Kazan. Kazan’s strength is his unparalleled work with actors and that just gets eclipsed by so many auteurs with a superior cinematic style. That said- his filmography and impact on naturalism and acting is still an extremely important movement in cinema history. I’m not giving him full credit for Brando’s power on cinema in the 50’s (along with Montgomery Clift and James Dean) but he’s not the simple beneficiary of pointing the camera at Brando either or being in the right place at the right time. On the Waterfront is legit and Kazan has another 4 films that are somewhere in the top 10-15 of their respective year.

Best film: On the Waterfront. Of course it’s Brando, but it’s also brilliant writing, amazing performances from the entire cast (again probably Kazan’s greatest lasting impact is his work with actors), and great photography that hinges on the key decision of Kazan to shoot on location. That’s critical—Brando or no Brando if they shoot this on an obvious Hollywood backdrop the film isn’t nearly as good.

total archiveable films: 13

top 100 films:  0

top 500 films:  2 (On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire)

top 100 films of the decade:  3 (On the Waterfront, A Streetcar Named Desire, East of Eden)

most overrated:  #576 on the consensus list for TSPDT all-time for Splendor in the Grass is a couple hundred slots overrated.

most underrated: A Face in the Crowd is not ranked in the TSPDT top 1000 and definitely should be.  It’s raw, well-acted, terrifying and always timely no matter how old it gets.

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It’s not only Brando but the debut of James Dean and Warren Beatty amongst others. In A Face in the Crowd even Andy Griffith gives a tour-de-force performance

gem I want to spotlight:    East of Eden

  • Dean’s lead debut, first archiveable film, first nom, and the only film that was released prior to his death in Sep 1955
  • First film for Kazan in color and widescreen
  • Trademark yellow sweater for Dean in every scene almost like his red jacket in Rebel Without a Cause
  • Cain and Abel via Steinbeck in Salinas (on location shooting- gorgeous) California—meditation on hypocrisy from father Raymond Massey
  • Dean is enchanting—method—apparently he even went so far as to provoke Massey (who did not like Dean he said during and after) off-screen to increase the intensity of the performance and the gulf/dynamic between the two
  • Like Rebel– troubled teen, tormented by parents/family relationship – debut for Jo Van Fleet (who is very good here- won best supporting actress)
  • Dean and Massey are two complex characters- I mean Massey is on the draft board and Dean is a war profiteer—it’s believable that he would be upset
  • Dean is such a gifted physical after—grabbing his hair (busy with his hands like Brando grabbing Eva Marie Saint’s glove in On the Waterfront– the way Dean slinks out of the back of the car
  • Dean has his trademark changes in volume of speaking—soft spoken and mumbling to almost over the top outpouring of emotion
  • Kazan’s triumphs are the train shot using widescreen, the gorgeous yellow flowers in the dialogue scene with Julie Harris (she’s on-point as well as far as the ensemble goes) and the greatest achievement of Kazan here is that he tilts the camera often- Dutch angles—it’s shocking- great art—once he does it to run parallel with Dean’s slouching elbow
  • Dean has a bunch of complex relationships in the film—he dotes on his father, jealous of perfect (Abel) brother, his best friend is Julie Harris— of course the mother—and Burl Ives is strong as the surprisingly sensitive sheriff
  • “brother’s keeper” line—the brother Richard Davalos (Aron) looks like dean in some scenes- under the tree of knowledge especially
  • Largely a melodrama, well-acted with the allegorical backdrop
  • HR/MS border
Kazan’s triumphs in East of Eden are the train shot using widescreen, the gorgeous yellow flowers in the dialogue scene with Julie Harris (she’s on-point as well as far as the ensemble goes) and the greatest achievement of Kazan here is that he tilts the camera often- Dutch angles—it’s shocking- great art—once he does it to run parallel with Dean’s slouching elbow

stylistic innovations/traits:      As Andrew Sarris says about Kazan: “his brilliance with actors is incontestable.” It’s not only Brando but the debut of James Dean and Warren Beatty amongst others. In A Face in the Crowd even Andy Griffith gives a tour-de-force performance. Kazan gave them a freedom—Dean playing with his hair, Brando with Eva Marie Saint’s glove—them both mumbling. But certainly when you think of Kazan you think of Brando, theatrical adaptations (his background is the playhouse), method acting, and naturalism. There is a sharp photography in all of his work though and again we have a brilliant filmography and a landmark shift in acting and working with actors. I believe 9 of his 13 archiveable films are in black and white which, unlike today, actually meant rawness and realism in the 1950’s. Kazan could do color widescreen and do it well (East of Eden, Wild River). Of course he’s an important figure in any film history class with his HUAC stuff and that controversy but that’s not something I consider when admiring, studying and ranking my auteurs.

As Andrew Sarris says about Kazan: “his brilliance with actors is incontestable.”

top 10

  1. On the Waterfront
  2. A Streetcar Named Desire
  3. East of Eden
  4. A Face in the Crowd
  5. Splendor in the Grass
  6. America, America
  7. Wild River
  8. Vita Zapata
  9. Panic in the Streets
  10. Gentleman’s Agreement
a background in theater, but there’s some impressive world-creating going on here in A Streetcar Named Desire

By year and grades

1945- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn R
1947- Gentleman’s Agreement R
1950- Panic In the Streets R
1951- A Streetcar Named Desire MS
1952- Vita, Zapata R
1954- On the Waterfront MP
1955- East of Eden HR/MS
1956- Baby Doll R
1957- A Face in the Crowd HR
1960- Wild River R
1961- Splendor In the Grass HR
1963- America, America R
1976- The Last Tycoon R

*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film

MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film

HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film

R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives