Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey

"I don't want realism. I want magic!" declares Blanche DuBois in Elia Kazan's film version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. From the mid-'40s to the early '60s, Kazan produced loads of onscreen magic in film classics such as Streetcar, Viva Zapata!, East of Eden, On the Waterfront, and Splendor in the Grass. This is a balanced and perceptive look at a career which began in the ferment of left wing theater of the '30s, where Kazan directed and sometimes acted in protest plays written by America's leading playwrights. Eager to make the leap to movies, Kazan's directorial debut was the Oscar-winning 1945 film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Kazan provides commentary on most of his films, discussing how the misery of a cold winter made the actor's faces convincing, or how a personal feud between James Dean and Raymond Massey worked to advance the theme in East of Eden. The director dismisses his groundbreaking film on anti-Semitism Gentleman's Agreement as "too damn polite," and recalls the epic censorship battles over Baby Doll. The bleak blacklisting days of the early '50s are recalled, when former Communist Kazan made headlines and named names before Congress, an act for which some colleagues have never forgiven him. Originally aired on the American Movie Classics channel, narrated by Eli Wallach, and offering generous clips of memorable movie moments, this first rate film biography is highly recommended for public and academic libraries. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)