Polanski Vs. Kazan: A Tale of Two Oscars

Some are under the mistaken impression that Hollywood’s rallying behind behind Polanski because he’s a a fellow artist. That has nothing to do with it. Polanski made a few classic films but his resume pales in comparison to the great Elia Kazan — a man who, until his death in 2003, remained something of a pariah in Hollywood even though sixty years had passed since he named names before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

In Hollywood there’s something worse than being a communist (or a child rapist) and that’s being an anti-communist. Kazan, a former member of the Communist Party of America, died a die-hard liberal but once he came to understand the crimes against humanity committed under Stalin he left the communist party and eventually went before HUAC where he named Stalinists, not innocent liberals. He also never apologized: (more…)

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Tags: Elia Kazan, honorary oscar, oscar, roman polanski
Posted Sep 30th 2009 at 8:12 am in Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 237546117 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/09/30/polanski-vs-kazan-a-tale-of-two-oscars/Polanski+Vs.+Kazan%3A+A+Tale+of+Two+Oscars2009-09-30+15%3A12%3A42John+Nolte

Cultural Kleptos: How the Left Hijacks Art (and Everything Else) for the Good of Mankind

Kids love movies about people who tell lies – because they’re such naughty, little fibbers themselves.  During my formative years, it seemed like the same two films were on TV everyday when I came home from school – to remind me of the dangers of mendacity.  Perhaps it was a portent of things to come.

William Wyler’s “The Children’s Hour” (1961)

One was Weird Woman (1944), a neglected camp classic that was part of Universal’s low-budget Inner Sanctum series - about a scorned librarian (scream queen Evelyn Ankers) who seeks revenge on her ex- (Lon Chaney Jr.) by spreading gossip about his new wife (Anne Gwynne), an all-American voodoo princess he met on a South Seas expedition (don’t ask).

After several people inadvertently die as a result of Ankers’s aspersions, Chaney and gang steal a move straight out of the Democratic playbook - they devise an elaborate, fear-mongering ruse to guilt her into submission (and make her confess).  Here’s a clip of Ankers being browbeaten – with prophecies of gloom and doom – by little-known B-actress Elizabeth Russell: (more…)

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Tags: Anne Gwynne, audrey hepburn, Cairo, Charles Bronson, Dashell Hammett
Posted Jul 30th 2009 at 5:03 am in Classic Hollywood, Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 18642669 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/cwinecoff/2009/07/30/cultural-kleptos-how-the-left-hijacks-art-and-everything-else-for-the-good-of-mankind/Cultural+Kleptos%3A+How+the+Left+Hijacks+Art+%28and+Everything+Else%29+for+the+Good+of+Mankind2009-07-30+12%3A03%3A16Charles+Winecoff

Malden Brought Depth, Morals to Film Roles

Actor Karl Malden, who died at age 97, was a fine performer who stood for good principles and conveyed a sense of moral responsibility in his performances.

Malden was instrumental in pushing the Motion Picture Academy to give a lifetime achievement award to writer-director Elia Kazan, who directed Malden in perhaps his best and most memorable role, that of Father Berry in “On the Waterfront.”

Kazan had been an outcast in Hollywood for several decades before the 1999 award, because of his opposition to communism. Malden’s support of him carried a great risk of ostracism by Hollywood’s political correctness police.

A measure of Malden’s integrity is that he was married to the same woman for seventy years and was surrounded by family members when he died. (more…)

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Tags: "One-Eyed Jacks", "The Streets of San Francisco", Baby Doll, communism, Elia Kazan
Posted Jul 3rd 2009 at 7:03 am in Classic Hollywood | 17547028 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/07/03/malden-brought-depth-moral-responsibility-to-film-roles/Malden+Brought+Depth%2C+Morals+to+Film+Roles2009-07-03+14%3A03%3A45S.T.+Karnick

Karl Malden Has Died

Some of you might remember the 1999 Academy Awards, the year the great Elia Kazan was finally given an honorary Oscar. The decision to honor Kazan was met with controversy and anger, especially among those who pride themselves on their tolerance, open-mindedness, charity and forgiveness. You see, before Kazan knew better he flirted with Communism, but being a true liberal with an open mind, after learning of the horrors of Stalin’s regime he turned against it and then committed a Hollywood sin worse than furthering an ideology responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths, he named names.

