The Elia Kazan Collection

Martin Scorsese selected the 15 Elia Kazan films in this lavish package, from Kazan's 1945 directorial feature debut A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a young girl's coming-of-age story starring Dorothy McGuire, to his 1963 autobiographical America, America, about the turn-of-the-century Greek immigrant experience as viewed through the eyes of a character based on Kazan's uncle, portrayed by Stathis Giallelis. Both films make their first appearance on DVD here, as do three others: Viva Zapata! (1952), starring Marlon Brando as Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata; the Cold War drama Man on a Tightrope (1953), with Fredric March; and the superb Wild River (1960), a Depression-era drama set in the rural South, starring Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, and Jo Van Fleet. Filling out the compilation are the previously released Boomerang! (1947), a suspenseful film noir about an unsolved murder, with Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, and Lee J. Cobb; Gentleman's Agreement (1947), a withering examination of anti-Semitism starring Gregory Peck; Pinky (1949), with Jeanne Crain and Ethel Barrymore in a story about a light-skinned black woman who returns from school in the North to her grandmother's home in the South; Panic in the Streets (1950), with Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas as a doctor and a policeman desperate to catch a plague-infected killer; On the Waterfront (1954), the Brando showcase about a former boxer ensnared in corruption; Baby Doll (1956), a steamy tale of two rivals and a sensuous virgin, starring Karl Malden, Eli Wallach, and Carroll Baker; A Face in the Crowd (1957), featuring Andy Griffith as a hayseed guitar player turned TV superstar and Patricia Neal as a woman who falls under his spell; Splendor in the Grass (1961), with Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty as teenagers in love in a class-conscious town; and two-disc editions of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Tennessee Williams' tale of emotional collapse in the French Quarter of New Orleans, with Brando, Vivien Leigh, and Kim Hunter; and East of Eden (1955), the World War I–era family saga based on the novel by John Steinbeck, starring James Dean. Kazan's attention to actors and sensitivity to performance were a revelation, and this bundle includes a lot of Academy Award winners, as well as plenty of heavyweight performances that did not bring home Oscar gold. Completing the set is Scorsese and Kent Jones' original documentary A Letter to Elia, offering a reflection on Kazan's art and career. An excellent collection of American classics, this is highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)