, written a splendid screenplay, and the picture is by far one of Kazan's most penetrating and incidentally ironic." In his review for Cahiers du cinéma , critic François Truffaut called it "a great and beautiful work whose importance transcends

3630-558: The Kemper Military School at Boonville over the 1897–98 school year. He was a good student and an avid reader of The New York Times , but he dropped out of school after the 10th grade. Rogers later said that he was a poor student, saying that he "studied the Fourth Reader for ten years". He was much more interested in cowboys and horses, and learned to rope and use a lariat . In 1899, Rogers appeared in

3740-620: The Pacific Palisades and set up his own production company. While Rogers enjoyed film acting, his appearances in silent movies suffered from the obvious restrictions of silence, as he had gained his fame as a commentator on stage. He wrote many of the title cards appearing in his films. In 1923, he began a one-year stint for Hal Roach and made 12 pictures. Among the films he made for Roach in 1924 were three directed by Rob Wagner : Two Wagons Both Covered , Going to Congress , and Our Congressman . He made two other feature silents and

3850-503: The estates of the realm (nobility, clergy, burghers or land-owners) were obliged to be employed, or otherwise, they could be charged with vagrancy. Legal protection was mandatory already in medieval Swedish law, but Gustav I of Sweden began strictly enforcing this provision, applying it even when work was potentially available. In Finland, the legal protection provision was repealed in 1883; however, vagrancy still remained illegal, if connected with "immoral" or "indecent" behavior. In 1936,

3960-488: The self-made man , the common man, who believed in America, in progress, and in the American Dream of upward mobility. His humor never offended even those who were the targets of it. In the 1920s, the United States was happy and prosperous in various ways (leading to the nickname Roaring Twenties ), but it also suffered from rapid change and social tensions. Some people were disenchanted by, and alienated from,

4070-617: The " freedom of speech " of a political demonstrator or an unpopular group. Ambiguous vagrancy laws became more narrowly and clearly defined. In Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville , 405 U.S. 156 (1972), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a Florida vagrancy law was unconstitutional because it was too vague to be understood. Nevertheless, new local laws in the U.S. have been passed to criminalize aggressive panhandling . Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935)

4180-521: The 1935 movie version of the play. But, concerned about a fan's reaction to the "facts-of-life" talk between his character and the latter's son, he declined the role. He and Wiley Post made plans to fly to Alaska that summer. Rogers was a Democrat but has historically been known as apolitical. He was friends with every president starting with Theodore Roosevelt , and he notably supported Republican Calvin Coolidge over John W. Davis in 1924. During

4290-506: The Act as a form of entrapment, the attempted reinstitution of "slavery in all but its name". He forbade its enforcement. It is not known how often it was applied, or what was done to prevent its implementation, but it remained statute in Virginia until 1904. Other Southern states enacted similar laws to funnel blacks into their system of convict leasing . Since at least as early as the 1930s,

4400-612: The Anti-Bunk Party. His campaign promise was that, if elected, he would resign. Every week, from Memorial Day through Election Day, Rogers caricatured the farcical humors of grave campaign politics. On election day he declared victory and resigned (he did not actually receive any state electoral votes). Asked what issues would motivate voters? Prohibition: "What's on your hip is bound to be on your mind" (July 26). Asked if there should be presidential debates? Yes: "Joint debate—in any joint you name" (August 9). How about appeals to

4510-605: The Bible as having compassion for beggars, prostitutes, and the disenfranchised. The Catholic Church also teaches compassion for people living in vagrancy. Vagrant lifestyles are seen in Christian movements, such as in the mendicant orders . Many still exist in places like Europe, Africa, and the Near East, as preserved by Gnosticism , Hesychasm , and various esoteric practices. In some East Asian and South Asian countries,

A Face in the Crowd (film) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4620-524: The Bronx , as well as some exteriors. The scene of the network headquarters switchboard was NBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza . Schulberg remained involved throughout filming. He said, "I went on a trip in 1955 to scout a location in Arkansas, and I've been on the set every day since shooting started in August [1956]." In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Bosley Crowther called A Face in

