ELIA KAZAN, 1909-2003: One of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century is dead, as Elia Kazan passed away Sunday at the age of 94.
Kazan won two Acadamy Awards each (for Picture and Director), for "Gentlemen's Agreement" (1947) and "On the Waterfront" (1954), and his other classic films included "East of Eden," and "Splendor in the Grass." Kazan was awarded a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1999, which was highly controversial because in 1952, the formerly Communist director had gone before the House Un-American Activities Committee and named names of several of his former colleagues.
I went on record at the time as saying that I didn't feel the congressional testimony of nearly a half-century before should've precluded Kazan from receiving an award that recognized his work, and I still feel that way now. Kazan was a repentent former Communist who had seen the error of his ways, and saw it fit to expose those who he felt had betrayed his country. And had he not named those names- names that HUAC already had- Kazan's career likely would've ended on the spot, and the world never would have been exposed to several of his films, including 'Waterfront.'
Kazan's death is the third in as many days (after those of Robert Palmer and George Plimpton) that upsets me exponentially more than that of Edward Said. In Plimpton's case, I made sure to check each obit to see if it mentioned Plimpton's role in the famous Sidd Finch hoax; shame on them if they didn't.