Programmed November 2021

Directed by Elia Kazan

An artist forged on the cutting edge of New York City’s pioneering Group Theatre, director Elia Kazan was instrumental in bringing the modern Method style of acting—and by extension an intensely heightened emotional and psychological realism—to Hollywood cinema. Never one to shy away from controversy, he broke new ground in the depiction of anti-Semitism ( Gentleman’s Agreement ), racism ( Pinky ), class struggle ( On the Waterfront ), sexuality ( Baby Doll ), and media manipulation ( A Face in the Crowd ) on-screen, along the way guiding then-unknown actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean to career-making performances. Though his personal legacy was forever tarnished by his friendly testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Kazan’s body of work continues to electrify with some of the most searing explorations of outsiderhood and injustice in all of American cinema.