Did this movie predict Trump’s rise?

Editor’s Note: Lewis Beale writes about culture and film for the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and other publications. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

Donald Trump certainly isn’t the first media personality to have political ambitions – lest we forget, Ronald Reagan was initially a film star. But thanks to his bombast and apparent megalomania, Trump is certainly the first such personality to eerily echo Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, the character played by Andy Griffith in the 1957 film “A Face in the Crowd.” Watch it and you’ll be amazed.

Lewis Beale

Director Elia Kazan’s picture is one of the first to trace the relationship between TV stardom and politics.

It features Griffith, best known for his TV role as Mayberry sheriff Andy Taylor, as a drunken drifter plucked out of an Arkansas jail to sing on a local radio program. Folksy and charismatic, playing his straight-talking, good-old-boy shtick to the hilt, Rhodes soon lands his own Memphis TV show and then works his way up the ladder to a nationally syndicated program based in New York.

'Election' (1999) —

This political season has been... a lot. If you are suffering from election fatigue, we can help you escape into the world of make believe with a few political films. Reese Witherspoon gives a brilliant performance in "Election" as Tracy Flick, the overachiever who will do just about anything to win student body president. Anything. Matthew Broderick plays civics teacher Jim McAllister, who's determined to derail her "Pick Flick" campaign.

James Stewart stars as a a new politician who takes on corruption in the now classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as star as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they investigate the Watergate scandal in "All the President's Men."

"The American President" is a romantic drama/comedy starring Michael Douglas as the chief commander who falls in love with a lobbyist.

'The Ides of March' (2011) —

"The Ides of March" stars Ryan Gosling and George Clooney. The political drama, is based on Beau Willimon's "Farragut North" -- about the 2004 Democratic primary.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in "Lincoln" about the ill fated 16th president of the United States. The role as Abraham Lincoln won Day-Lewis a best actor Academy Award.

'Clear and Present Danger' (1994) —

Based on the book of the same name, "Clear and Present Danger" features Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan as the CIA deputy director. Ryan soon finds out that members of the CIA aren't to be trusted.

'Wag the Dog' (1997) —

Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro team up in "Wag the Dog" as a producer and spin doctor who create a fake war with Albania to distract the public from a presidential scandal. This dark comedy is a creative look at the manipulation of the mass media in politics.

'Lions for Lambs' (2007) —

"Lions for Lambs" tells the stories of a senator, a journalist and a college professor and their connection to soldiers serving in Afghanistan. It Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Tom Cruise.

'The Adjustment Bureau' (2011) —

Loosely based on the short story "Adjustment Team," "The Adjustment Bureau" is a romantic thriller which follows a New York congressman, David Norris (Matt Damon), and his relationship with a ballerina (Emily Blunt).

Denzel Washington stars in this 2004 remake of "Manchurian Candidate" based on Richard Condon's novel of the same name. He stars as a veteran who finds himself deeply involved in an insidious plot.

'Election' and 10 other great political flicks

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Rhodes soon becomes so powerful that a faltering presidential candidate comes to him for media advice, and with Rhodes’ help takes a lead in the national polls. With the candidate’s victory almost certain, Rhodes believes he will be appointed “Secretary for National Morale,” a position he assumes will make him the power behind the throne.

Imagine, say, a leering Blake Shelton with political ambition and a solar system-sized ego, and you get the drift here. But Rhodes’ messy personal life – he has wed a 17-year old cheerleader, despite being married to someone else – soon catches up with him. And after one of his rants, during which he mocks his audience by calling them “idiots, morons and pigs,” is inadvertently broadcast live over national TV, his life as a national celebrity is effectively over.

In his interview with CNN's Dana Bash, Donald Trump lashes out at a lawyer who had requested a break to pump breast milk in the middle of a deposition.