Elia Kazan dies at the ripe old age of 94. Director of some great films, including the interesting sounding Viva Zapata!, although;

"To some, however, Kazan diminished his stature when he went before the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the McCarthy era and named people he said had been members of the Communist party with him in the mid-1930s.

But he insisted years later that he bore no guilt as a result of what some saw as a betrayal. "There's a normal sadness about hurting people, but I'd rather hurt them a little than hurt myself a lot," he said."

[…]

"His friendship with Miller was never the same after his congressional testimony. Kazan talked with Miller before he testified, and Miller later wrote in his journal about a side of his friend that he had not seen before: "He would have sacrificed me as well."

[…]

"Some critics saw in as a subtext of On the Waterfront a justification for Kazan's decision to cooperate with congressional red hunters. The movie's hero, portrayed by Marlon Brando, breaks the code of silence on the docks and courageously fingers a corrupt, murderous union boss."

I think Chomsky mentions (somewhere. Ed?) this depiction as a classic example of Hollywood’s anti-organised labour propaganda. Note also Kazan’s HCUAA testimony, on his objections to "being told what to think and say and do" by the commies.

"Greater fear hath no man that he shaft his friend to save his own skin."

via ai/office