Subject: [milliways-L] TCM Honors Elia Kazan
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Tributes to Academy Award-winning director Elia Kazan have fallen into one of two categories: Hostile deconstructions of Kazan's controversial political actions, mixed with casual appreciations of his lengthy body of cinematic and theater work, or glowing appraisals of his filmic record and general dismissal or soft peddling of Kazan's interactions with the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era. Turner Classic Movies will concentrate on the films of Elia Kazan, who died on Saturday, Sept. 27 at the age of 94. On Wednesday, Oct. 8, TCM will launch an evening-long remembrance of Kazan's work with the documentary "Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey." The rest of the night will feature three of Kazan's strongest directorial efforts and one rarely seen glimpse at Kazan's earlier acting chops. "Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey" was made in 1995 by film historian Richard Schickel and fits mostly into the second approach to Kazan tributes, taking the director's actions of April, 1952 as a footnote rather than a centerpiece of his career. The trilogy of directorial efforts begins at 9:30 p.m. with 1954's "On the Waterfront," the film that earned Kazan his second Oscar (after 1947's "Gentleman's Agreement"). The film, which has often been read (perhaps somewhat superficially) as a justification of Kazan's decision to name names in front of HUAC, was nominated for 11 Oscars and won seven, including additional trophies for stars Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint. Kazan's remarkable touch with actors is on display in both 1951's "A Streetcar Named Desire" (showing at 11:30 p.m.) and 1957's "A Face in the Crowd" (airing at 3:30 a.m.). The former, a Tennessee Williams adaptation, earned Oscars for stars Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden, while Marlon Brando earned a nomination (he lost to Humphrey Bogart in "The African Queen"). In the latter, Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg issued what remains one of cinema's harshest indictments against television, led by a spectacularly vivid performance by Andy Griffith in his first big-screen performance. In between those classics, TCM will show "Blues in the Night," a 1941 musical from Anatole Litvak. Kazan co-stars in the film, which earned an Oscar nomination for its title song. ________________________________ Changes to your subscription (unsubs, nomail, digest) can be made by going to http://sandboxmail.net/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