Knowing full well what it would mean, it was Karl Malden, a former Academy President, who proposed and publicly pushed for Kazan to receive this long overdue tribute. And that, along with a 70-year marriage, says an awful lot about the man.

The actor was just as impressive. The simple way to describe him would be as a beefy everyman, but that too easily dismisses a natural and very real screen presence that made him one of the most recognizable faces in the country. Malden worked with some of the most powerful actors of the last fifty years, Brando, McQueen, George C. Scott, Burt Lancaster, and yet he never got lost in the scene. He knew how to watch another actor, he knew how to listen and this kept our eye on him as we waited for what he’d do next. (more…)

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Tags: Baby Doll, Elia Kazan, Fear Strikes Out, Karl Malden, Streecar Named Desire
Posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 11:07 am in Classic Hollywood, News | 17541815 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/07/02/karl-malden-has-died/Karl+Malden+Has+Died2009-07-02+18%3A07%3A26John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Monday, February 16th

9am PST - Boomerang (1947) – A prosecutor fights to prove the defendant in a scandalous murder case is innocent. Cast: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Cara Williams Dir: Elia Kazan BW-88 mins, TV-PG

Here’s a treat for you. Elia Kazan directs this tough, little tightly-paced (88 mins!) hickory knot of a docu-drama starring The Mighty Dana Andrews and just as Mighty Arthur Kennedy. No time is wasted in getting to it. The story opens in broad daylight on a busy street and before you can say, “What a lovely little town,” a Priest has his brains blown out and the manhunt is on. Kennedy, at his sneering, contemptuous best, confesses and is prosecuted by State’s Attorney Henry Harvey (Andrews), but something’s amiss and soon, all instincts for what’s good for him to the contrary, Harvey finds himself in the awkward position of having to prove the man’s innocence. (more…)

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Tags: Arthur Kennedy, Dana Andrews, Elia Kazan, Fox Movie Channel, Turner Classic Movies
Posted Feb 15th 2009 at 11:35 am in Today's Pick | 515905 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/02/15/tcm-pick-o-the-day-monday-february-16th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Monday%2C+February+16th2009-02-15+19%3A35%3A27John+Nolte

TCM Pick O’ The Day: Sunday, February 8th

5pm PST – Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A (1945) – A girl in the slums tries to find her way with the help of her devoted mother and alcoholic father. Cast: Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn, Lloyd Nolan Dir: Elia Kazan BW-129 mins, TV-G

Watch in awe as you realize this lyrical, timeless family drama was Elia Kazan’s feature film directorial debut. There was nothing this extraordinary explorer of the human condition couldn’t do and his work will survive as long as there’s a civilization, and much longer than anything made by those who refused to stand when the 89 year-old was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1999. Of course, that’s me being generous and assuming we haven’t already forgotten the classic canon of Nick Nolte and Amy Madigan. (more…)

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Tags: amy madigan, Elia Kazan, honorary oscar, nick nolte
Posted Feb 7th 2009 at 4:00 pm in Today's Pick | 4483414 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/02/07/tcm-pick-o-the-day-sunday-february-8th/TCM+Pick+O%27+The+Day%3A+Sunday%2C+February+8th2009-02-08+00%3A00%3A02John+Nolte

Boycott George Clooney? How Un-American!

This recent attempt at a SAG Awards’ boycott of eight actors by some Hollywood members of the Screen Actors Guild got me thinking about an Oscar night from almost ten years ago when the Academy was honoring Elia Kazan with a lifetime achievement award.

I remember being on sets or in casting-session waiting rooms and getting into heated “discussions” with actors about The Red Scare Blacklist, and how we should “never forgive anyone who named names to save their own skin.” 

But Kazan only ever admitted to doing what he thought was right. But my actor friends, most of whom were born long after the period in question, and whose knowledge of The House Unamerican Activities Committee was usually limited to lectures from their favorite college professor, wouldn’t buy it. “Phooey,” they said. There was only one explanation: anyone who cooperated with HUAC was a coward motivated by ruthless career ambition. Anyone who refused to testify, however, did so only out of a high minded commitment to principles.

(more…)

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Tags: academy awards, blacklist, Elia Kazan, HUAC, oscars
Posted Jan 10th 2009 at 4:06 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Video | 1430553 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/tshillue/2009/01/10/how_unamerican/Boycott+George+Clooney%3F+How+Un-American%212009-01-11+00%3A06%3A10Tom+Shillue