From the early days of silent film, citizens of Appalachia and other rural areas of America have often been stereotyped by Hollywood as uneducated, inbred bumpkins living outside the law and the restraints of civilization. Many of these films revolve around the idea of making moonshine, escaping the law, feuding with neighbors and surviving by any means necessary.

We at TCM thought it would be interesting to consider some examples of what happens when the movies take a look at so-called "hillbillies" or "mountain folk." We're including several movies of the 1930s where stereotypes run rampant, along with a Bowery Boys comedy from the 1950s and an Elvis Presley musical from the '60s. For balance, there's a serious film from distinguished director Elia Kazan about a personality cult that develops around a Southern "good ol' boy."

The early films include Professional Sweetheart (1933), a pre-Code Ginger Rogers vehicle in which she plays a radio star who is billed as the "Purity Girl" but really wants to be a party girl. She falls for a naive Kentucky backwoodsman (Norman Foster) but finds conflict when he doesn't want to move to the city.

There's also Kentucky Kernels (1934), in which the comedy duo of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey travel to the Bluegrass State and become involved with two feuding families, the Milfords and Wakefields. Mountain Justice (1937) is a drama loosely based on the real-life story of Edith Maxwell, a Virginia woman who was convicted in 1935 of murdering her coal-miner father. Josephine Hutchinson plays the leading role of a backwoods nurse whose abusive father (Robert Barrat) threatens her and her family.

Feudin' Fools (1952) is a Bowery Boys adventure, in which Sach (Huntz Hall) inherits a farm in Kentucky and encounters the standard assortment of bearded, rifle-totin' hillbillies, feuding families, moonshine stills and "revenooers." Leo Gorcey and the other "Boys" are along for the ride.

In the Elvis Presley vehicle Kissin' Cousins (1964), the star has double roles as an Air Force pilot and his hillbilly cousin who lives in the Great Smoky Mountains. Arthur O'Connell and Glenda Farrell take on the cliché roles of the country Elvis's Pappy and Ma, who are into making moonshine and defending their territory; and there's a bevy of pretty mountain maidens called the Kittyhawks. Elvis's rendition of the title tune became a hit.

There's one superior picture in the group: A Face in the Crowd (1957), Elia Kazan's powerful and seemingly prescient look at an entertainer who uses his brash instinct for crowd-pleasing to gain political power. The script by Budd Schulberg focuses on "Lonesome" Rhodes (Andy Griffith), an opportunistic drifter discovered in an Arkansas jail by a radio journalist (Patricia Neal) who oversees his rise to fame until she realizes she has created a monster. In a total switch from his usual role as a lovable bumpkin, Griffith delivers a dynamic and unsettling performance and is well-matched by Neal. Others delivering strong performances include Walter Matthau, Anthony Franciosa and (in her film debut) Lee Remick.

by Roger Fristoe