Quotes by Elia Kazan

About Elia Kazan:

Elia Kazan was an American director, producer, writer and actor, described by The New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history".
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I will say nothing to an actor that cannot be translated into action.

Elia Kazan

A film director has to get a shot, no matter what he does. We're desperate people.

Elia Kazan

I didn't have that much confidence. Maybe it looks that way. I'm glad it does.

Elia Kazan

I like directors who come on the set and create something that's a little dangerous, difficult or unusual.

Elia Kazan

The thing about Brando was that I'd make these directions, and he'd walk away. He'd heard enough... to get the machine going.

Elia Kazan

I joined the Communist Party late in 1934. I got out a year and a half later.

Elia Kazan

I was always a self-conscious person.

Elia Kazan

For years after I resigned, I was still faithful to their way of thinking. But not in the American Communists.

Elia Kazan

I owe Bankhead a gift; she made a director out of me.

Elia Kazan

I said to Tennessee, this thing is becoming the Marlon Brando show.

Elia Kazan

I don't remember anything anybody said in any Jack Ford picture. Nothing happens except action.

Elia Kazan

What's called a difficult decision is a difficult decision because either way you go there are penalties.

Elia Kazan

The Communists automatically violated the daily practices of democracy to which I was accustomed.

Elia Kazan

I was not what you'd call a first-class actor, but I did all right.

Elia Kazan

I was very intense. I think it's a privilege to be an actor.

Elia Kazan

Very often the Group actor is a critic when he's acting and an actor when he's criticizing.

Elia Kazan

I'm going to make a film where not one word is really important. I'm going to make it all action.

Elia Kazan

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.

Elia Kazan

I used to spend most of my time straining to be a nice guy so people would like me.

Elia Kazan

There was no doubt that there was a vast organization which was making fools of all the liberals in Hollywood and taking their money, that there was a police state among the Left element in Hollywood and Broadway.

Elia Kazan

I question the value of stars. I think they're overrated. They get too much money, too much praise.

Elia Kazan

Author Bio

  • NameElia Kazan
  • DescriptionAmerican director
  • BornSeptember 7, 1909
  • DiedSeptember 28, 2003
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionFilm Director; Screenwriter; Film Producer; Writer; Actor
  • AwardsAcademy Award For Best Director; Directors Guild Of America Award