136 Quotes by Elia Kazan

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

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

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

The makers of entertainment must try, in our field, to be honest and grown-up.

When you know what an actor has, you can reach in and arouse it. If you don't know what he has, you don't know what the hell is going on.

It's difficult, if not impossible, to get away with anything false before the camera. That instrument penetrates the husk of the actor; it reveals what's truly happening - if anything, if nothing. A close-up demands absolute truth. It's a severe and awesome truth

Hey, you must be doin' good, 'cause I never hear from you.

I want to thank the Academy for its courage and generosity.

I was taken in by what might be called the Hard Times version of the Communists' advertising or recruiting technique.