Elia Kazan Quotes
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I was not what you'd call a first-class actor, but I did all right.
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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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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 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 said to Tennessee, this thing is becoming the Marlon Brando show.
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I owe Bankhead a gift; she made a director out of me.
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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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I want to thank the Academy for its courage and generosity.
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Every picture that is successful has one little miracle in it.
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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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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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I was not a collective person or a bohemian; I was an elitist.
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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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If you're going to play a cowboy, show up with the horse at the audition.
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I spoke without fear of contradiction. I simply did not suffer self-doubt.
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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 knew the exuberance of playing before an admiring audience and hearing my secret voice.
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Anybody who informs on other people is doing something disturbing and even disgusting.
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I was taken in by what might be called the Hard Times version of the Communists' advertising or recruiting technique.
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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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The camera is more than a recorder, it's a microscope. It penetrates, it goes into people and you see their most private and concealed thoughts.
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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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Stylized acting and direction is to realistic acting and direction as poetry is to prose.
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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.