Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
"A turning point in Elia Kazan's career came with his testimony as a witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952 at the time of the Hollywood blacklist, which brought him strong negative reactions from many friends and colleagues. His testimony helped end the careers of former acting colleagues Morris Carnovsky and Art Smith, along with the work of playwright Clifford Odets. Kazan and Odets had made a pact to name each other in front of the committee. Kazan later justified his act by saying he took "only the more tolerable of two alternatives that were either way painful and wrong." Nearly a half-century later, his anti-Communist testimony continued to cause controversy. When Kazan was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1999, dozens of actors chose not to applaud as 250 demonstrators picketed the event." (Wikipedia)
From: "Orson Welles à la Cinémathèque française" (80 minutes/1983) here: https://www.cinematheque.fr/henri/film/125173-orson-welles-a-la-cinematheque-francaise-pierre-andre-boutang-guy-seligmann-1983/
On February 24, 1982, invited to Paris to be decorated with the Légion d'honneur by François Mitterrand, and to preside over the Césars ceremony, Orson Welles conversed with an audience made up mainly of young film students.
"A turning point in Elia Kazan's career came with his testimony as a witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952 at the time of the Hollywood blacklist, which brought him strong negative reactions from many friends and colleagues. His testimony helped end the careers of former acting colleagues Morris Carnovsky and Art Smith, along with the work of playwright Clifford Odets. Kazan and Odets had made a pact to name each other in front of the committee. Kazan later justified his act by saying he took "only the more tolerable of two alternatives that were either way painful and wrong." Nearly a half-century later, his anti-Communist testimony continued to cause controversy. When Kazan was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1999, dozens of actors chose not to applaud as 250 demonstrators picketed the event." (Wikipedia)
From: "Orson Welles à la Cinémathèque française" (80 minutes/1983) here: https://www.cinematheque.fr/henri/film/125173-orson-welles-a-la-cinematheque-francaise-pierre-andre-boutang-guy-seligmann-1983/
On February 24, 1982, invited to Paris to be decorated with the Légion d'honneur by François Mitterrand, and to preside over the Césars ceremony, Orson Welles conversed with an audience made up mainly of young film students.
