Elia Kazan Films

[Robert Regan]

Thanks, kingrat. Someone at the time referred to Wild River as Kazan's John Ford film. He must have been thinking of those river=crossing scenes. Have you, or anyone else here, seen Scorsese's A Letter to Elia. Mr. S's early experiences with Kazan films very closely parallel mine.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

I share your admiration for WILD RIVER, as does SueSue Applegate, and I may have written about it elsewhere on this site. The scene where Lee Remick and Montgomery Clift drift across the river on a raft while she sings "The Garden" is one of my favorite scenes in any film. Lee Remick and Jo Van Fleet couldn't be better. Remick shows us that a woman can be powerfully sexual on screen while remaining fully clothed.

This is one of the few films that accurately reflects the South I knew as a child, which was not much like Scarlett O'Hara or Tennessee Williams. TCM showed WILD RIVER at the first TCM festival, in a restoration which showed the beautiful autumnal palette of the cinematography.

I do share your admiration for Wild River!

Oooh. I adore Wild River. Part of it might be the fact that I felt so close to those folks out in the country fighting the city way of life, and the struggle to keep what once was part of the ongoing landscape. But it was a struggle for a world that just wasn't meant to be. Such a beautiful film, truthfully acted.

Jo Van Fleet was a presence! I loved her in everything she did. I just seemed to know someone who reminded me of every character I ever saw her portray. From the evil stepmother in Cinderella to Arletta in Cool Hand Luke to Ella Garth holding on until the bitter end with everything she's got.

And Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick were so poignant in this film. I have to agree with anyone who says it's his best. I was so excited to finally see this film with dear David.

Well, my friends, I'm always glad to see interest in Elia Kazan. He was the first director I was really conscious of. On the Waterfront and East of Eden were the first films that not only made a powerful impact on me, but in which I began to see just what a director does.

Not too long after that I first saw the film that I now consider his very best, Wild River just out on Blu-ray in the US. Kazan and his actors frequently overdid it more than a bit, but here his mise-en-scene and the acting, most notably by Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, and Jo Van Fleet are both marked by a subtlety that increases the power of the story and the intensity of the characterizations. There is no theatrical "barnstorming" in Wild River, rather the realistic presentation of a historical situation and the people affected by it.

Wonderful comments, Mr. Regan!

"A subtlety that increases the power of the story and the intensity of the characterizations..."
So good I had to say it again!

[charliechaplinfan]

If I liked Kazan and Brando, I was even more amazed by Clift and Kazan, a big favourite of mine and given that it's after Clift's accident when he was suffering from his demons, it's screen magic. When I saw it I instantly put it back in the player and watched it again. It's an incredibly moving and quite sexual movie, ah, film makers don't always understand these days that it's not what we see but how the romance and passion is allowed to build up. But Kazan understood, giving us memorable characters and a time of history that we might otherwise have forgotten about. My sympathy was with Grandma. A real favourite.

I've started watching A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, it's going to take me a couple of days I think but so far, so good.

[CineMaven]

Bob, I love the warmth in which you write.

When I was shooting "The Right Girl" I used a clip from "WILD RIVER" as the movie the couple was watching. You've made me want to search out Kazan's film. I guess I really had no idea what I was using as a backdrop. And you know I'm a big Lee Remick fan as well.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Cinemaven, please treat yourself to revisiting Wild River and if you haven't seen it in its entirety yet, get thee to the DVD!

It's about why we hold onto the past, how our environment affects our daily lives, how we learn to navigate, how powerful love can be, and how a powerful attachment can change the course of our lives forever!

[CineMaven]

Will do SueSue. You've written a ringing re-endorsement for why this film should be seen. Thanx for the gentle nudge.

[charliechaplinfan]

And it's Montgomery Clift, always a good reason for this girl to watch a movie.

[JackFavell]

I really liked what you had to say, Robert, about Wild River. It's such an overlooked film, quiet and beautiful. I love Lee Remick in it, I think it is her best performance, and may be one of the most well rounded female characters ever put on film. Clift actually pales in comparison, which is no mean feat. Also have to say that this is Jo Van Fleet's finest work also, an amazing thing to say considering her excellent work in other films.

[Robert Regan]

Glad to see that so many share my enthusiasm for Wild River and Lee Remick. Yes, "one of the most well rounded female characters ever put on film". Indeed!

[RedRiver]

I should see this one again. To me it's a little dry. Not too exciting. But I haven't seen it since I was about eighteen. That perspective is not one I can rely on!

[charliechaplinfan]

I fiinshed watching A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, sometimes I feel like I must have very little soul because it wasn''t a film that grew on me. I did like it but I found it a bit slow at first, I'm not a huge fan of child performers but I liked the two here, especially Peggy Ann Garner who I'd recently seen in Nob Hill. If I hadn't have known I wouldn't have guessed that this was a Kazan movie. I only truly got into it once the father had died, I'm afraid I didn't have much sympathy for him, the cause of the financial woes or how he fathered Francie. I did love Joan Blondell, I always love Joan Blondell, so there's hope for me yet. I tell you, no soul, that's my problem. And I love much of Kazan's later work.

[JackFavell]

I'm quite surprised, it struck me so fully that I can barely mention the name of it without falling into tears. What I like about it is the lack of judgment on the characters and their innate differentness. I used to see myself in Johnny, but over the last few years Katie has really become my favorite character and the one I sympathize with most. And you are right, Joan Blondell is a stand out, no matter what she's in, here she's a perfect buffer between Katie and Johnny, and a voice of gentle tolerant reason after Johnny is gone. She's such a pistol, I love watching her strut her stuff, she's just got this joie de vivre, and a lived in personality that is impossible to resist.

[Robert Regan]

Wendy, the mother in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a fascinating character, particularly in the context of Kazan's entire career. His films very frequently have a stern and inflexible father or father-figure. Here, in his first feature film, she is the one who must be strong and unbending to hold her family together and make up for the qualities that the charming and lovable father lacks.

Kingrat, the tv performance by Lee Remick that I most want to see is The Letter. She had a lot of competition for that one, but if anyone could carry it off, it was she.

[charliechaplinfan]

I was dashing to get the kids from school before. I was ready to adore A Tree Grows In Brooklyn because I know it's a favourite and also because Kazan has made some of the films that have moved or surprised me the most. I couldn't get the characters as much as I could get Eve Marie Saint and Brando's characters in On The Waterfront, I thought Kazan invoked more of the spirit of the place and time, although location work aided this. I felt the same about Wild River but much as I've mulled it over this afternoon, I don't feel it. I liked Lloyd Nolan and I could see where it was going, I could tell Dad wasn't long for the world. If it's any concillation, I didn't get Meet Me In St Louis the first time and what makes it stand out for me now are the songs, I'm not strong on the story. But I'm really miffed with myself for not connecting with the characters. I do like Peggy Ann Garner, I just felt like putting her parents in a bag and shaking them up or better still getting Cissy to bring them up.