I was sad to hear of the death earlier today of Andy Griffith at the age of 86. We all remember him from The Andy Griffith Show, of course, but he also made several fine films. My personal favorite of these is A Face in the Crowd (1957), directed by Elia Kazan, who directed Tim in East of Eden (1955). I would not be at all surprised to hear that this film greatly influenced Timothy as he created The World’s Greatest Sinner (1962). The themes are very similar – a charismatic “nobody” suddenly becomes a musical sensation and is courted by the sinister “powers that be” to enter the political arena, becomes drunk with power, and is soon exposed for the fraud he is.

These two films would make a great double bill. Rest well, Andy, and thanks.