Elia Kazan dead at 94

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One of the great directors, both in film and on the stage. Just a few months ago I caught A Face In The Crowd for the first time, and couldn't get over how brilliant--and prescient--it was.

It's a shame that political issues have come to overshadow his work in some quarters. Chalk it up as another casualty of McCarthyism's poisoned legacy.

 

Agreed, but let's face it, he brought it all upon himself, he chickened out, plain and simple....which doesn't do any detriment to his great cinematic legacy, but does help explain it. Despite what he and his screenwriter would have you believe, the fact remains that ON THE WATERFRONT was a kind of apologia for his status as 'King Rat' back then.....something he never shook, nor should he have. He made his bed and hade to lie in it...yet there are few better films, he made a few duds but many gems.....one of the last of the truly great directors, had a natural flair for composition of the shot and how he wanted his actors to act.....nobody got more out of Brando than Kazan did, and didn't hurt James Dean, either....a legend regardless of everything else!


ED

 

Amazing coincidence TCM had a bunch of his films today....Waterfront, Streetcar, Baby Doll...

Certainly one of the great ones...regardless

 

WOW! What a long life RIP...I have fond memories of Elia in "City for Conquest" with James Cagney... Elia playing Googi Zucco! For a small role, that character stayed with me all these years...

 

I think it's easy to blame a lot of people who made the "wrong" choice during the House on UnAmerican (BS) Activities days. Yes, it was wrong but nothing or no one's story is as simple as black and white. Kazan did what he felt he had to do at the time. Other people didn't. No matter what decision anyone made when the were brought in to testify there was still one thing they all had in common, fear. Kazan made 'On the Waterfront' to more or less try to justify why he felt compelled to testify (several books on the subject). Arthur Miller wrote 'A View From the Bridge' in a sense to say "**** you' to his old friends film and it's ideology. Well, a few years later they buried the hatchet. It's easy to vilify people and judge. It really annoyed me when Nick Nolte and many others at the Oscars were making their protests to Kazan winning the life achievement award. I wonder how they would have reacted to the pressure and fear of what was going on at that time? Anyway, it was wrong what he did but again, how would anyone have handled it if there were in that seat (which should never had been there in the first place). I think they were all victims and the fingers should really be always faced at the government for not looking out for people's rights. Sadly, this seems to be slowly happening again today but for other reasons.

 

Anyone ever read Victor Navasky's Naming Names? I believe it's currently OOP, but worth picking up a copy if you can find it. A fascinating (and, IMO, admirably fair-minded) look at Hollywood in the HUAC/blacklist era, the hard choices people faced, and the repercussions--personal and professional--of their decisions.

 

PBS did a great show on Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan, looking at the HUAC/blacklist era through their evolving friendship. While it does paint a fuller picture, clearing up some things about Kazan, it does leave more questions on his motivations. Kazan was clearly torn up about everything that was happening, to the point where he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and Miller saw this himself when Kazan met with him regarding his subpoena. However, somewhere down the line, it appears that something just snapped. Maybe Kazan had to convince himself that he was truly doing the right thing, but whatever the case, he became a different man, the one unrepentant about what he had done to the very end. At least, that's how appeared in public, who knows if somewhere in his head, he had some regret. Perhaps PBS will re-run this program (it aired roughly a month ago, and they do tend to re-run things relatively soon before shelving them for a lengthy period of time), I think it was part of the American Experience series.

Another great thing about this series is how it ties everything together, the political climate, the personal lives of Miller and Kazan (I was surprised how their relationship with Marilyn Monroe was actually made relevant, though it still has moments where it feels a bit 'gossipy'), and best of all their own work. There's still no denying the greatness of Kazan's best work: "Streetcar...," "A Face in the Crowd," "On the Waterfront," "East of Eden," and others. Even lesser works, or less-celebrated works, like "The Last Tycoon" have much to enjoy. I wrote to Kazan when I was in high school, sometime in the late 90's a year or two before his special Oscar, and I think his assistant wrote back, saying he couldn't do so personally due to age and illness, but appreciated the kind words. It was almost a form letter, but I think there were a few references to things I wrote in there. Anyway, R.I.P. Elia.

 

I too saw the show on PBS and it was very well done. It presented some things I didn't know and I considered my knowledge pretty good about Kazan. At any rate, I really found the way they film makers interpreted what Kazan meant by the movie "On the Waterfront" to be something I hadn't heard of or thought of before. I wont get into if I agree with what they said or not, just that it's an interesting idea and one worth seeing the whole show for. The intertwining of Miller and Kazan was also most interesting as they tried to keep it humanized and show you the way they were both effected by there respective actions during the Black List era.

At any rate here is the link for the PBS series-
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/kazan_e.html

There is some cool stuff there like what time the show airs, career time line, additional footage, etc. Check it out if your curios about the show.

As far as his film making talents, he definitely had a way with actors. Whatever his methods and what I may or may not think of them, he was able to illicit these amazing performances from many actors. Even among his less lauded works if you want to call them that I truly find two gems.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Splendor in the Grass. Two American classics.
Thanks for some amazing cinema Mr. Kazan...