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 want to thank the Academy for its courage and generosity.
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I said to Tennessee, this thing is becoming the Marlon Brando show.
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I was not a collective person or a bohemian; I was an elitist.
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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 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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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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If you're going to play a cowboy, show up with the horse at the audition.
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I owe Bankhead a gift; she made a director out of me.
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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 spoke without fear of contradiction. I simply did not suffer self-doubt.
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Anybody who informs on other people is doing something disturbing and even disgusting.
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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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Every picture that is successful has one little miracle in it.
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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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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 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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I didn't have that much confidence. Maybe it looks that way. I'm glad it does.
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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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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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A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people.