Jon – Total agreement here about Kazan. He would be more widely recognized as one of the greatest directors in the history of film were it not for the fact that so many in Hollywood have soft spots for Communists and mental-misfires about what anti-Communism was about. His influence on the profession of acting was greater than any other director’s. Actor Karl Malden once told the New York Times, “Twenty-one actors who worked in his films were nominated for Oscars, and nine won Oscars.”
My only quibble is that Kazan’s “A Face in the Crowd” is not only better than “On the Waterfront” it is arguably the best political movie I know of.