4730-459: 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. ... Everyone condescends to him—in the script of Mr. Schulberg, that is—instead of taking positive positions that would better represent reality. ... [A]ll play their roles capably, but they're forced to behave as awed observers, not as flexible factors in

4840-544: The Expropriated, from the End of the 15th Century. Forcing Down of Wages by Acts of Parliament ), Karl Marx wrote: James 1: Any one wandering about and begging is declared a rogue and a vagabond. Justices of the peace in petty sessions are authorised to have them publicly whipped and for the first offence to imprison them for 6 months, for the second for 2 years. Whilst in prison they are to be whipped as much and as often as

4950-580: The New York area in those years. Rogers could make a film, yet easily still rehearse and perform in the Follies . He eventually appeared in most of the Follies , from 1916 to 1925. Hollywood discovered Rogers in 1918, as Samuel Goldwyn gave him the title role in Laughing Bill Hyde . A three-year contract with Goldwyn, at triple the Broadway salary, moved Rogers west. He bought a ranch in

5060-550: The Paint Clan. Unlike his father Clement's people, Mary's Cherokee relatives had been expelled from Georgia under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 in an exodus known as The Trail of Tears . Of the 16,000 Cherokees driven to Indian Territory (later Oklahoma), 4,000 perished en route . She died of amoebic dysentery when Will was 10 years of age. His father remarried almost three years after her death. Rogers

5170-570: The Punishment of Vagrants . Homeless or unemployed persons could be forced into labour on public or private works, for very low pay, for a statutory maximum of three months; if fugitive and recaptured, they must serve the rest of their term at minimum subsistence, wearing ball and chain. In effect, though not in declared intent, the Act criminalized attempts by impoverished freed people to seek out their own families and rebuild their lives. The commanding general in Virginia, Alfred H. Terry , condemned

5280-550: The Republican Convention of 1928, while criticizing the party platform, Rogers welcomed the nomination of Kaw citizen Charles Curtis as vice president, although he felt the leadership had deliberately kept him from the presidency: "The Republican Party owed him something, but I didn't think they would be so low down as to pay him that way." Four years later, when the Republican leadership attempted to remove

5390-789: The St. Louis Fair as part of the Mulhall Rodeo. Near the end of 1901, when he was 22 years old, he and a friend, Dick Parris, left home hoping to work as gauchos in Argentina . They arrived in Argentina in May 1902, and spent five months trying to make it as ranch owners in the Pampas . Rogers and his partner lost all their money, and he later said, "I was ashamed to send home for more." The two friends separated and Rogers sailed for South Africa . It

5500-621: The United States in 1904, appeared at the Saint Louis World's Fair , and began to try his roping skills on the vaudeville circuits. On a trip to New York City, Rogers was at Madison Square Garden , on April 27, 1905, when a wild steer broke out of the arena and began to climb into the viewing stands. Rogers roped the steer to the delight of the crowd. The feat got front page attention from the newspapers, giving him valuable publicity and an audience eager to see more. Willie Hammerstein saw his vaudeville act, and signed Rogers to appear on

5610-717: The Victoria Roof—which was literally on a rooftop—with his pony. For the next decade, Rogers estimated he worked for 50 weeks a year at the Roof and at the city's myriad vaudeville theaters. Rogers later recalled these early years: In the fall of 1915, Rogers began to appear in Florenz Ziegfeld 's Midnight Frolic . The variety revue began at midnight in the top-floor night club of Ziegfeld's New Amsterdam Theatre , and drew many influential—and regular—customers. By this time, Rogers had refined his act. His monologues on

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5720-585: The Wortel colony. In medieval times, vagabonds were controlled by an official called the Stodderkonge who was responsible for a town or district and expelled those without a permit. Their role eventually transferred to the police. In premodern Finland and Sweden , vagrancy was a crime, which could result in a sentence of forced labour or forced military service . There was a "legal protection" (Finnish: laillinen suojelu ) obligation: those not part of

5830-508: The [t]elevision showmen. Dramatic scenes are all played at full blast, while the more intimate scenes are slurred over." In a 2015 interview, filmmaker Spike Lee credited the film with inspiring his Bamboozled (2000). Writing in The Washington Post in 2020, Ann Hornaday ranked it at number 14 of her list of the best political movies. A stage musical version of A Face in the Crowd directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah began

