Elia Kazan Quotes
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I truly believe that all power corrupts. Such is probably the thinking behind every political film ever made in Hollywood.
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Very often the Group actor is a critic when he's acting and an actor when he's criticizing.
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I hate the Communists and have for many years and don't feel right about giving up my career to defend them. I will give up my film career if it is in the interests of defending something I believe in, but not this.
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I was born in Turkey in an extremely oppressive climate at the time of pogroms, massacres, really. An immigrant appreciates the freedom more.
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There aren't many male stars - that's a loose term - like Kirk [Douglas] around. Most of those virile personalities have to keep working, continue the image because they can't do anything else. They don't even read. Their real identity is in making those pictures. They have to keep jumping on horses and hitting somebody on the head with a gun.
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To be a member of the Communist Party is to have a taste of the police state. It is a diluted taste but is bitter and unforgettable.
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If you're going to play a cowboy, show up with the horse at the audition.
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Anybody who informs on other people is doing something disturbing and even disgusting.
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I was not what you'd call a first-class actor, but I did all right.
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I was not a collective person or a bohemian; I was an elitist.
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I owe Bankhead a gift; she made a director out of me.
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Every picture that is successful has one little miracle in it.
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I said to Tennessee, this thing is becoming the Marlon Brando show.
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I have no spy stories to tell, because I saw no spies. Nor did I understand, at that time, any opposition between American and Russian national interest.
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I spoke without fear of contradiction. I simply did not suffer self-doubt.
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Take it from a director: if you get an actor that Sandy Meisner has trained, you've been blessed.
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I've lost many of my best friends... I'm going to satisfy myself now, not the critics, not even my friends.
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Some directors, like Stevens [George Stevens], shoot full circle, 360 degrees, and that's what's right for them. I generally shoot at about a seven to one ratio. But part of that is because I've worked on every screenplay, so I'm further along in the visual concept.
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I joined the Communist Party late in 1934. I got out a year and a half later.
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The world was like a huge red carpet out ahead of me to be walked on. And it stretched on and on, no end.
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I didn't have that much confidence. Maybe it looks that way. I'm glad it does.
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I know many of the critics and I don't think of them as God-like figures. What can they do to hurt me? Sure, I might be slightly embarrassed for a day, but then you just go your own way.
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I gave my life to the Group Theatre, because in it I'm building something for myself. What I build, I am.
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I knew the exuberance of playing before an admiring audience and hearing my secret voice.