The Films of Elia Kazan: The Actor’s Director

Two-time Oscar winner Elia Kazan directed some of the most unforgettable performances on both stage and screen. Though his 1952 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee tarnished his personal reputation, it did nothing to dim the brilliance of his films. This course explores Kazan’s enduring achievements and his unrivaled gift for shaping legendary Hollywood talent across five defining films. We begin with his moving directorial debut, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), featuring an Academy Juvenile Award-winning performance by Peggy Ann Garner, followed by A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), the explosive Tennessee Williams adaptation that launched Marlon Brando to stardom. We then examine Viva Zapata! (1952), written by John Steinbeck, in which Brando delivers an explosive portrayal of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata alongside an Oscar-winning supporting role by Anthony Quinn. Enhanced by Leonard Bernstein’s only original film score and featuring the Oscar-winning debut of Eva Marie Saint, the dockside drama On the Waterfront (1954) remains widely ranked among the greatest American films. We conclude with East of Eden (1955), in which a raw, emotional lead performance by James Dean cements Kazan's reputation as the ultimate "actor's director."