Dir: Elia Kazan | Cas: Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet | US Drama 110′
Probably Elia Kazan’s greatest film, though seldom acknowledged as such. The film’s failure both critical and commercial broke Kazan’s heart, to whom it had been a deeply felt project since he’d wanted to make a film honouring the work of the Tennessee Valley Authority since his days as an idealistic young leftwing firebrand.
By the time Kazan was finally able to command the resources to release this goal he’d grown older and his sympathies had shifted from the official representing the New Deal to Ella Garth who in Kazan’s mind had by then come to personify the individual against the state. As photographed by Ellsworth Fredricks in mellow autumnal hues it remains one for the ages with its dynamic cast of Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick. @RichardChatten
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