Elia Kazan Quotes

[on James Dean] Dean's body was very graphic; it was almost writhing in pain sometimes. He was very twisted, as if he were cringing all the time. Dean was a cripple anyway, inside -- he was not like [Marlon Brando]. People compared them, but there was no similarity. He was a far, far sicker kid and Brando's not sick, he's just troubled.

[on Natalie Wood] The quality I remember about her was a kind of sweetness. When her persona fitted the role you couldn't do better. She was it.

[on James Dean] He was sad and sulky. You kept expecting him to cry.

[on Kirk Douglas] He fits into being an advertising man and a driving, ruthless person better than Brando could have. You would always suspect Brando. Kirk's awfully bright. He's as bright a person as I've met in the acting profession.

[on Faye Dunaway] Faye carries a cloud of drama round with her. There is something in her at hazard.

[on Marlon Brando's performance in On the Waterfront] If there is a better performance by a man in the history of film in America, I don't know what it is