5940-404: The air with a new awareness of his persuasive power. He begins an affair with Marcia and proposes marriage to her. Rhodes is offered a deal—put together without his knowledge by Joey, the overambitious assistant to the owner of the mattress company—to star in a new television show in New York; the rising star accepts the offer and signs a contract that allows Joey to manage him. Rhodes also becomes

6050-546: The business arrangement with Joey, as Joey owns 51% of the company. Disgusted with Rhodes's behavior, Marcia activates a live microphone during the end credits of Rhodes's television show, which reveals him contemptuously mocking Fuller and the station's "idiot" viewers. His popularity and the show's ratings plummet, and advertisers cancel their sponsorships. Having waited for Marcia to break free from Rhodes's spell, Mel insists that Marcia tell Rhodes that she exposed his rant. At Rhodes's home, Mel and Marcia find Rhodes speaking to

6160-426: The camps and did a tremendous business. I did some roping and riding, and Jack, who was one of the smartest showmen I ever knew, took a great interest in me. It was he who gave me the idea for my original stage act with my pony. I learned a lot about the show business from him. He could do a bum act with a rope that an ordinary man couldn't get away with, and make the audience think it was great, so I used to study him by

6270-436: The common man? Easy: "You can't make any commoner appeal than I can" (August 16). What does the farmer need? Obvious: "He needs a punch in the jaw if he believes that either of the parties cares a damn about him after the election" (August 23). Can voters be fooled? Darn tootin': "Of all the bunk handed out during a campaign the biggest one of all is to try and compliment the knowledge of the voter" (September 21). What about

6380-578: The condition of vagrancy has long been historically associated with the religious life, as described in the religious literature of Hindu , Buddhist , Jain , and Muslim Sufi traditions. Examples include sadhus , dervishes , bhikkhus , and the sramanic traditions generally. The Belgian Criminal Law had defined vagrants as lacking a stable residence, the necessary means to survive, and employment. The Belgian Criminal Law of 1867 had high levels of recidivism, leading to questions concerning it's effectiveness in combating vagrancy From 27 November 1891,

6490-407: The constable or watchman and brought before a magistrate who had the legal right to interview them to determine their status. If declared vagrant, they were to be arrested, whipped, and physically expelled from the county by a vagrant contractor, whose job it was to take them to the edge of the county and pass them to the contractor for the next county on the journey. This process would continue until

6600-527: The dimensions of a cinema review". Karel Reisz , reviewing the film in Sight & Sound , critiqued more harshly, writing, "If we are to accept its attack on the jungle values of American sponsored television then we must be able to sense a more decent, rational tone in the film which is attacking them. And this becomes more and more difficult as the film goes on. When it comes to the test Kazan and Schulberg seem to have little more respect for their audience than

6710-469: The ear sliced off; but for the third relapse the offender is to be executed as a hardened criminal and enemy of the common weal." In the Vagabonds Act 1547 , Edward VI ordained that "if anyone refuses to work, he shall be condemned as a slave to the person who has denounced him as an idler. The master has the right to force him to do any work, no matter how vile, with whip and chains. If the slave

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6820-404: The early Middle Ages . Some fairy tales of medieval Europe have beggars cast curses on anyone who was insulting or stingy toward them. In Tudor England , some of those who begged door-to-door for "milk, yeast, drink, pottage " were thought to be witches. Many world religions, both in history and today, have vagrant traditions or make reference to vagrants. In Christianity, Jesus is shown in

6930-639: The early 19th century. The law was an amendment to the Elizabethan Poor Law . It was created as an indirect result of Britain's involvements in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793–1815). In 1821, the existing vagrancy law was reviewed by a House of Commons select committee, resulting in the publication of the, 'Report from the Select Committee on The Existing Laws Relating to Vagrants'. After hearing

7040-425: The empty room, with an applause machine replacing the people whose support that he has lost. Marcia tells Rhodes that she was responsible for the open-microphone incident and demands that he never call her again. Rhodes threatens suicide, but Marcia only goads him. 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

