Legendary director gives first hand account of his craft in new book

The late legendary film and theater director Elia Kazan, the subject of a new book 'Kazan on Directing,' is seen here with Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood on the set of 'Splendor in the Grass.'

Elia Kazan
Kazan on Directing
(Knopf)

Elia Kazan is the legendary director behind such masterpieces as A Streetcar Named Desire, All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and On the Waterfront to cite only a handful.

What makes the enormous impact and success of his film and theatrical productions even more powerful is that he mastered the demands of each equally despite the very different nature of each field.

The new volume Kazan on Directing reveals the things he learned and the skills he developed doing his craft.

The first key to Kazan was “finding the spine” of every script — the key details and ingredients that had to be emphasized for the play or movie to work. Then he would break down every character, determine what he felt that character had to contribute, and then move from there into casting, the costumes, the set design and finally the cinematography.

In many instances, he also worked directly with the writers, and the book includes Kazan’s journal entries that detail has meetings and conferences with such greats as Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder and Archibald MacLeish.

Kazan needed no critic to tell him when he made a mistake. His critiques of his work were far more brutal than any review, and he didn’t hesitate when evaluating films or plays to cite blunders by actors that he felt resulted from poor direction rather than mis-interpretation of a role.

His comments about the personality and approach of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Lee J. Cobb and numerous others that he worked with prove as fascinating as his accounts of making films or working plays through different stages before they reach Broadway.

There’s a final section, “The Pleasures of Directing,” in which Kazan combines anecdotes, analysis and reflections while he discusses the appeal directing had for him as opposed to acting, writing or producing.

Editor Robert Cornfield has also added his own insights, commentary and knowledge to this portrait of arguably America’s finest and most versatile director.


Chester D. Campbell
The Surest Poison
(Night Shadows)

Nashville author Chester D. Campbell’s newest creation is private investigator Sid Chance, both a former police chief and a National Parks ranger.

In The Surest Poison, Chance’s love for the outdoors and his knowledge of procedure prove advantageous when he decides to investigate a chemical dump located in a small rural community just west of Nashville.

Surely this is merely another cause of official neglect, and Chance figures it won’t be hard to track down either the person or corporation responsible for this environmental blight.

But Chance discovers that there’s much more to this case than just some after hours dumping. He’s soon right in the middle of what looks like a string of unrelated murders.

Besides having no suspects, Chance is being threatened and followed. He enlists an ally in another former cop, Jaz LeMieux, and her involvement immediately makes her a target. The duo must pool their resources, experience and contacts and trace this all the way back to the case that ended Chance’s previous career as a police chief.

In addition to including plenty of places and characters that savvy Music City readers will recognize and enjoy, Campbell’s crafted a mystery that seems easy to solve, but instead has plenty of twists and turns. Chance and LeMieux are smart investigators, but they find themselves facing a more organized and tough conspiracy than they thought.

He also uses the story to inform readers about some of the dangers regarding landfills and waste sites, a perennial environmental problem that plagues many small towns and poor communities across the nation.

Campbell has already won plenty of praise among mystery fans for his series about senior detectives Greg and Jill McKenzie. His newest character Sid Chance seems destined to generate the same kind of excitement and anticipation for future adventures thanks to the quality of The Surest Poison.