| Waterfronts and Streetcars: An Elia
Kazan Retrospective
This is an Egyptian Theatre Exclusive!
A groundbreaking American master, Elia Kazan's work
never ceases to beautifully express the ache of broken dreams and the searing tensions of
social politics-- from ON THE WATERFRONT, to A FACE IN THE CROWD, to A
STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. He had a knack for recognizing and working with some of the
most iconic young actors of his time, including Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, whose
raw intensity and devastating sexiness are perfectly channeled under Kazan's directorial
hand. Kazan is a filmmaker who has been shrouded in controversy since the Hollywood
blacklist era, yet this aspect of his personal history only makes his films more
fascinating to watch and love. "Kazan extended the limits of what was emotionally
and psychologically possible ... the beginnings of what you could call the modern style of
American moviemaking."– Martin Scorsese
Thursday, February 18 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature: A FACE IN THE CROWD, 1957, Warner Bros., 125 min. Dir.
Elia Kazan. Andy Griffith is mesmerizing as an Arkansas
vagrant-turned-television-sensation in Kazan’s provocative examination of fame,
fraud, and the media’s transition from radio to television. "Brilliantly
cinematic melodrama…paints a luridly entertaining picture of modern show
business." – Leslie Halliwell
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50th Anniversary: WILD RIVER, 1960, 20th Century Fox, 110 min. Dir. Elia Kazan.
Always-excellent Montgomery Clift plays Chuck Glover, a young man sent to rural Tennessee
to oversee the building of a dam. Deep-seated racial tension emerges when it is suggested
that black laborers work on the construction of the dam, and complications only build when
Chuck becomes romantically entangled with a local widow. "Kazan’s finest and
deepest film!" – Dave Kehr Discussion in between films with actress Patricia Neal, moderated by film
historian Foster Hirsch. Patricia Neal will be
signing her autobiography "Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life" at 7:00 PM in
the lobby.
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Friday, February 19 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature: MAN ON A TIGHTROPE, 1953, 20th Century Fox, 105 min.
Dir. Elia Kazan. Frederic March, Adolphe Menjou, Terry Moore and the underused noir
darling Gloria Grahame star in Kazan’s film about an Eastern Bloc circus troupe
trying to escape Communist domination during the Cold War. A subtle and sparse
anti-Communist work that got lost amid the more gung-ho films of the 1950s McCarthy era.
"The whole point of the circus is that these are the least uniform, the most
individualistic, the oddest, the most eccentric, the most widely ‘deviationist’
of any people. This is an ode to individualism!" –Elia Kazan
ON THE WATERFRONT, 1954, Sony Repertory, 108
min. Dir. Elia Kazan. "I coulda been somebody … I coulda been a contender
…" Director Elia Kazan adapts Budd Schulberg’s grueling account
of Hoboken dock-worker life. The film features a purely iconic Marlon Brando as a
washed-up prize fighter who falls in love with the sister (Eva Marie Saint) of the
"stool pigeon" he set up for a corrupt union organizer (Lee J. Cobb, in one of
the screen’s most convincing portrayals of everyday human evil). Rod Steiger delivers
a wrenching performance as the older brother who helped destroy Brando’s chances as a
boxer, and Karl Malden is the tough-minded priest who serves as Brando’s conscience.
Winner of eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor (Brando) and Director. "One
of the most powerful movies of the 50s." – Pauline Kael Discussion in between films with actress Terry Moore, moderated by
film historian Foster Hirsch.
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Saturday, February 20 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature: BABY
DOLL, 1956, Warner Bros., 114 min. Dir. Elia Kazan. Based on a Tennessee Williams
play and the recipient of four Oscar nominations, Elia Kazan’s controversial film
stars Carroll Baker in a ground-breaking performance as a thumb-sucking child bride in the
Deep South. Karl Malden is her middle-aged husband, Archie Lee Meighan, a cotton gin owner
who eagerly awaits his beloved’s 20th birthday, when their marriage will finally be
consummated. But rival cotton businessman Silva Vaccaro (Eli Wallach, in his film debut)
suspects Archie of arson and takes an erotic form of Sicilian vengeance in this gothic
tale of pride and perversity. "A droll and engrossing carnal comedy. Wonderfully
entertaining. Kazan does some of his finest work here - his choices seem miraculously
right." – Pauline Kael
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A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, 1951, Warner
Bros., 122 min. Director Kazan’s powerful adaptation of Tennessee Williams’
classic play made Marlon Brando a household name for his incendiary portrayal of
working-class Stanley Kowalski, who collides headlong with fragile Southern belle Blanche
DuBois (Vivien Leigh) when she moves in with her sister, and Stanley’s wife, Stella
(Kim Hunter). Brilliantly acted and mounted on every level, with Academy Awards going to
Leigh for Best Actress, Hunter for Best Supporting Actress and Karl Malden for Best
Supporting Actor. "A masterwork in some indefinable middle ground which is neither
stage nor screen." – David Shipman Discussion in
between films with actress Carroll Baker.
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Sunday, February 21 - 7:30 PM
AMERICA, AMERICA, 1963, Warner Bros., 174 min. Dir.
Elia Kazan. This sprawling epic about a young Greek, Stavros (based on Kazan’s
uncle), living with his family in Turkey circa 1900 and obsessed with emigrating to
America, is one of Kazan’s most moving, personal films. Kazan molds a talented cast
of comparatively unknown performers into a powerhouse ensemble: Stathis Giallelis is
perfect as Stavros, with able support from John Marley, Lou Antonio, Joanna Frank and the
underrated yet terrific Frank Wolff. Be sure to catch this masterpiece on the big screen.
"May be Kazan’s most accomplished work." – Time Out New York
Discussion with actors Stathis Giallelis, Lou Antonio, and
cinematographer Haskell Wexler, moderated by film historian Foster Hirsch.
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