7150-521: The fair and baton-twirling competition scenes were filmed. The Poplar Bluff scenes involved 5,000 extras paid $ 1 per hour, 380 dogs and baton twirlers and musicians from six high school bands from Arkansas and Missouri. 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. Shooting in New York included 61 sets at Biograph Studios in

7260-697: The film. In 2008, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In late 1950s America, radio journalist Marcia Jeffries encounters drunken drifter Larry Rhodes while recording a segment at a rural Arkansas jail. She invites him to speak to the audience and sing while playing his guitar , and he becomes instantly popular. Marcia dubs him "Lonesome" Rhodes and fast-tracks him onto his own radio program . Marcia enlists

7370-486: The findings and recommendations from the 1821 House of Commons Select on Vagrancy, a new Act of Parliament was introduced, 'An Act for the Punishment of Idle and Disorderly Persons, and Rogues and Vagabonds, in that Part of Great Britain called England', commonly known as the Vagrancy Act 1824 . The Vagrancy Act 1824 consolidated the previous vagrancy laws and addressed many of the frauds and abuses identified during

7480-456: The half-hour time limit in his earliest broadcasts, and was cut off in mid-sentence. To correct this, he brought in a wind-up alarm clock, and its on-air buzzing alerted him to begin wrapping up his comments. By 1935, his show was being announced as "Will Rogers and his Famous Alarm Clock". In 1908, Rogers married Betty Blake (1879–1944), and the couple had four children: Will Rogers Jr. , Mary Amelia, James Blake , and Fred Stone. Will Jr. became

7590-560: The harshness of his father. The personality clash increased after his mother's death when the boy was ten. Young Will went from one venture to another with little success. Only after Will won acclaim in vaudeville did the rift begin to heal. Clement's death in 1911 precluded a full reconciliation. Will Rogers attended school in Indian Territory, at the Willie Halsell College at Vinita in 1895 and 1896, and then

7700-518: The hour, and from him I learned the great secret of the show business—knowing when to get off. It's the fellow who knows when to quit that the audience wants more of. Grateful for the guidance but anxious to move on, Rogers quit the circus and went to Australia. Texas Jack gave him a reference letter for the Wirth Brothers Circus there, and Rogers continued to perform as a rider and trick roper, and worked on his pony act. He returned to

7810-414: The justices of the peace think fit … Incorrigible and dangerous rogues are to be branded with an R on the left shoulder and set to hard labour, and if they are caught begging again, to be executed without mercy. These statutes, legally binding until the beginning of the 18th century, were only repealed by 12 Anne, c. 23. In late-eighteenth-century Middlesex , those suspected of vagrancy could be detained by

7920-426: The left ear unless someone will take them into service for two years; in case of a repetition of the offence, if they are over eighteen, they are to be executed, unless someone will take them into service for two years; but for the third offence they are to be executed without mercy as felons." The same act laid the legal groundwork for the enforced exile ( penal transportation ) of "obdurate idlers" to "such parts beyond

8030-429: The length and breadth of the United States in a "lecture tour". (He began his lectures by pointing out that "A humorist entertains, and a lecturer annoys.") During this time he became the first civilian to fly from coast to coast with pilots flying the mail in early air mail flights. The National Press Club dubbed him "Ambassador at Large of the United States". He visited Mexico City , along with Charles Lindbergh , as

8140-399: The mass-circulation upscale magazine The Saturday Evening Post . Rogers advised Americans to embrace the frontier values of neighborliness and democracy on the domestic front, while remaining clear of foreign entanglements. He took a strong, highly popular stand in favor of aviation, including a military air force of the sort his flying buddy General Billy Mitchell advocated. Rogers began

8250-821: The mid-1930s, Rogers was hugely popular in the United States for his leading political wit and was the highest paid of Hollywood film stars. He died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post when their small airplane crashed in northern Alaska. Rogers began his career as a performer on vaudeville. His rope act led to success in the Ziegfeld Follies , which in turn led to the first of his many movie contracts. His 1920s syndicated newspaper column and his radio appearances increased his visibility and popularity. Rogers crusaded for aviation expansion and provided Americans with first-hand accounts of his world travels. His earthy anecdotes and folksy style allowed him to poke fun at gangsters, prohibition , politicians, government programs, and

