Dead last Sunday at the age of 94, Elia Kazan was a hero to some, a villain to others, but above all, a great American filmmaker.
Immigrant Kazan got his start directing plays on Broadway, but eventually he made the segue to directing motion pictures in the 1930s and '40s, and unlike many who made the transition from stage to screen (and frequently went back and forth between them), Kazan became a truly gifted cinematic director, respected for his ability to work with actors as well as for his powerful visuals.
Chief amongst his cinematic accomplishments were classics like "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront" and "East of Eden." A proponent of the then-experimental "method" acting, Kazan is credited with helping launch the careers of Marlon Brando and James Dean, arguably
the two greatest actors in Hollywood history.
But when Elia Kazan was selected to receive a special Lifetime Achievement Award at the Academy Awards in 1999, many of his modern-day peers refused to stand or even applaud for him. Beyond that, there was no shortage of demonstrators in the surrounding streets, voicing their disgust with the celebration of an unquestionably prolific filmmaker.
It is worth noting that there was no comparative reaction when Roman Polanski received the Oscar for Best Director earlier this year for "The Pianist," despite the fact Polanski skipped bail and fled the country in 1978 rather than face sentencing for his statutory rape conviction.
The contempt for Kazan arose from the fact that he was an ex-Communist turned anti-Communist and that he had, in fact, "named names" while testifying before the House
of Un-American Activities Committee back in 1952. When asked, Kazan revealed the names of several of his former "comrades" in the American Communist Party.
With that decision, the formerly hot Hollywood commodity became an instant figure of controversy.
In the era of the movie business' self-imposed "blacklist," Kazan's stance opened many budgetary and movie studio doors that had previously been closed to him; conversely, Kazan lost the trust of his contemporaries, as many of his former friends and co-workers refused to work with or even talk to the director for years, if ever again.
It was at this time that Arthur Miller, accomplished playwright and formerly Kazan's closest friend, wrote "The Crucible," his famous play metaphorically equating the "red scare" of the '50s with the Puritan witch hunts in 17th century Salem. Soon enough, Kazan would use his own art to make a statement on the matter, with Oscar-winning "On the Waterfront" in 1954, starring Marlon Brando as a young hood who comes to realize the necessity of "ratting" on his former friends in order to break their reign of terror over local business.
It is undeniable that Kazan's decision to name names (even if the committee already knew the activities of those he named) went a long way toward furthering what many considered to be the bullying authority of HUAC. His decision indirectly hurt and ruined many careers, causing screenwriters to shy away from writing about pressing social issues for years out of fear of controversy.
However, all those named by Kazan were in fact members of the American Communist Party, which had been taking orders straight from the Soviet Union, an organization that might at least be remembered for worse crimes than ending a few Hollywood careers.
Right or wrong, many in Hollywood never forgave Kazan. To more than a few, his testimony to HUAC was nothing more than self-serving betrayal and an unforgivable sin, overshadowing a superlative career. What is not often mentioned, however, is that Kazan himself never once apologized for naming names or backed down from his anti-Communism stance in the 50 years succeeding his blacklisting.
Hollywood has a strong tradition of celebrating not only those who make great art but also those with the courage to stand by their convictions.
Now that Elia Kazan has passed, we have one final, valuable opportunity to look back on the treatment of Hollywood's most prominent and talented whistle-blower.
Eric Spratling is a journalism senior. Reach him at eric.spratling@asu.edu.
