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.
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
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.
top 10
- On the Waterfront
- A Streetcar Named Desire
- East of Eden
- A Face in the Crowd
- Splendor in the Grass
- America, America
- Wild River
- Vita Zapata
- Panic in the Streets
- Gentleman’s Agreement
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
i don’t know about this guy. i think he is only as good as the story he tells.for example on the waterfront is a great film because brando and the story was very good and some of the other actors. splendor in the grass isnt very good because the story isnt good, and the visuals are bland enough to accompany a tv movie. i don’t believe that working with great performers like brando or nat wood makes you a great director. thats why i dont have tremendous respect for ‘actor’s directors’.
also this has nothing to do with his huac involvment. that does not matter when judging his mostly bland art.
Is Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront an acceptable answer to the question which is the greatest screen acting performance of all time?
@Malith- certainly if you’re asking me
@Drake- I asked this mainly because even though Marlon’s performance is undoubtedly great and timeless. I don’t think the film has aged particularly well. Certainly more ambitious films has passed it by. I don’t know if this hurts Brando when comparing it to something like De Niro in Raging Bull. A film which gets better and better with each viewing. And undoubtedly one of the top 25 films of all time.
Hey, would you mind making a list of Essential films, withonly a few of the best or most important from each movement- like starting with silent era and Griffith, von Sternberg, etc. and go to films from the New Wave and Italian Realism and diff. films to the newest directors? Thank you.