8360-494: The money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago." Rogers served as a goodwill ambassador to Mexico, and had a brief stint as mayor of Beverly Hills , a largely ceremonial position that allowed Rogers to joke about do-nothing politicians such as himself. During the depths of the Great Depression , angered by Washington's inability to feed

8470-490: The more conservative Curtis from the Hoover ticket, Rogers defended him, and took credit for keeping him on the ticket: "I saved my 'Injun' Charley Curtis for vice presidency. The rascals was just ready to stab him when we caught 'em." In 1932 Rogers supported Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt , who was his favorite president and politician. Although he supported Roosevelt's New Deal , he could just as easily joke about it: "Lord,

8580-519: The national spokesman for the energy supplement firm that sponsors his show, and his buoyant charisma tremendously increases their sales. As his fame, influence and ego increase, Rhodes is enlisted to improve the appeal of a presidential hopeful, Senator Worthington Fuller of California, and rebrands Fuller as an everyman with the folksy nickname "Curly". In contrast to his friendly onscreen persona, Rhodes has become an egomaniac who berates his staff. Marcia's hopes of marrying Rhodes are dashed, first when

8690-404: The neck, arms or legs of his slave, by which to know him more easily." In England, the Vagabonds Act 1572 passed under Elizabeth I , defined a rogue as a person who had no land, no master, and no legitimate trade or source of income; it included rogues in the class of vagrants or vagabonds. If a person were apprehended as a rogue, he would be stripped to the waist, whipped until bleeding, and

8800-449: The news of the day followed a similar routine every night. He appeared on stage in his cowboy outfit, nonchalantly twirling his lasso, and said, "Well, what shall I talk about? I ain't got anything funny to say. All I know is what I read in the papers." He would make jokes about what he had read in that day's newspapers. The line "All I know is what I read in the papers" is often incorrectly described as Rogers's most famous punch line, when it

8910-403: The other hand, [there should be] whipping and imprisonment for sturdy vagabonds. They are to be tied to the cart-tail and whipped until the blood streams from their bodies, then they are to swear on oath to go back to their birthplace or to serve where they have lived the last three years and to 'put themselves to labour'. For the second arrest for vagabondage the whipping is to be repeated and half

9020-594: The outside world. Many common people believed that World War I had resulted in extensive and largely senseless carnage, and they supported isolationism for the US. According to scholar Peter Rollins (1976), Rogers appeared to be an anchor of stability; his conventional home life and traditional moral code reminded people of a recent past. His newspaper column, which ran from 1922 to 1935, expressed his traditional morality and his belief that political problems were not as serious as they sounded. In his films, Rogers began by playing

9130-574: The parish where they were last legally settled, often the parish where they were born. This led to a system of convicted vagrants being 'passed' from parish to parish from where they had been convicted and punished to their own parish. The 'pass' system led to them being transported by vagrancy contractors, a system found to be open to abuses and fraud. It also found that in many instances the punishment for vagrancy offences were insufficient and certain types of vagrants should be given longer prison sentences and made to complete hard labour during it. Based on

9240-455: The people, he embarked on a cross-country fundraising tour for the Red Cross . Rogers thought all campaigning was bunk. To prove the point, he mounted a mock campaign in 1928 for the presidency. His only vehicle was the pages of Life , a weekly humor magazine. The campaign was in large part an effort to boost circulation for the struggling magazine. Rogers ran as the "bunkless candidate" of

9350-538: The person reached his or her place of legal settlement, which was often but not always their place of birth. In 1795, the Speenhamland system (also known as the Berkshire Bread Act ) tried to address some of the problems that underlay vagrancy. The Speenhamland system was a form of outdoor relief intended to mitigate rural poverty in England and Wales at the end of the 18th century and during

9460-603: The principal role. It is not a sympathetic part, but he plays it with explosive vigor and makes the characterization entirely believable. Worthy of special mention, too, is Patricia Neal for her fine portrayal" as Marcia Jeffries. Hy Hollinger of Variety praised the film as "provocative and hard-hitting", summarizing that "Kazan once again demonstrates his ability as a director and why major studios are willing to give him carte blanche in selecting his own story material and working under his own conditions". Edwin Schallert of

9570-613: The rest of his career around that skill. A 1922 editorial in The New York Times said that "Will Rogers in the Follies is carrying on the tradition of Aristophanes , and not unworthily." Rogers branched into silent films too, for Samuel Goldwyn 's company Goldwyn Pictures . He made his first silent movie, Laughing Bill Hyde (1918), which was filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey . Many early films were filmed and produced in

9680-400: The same level of popularity and prestige. After leaving the building, Mel and Marcia hear Rhodes screaming from the penthouse for Marcia to return to him, but they ignore him as they depart. Marcia expresses guilt for having elevated Rhodes to power, and Mel replies that a faker such as Rhodes may fool people for a while, but "we get wise to him―that’s our strength". The film was produced under

9790-409: The scheme of things. 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. Reality is proved by inadvertence. We finally get bored with Lonesome Rhodes. Thus the dubious device of having his girl friend switch him on the air when he thinks he

9900-655: The school day. His most unusual role may have been in the first talking version of Mark Twain 's novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court . His popularity soared to new heights with films including Young As You Feel , Judge Priest , and Life Begins at 40 , with Richard Cromwell and Rochelle Hudson. Rogers was an indefatigable worker. He toured the lecture circuit. The New York Times syndicated his weekly newspaper column from 1922 to 1935. Going daily in 1926, his short column "Will Rogers Says" reached 40 million newspaper readers. He also wrote frequently for

10010-557: The seas as shall be […] assigned by the Privy Council ". At the time, this meant exile for a fixed term to the Virginia Company 's plantations in America. Those who returned unlawfully from their place of exile faced death by hanging. The Vagabonds Act 1597 banished and transplanted "incorrigible and dangerous rogues" overseas. In Das Kapital ( Capital Volume One, Chapter Twenty-Eight: Bloody Legislation Against

10120-473: The section does not apply, if such act is performed by a parent of the juvenile under harsh life circumstances due to the loss of livelihood or the absence of living place. In the early 1800's Mexico's political leaders had to put together a "Vagrant Tribunal", defining vagrants as young men who were robust and able to work despite panhandling. These tribunals had become a necessity after President Vicente Guerrero abolished slavery in 1829, leaving Mexico without

10230-489: The select committee hearings. Much reformed since 1824, some of the offences included in it are still enforceable. Colonists imported British vagrancy laws when they settled in North America. Throughout the colonial and early national periods, vagrancy laws were used to police the mobility and economic activities of the poor. People experiencing homelessness and ethnic minorities were especially vulnerable to arrest as

10340-504: The stage and asked to have discarded chairs available to destroy in order to instigate his rage before filming. Big Jeff Bess, who portrayed the sheriff under his own name, was a country singer and bandleader in Nashville who led Big Jeff and his Radio Playboys. Cameo appearances in the film include those by Walter Winchell and Mike Wallace . Location shooting occurred in Memphis, Piggott, Arkansas and Poplar Bluff, Missouri , where

10450-426: 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 pokes fun at his sponsor, a mattress company, it initially pulls its ads, but when his adoring audience revolts by burning mattresses in the street, the sponsor discovers that the issue actually increased sales. Rhodes returns to

10560-526: The views of many witnesses appearing before it the select committee made several recommendations. The select committee found that the existing vagrancy laws had become over-complicated and that they should be amended and consolidated into a single act of Parliament. The payment of fixed rewards for the apprehension and taking vagrants before magistrates had led to abuses of the system. Due to the Poor Laws , vagrants to receive poverty relief had to seek it from

10670-437: The views of the "common man" in America. He downplayed academic credentials, noting, "Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects." Americans of all walks admired his individualism, his appreciation for democratic ideas, and his liberal philosophies on most issues. Moreover, Rogers extolled hard work in order to succeed, and such expressions affirmed American theories about how to realize individual success. Rogers symbolized

10780-464: The working title of The Arkansas Traveler , which was the name of Budd Schulberg 's source short story from his 1953 collection Some Faces in the Crowd . 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. The younger Rogers stated that his "father

10890-461: Was a featured star in Ziegfeld's Follies on Broadway, as he moved into satire by transforming the "Ropin' Fool" to the "Talkin' Fool". At one performance, with President Woodrow Wilson in the audience, Rogers improvised a "roast" of presidential policies that had Wilson, and the entire audience, in stitches and proved his remarkable skill at off-the-cuff, witty commentary on current events. He built

11000-725: Was a leader in the Cherokee Nation . An attorney and Cherokee judge, Clement owned two slaves he had acquired from his father, and was a Confederate combat veteran of the American Civil War. He was promoted to regimental captain under Confederate colonel (later Brigadier General) Stand Watie and fought at the Battle of Pea Ridge (1862). Clement served as a delegate to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention . Rogers County, Oklahoma ,

11110-419: Was a person who could work but chose not to, and having no fixed abode or lawful occupation, begged. Vagrancy was punishable by human branding or whipping. Vagrants were distinguished from the impotent poor , who were unable to support themselves because of advanced age or sickness. In the Vagabonds Act 1530 , Henry VIII decreed that "beggars who are old and incapable of working receive a beggar's licence. On

11220-492: Was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation , in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ), and is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son". As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. By

11330-537: Was born had been built in 1875 and was known as the "White House on the Verdigris River ". His parents, Clement V. (Clem) Rogers (1839–1911) and Mary America Schrimsher (1838–1890), were both mixed-race with Cherokee ancestry, and considered themselves Cherokee. Rogers quipped that his ancestors did not come over on the Mayflower , but they "met the boat". His mother was one quarter-Cherokee and born into

11440-793: Was classified as " anti-social behavior " ( Asoziale ) and punishable by confinement to concentration camps . Until July 2006, vagrancy was punishable with imprisonment between one month to 3 years, according to the article 327 on the Penal Code. In the Russian Empire , the legal term "vagrancy" (Russian: бродяжничество , brodyazhnichestvo ) was defined in a different way than in Western Europe ( vagabondage in France, Landstreicherei in Germany). Russian law recognized one as

11550-629: Was directed three times by John Ford. He appeared in four films with his friend Stepin Fetchit (aka Lincoln T. Perry): David Harum (1934), Judge Priest (1934), Steamboat Round the Bend (1935) and The County Chairman (1935). With his voice becoming increasingly familiar to audiences, Rogers essentially played himself in each film, without film makeup, managing to ad-lib and sometimes work in his familiar commentaries on politics. The clean moral tone of his films resulted in various public schools taking their classes to attend special showings during

11660-477: Was his opening line. His run at the New Amsterdam ran into 1916, and Rogers's growing popularity led to an engagement on the more famous Ziegfeld Follies . At this stage, Rogers's act was strictly physical, a silent display of daring riding and clever tricks with his lariat. He discovered that audiences identified the cowboy as the archetypical American—doubtless aided by Theodore Roosevelt 's image as

11770-465: Was historically a crime punishable with forced labor, military service, imprisonment, or confinement to dedicated labor houses . Both vagrant and vagabond ultimately derive from the Latin word vagari , meaning "to wander". The term vagabond and its archaic equivalent vagabone come from Latin vagabundus ("strolling about"). In Middle English , vagabond originally denoted a person without

11880-533: Was repealed and vagrancy ceased to be a criminal offense. At present, vagrancy is not a criminal offence in Russia, but it is an offence for someone over 18 to induce a juvenile (one who has not reached that age) to vagrancy, according to Chapter 20, Section 151 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation . The note, introduced by the Federal Law No. 162 of 8 December 2003, provides that

11990-410: Was so full of shit, because he pretends he's just one of the people, just one of the guys". Director Elia Kazan and Schulberg based the character of Lonesome Rhodes on Arthur Godfrey , as well as on Billy Graham and Huey Long . 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

12100-465: Was the youngest of eight children. He was named for the Cherokee leader Colonel William Penn Adair . Only three of his siblings, sisters Sallie Clementine, Maude Ethel, and Mary (May), survived into adulthood. His mother, Mary Schrimsher, was a sister of Martha Schrimsher Gulager, the paternal grandmother of Clu Gulager , making Rogers and Gulager first cousins, once removed. His father, Clement,

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