spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 13, 2019 15:52:53 GMT
Wild River (1960) is one of Elia Kazan's lesser known and viewed films for reasons that I've never understood, because I've always considered it one of his best. It's the story of a Tennessee Valley Authority agent played by Montgomery Clift who arrives in a small town in Appalachia in the 1930s to supervise the clearing of land around the Tennessee River before it's flooded by the release of waters from a new hydroelectric dam upstream. But he must first acquire the last piece of property owned by an elderly Jo Van Fleet. She's determined not to sell and will not leave her lifetime home on an island in the middle of the river, despite Clift's admonitions and the efforts of her widowed granddaughter, Lee Remick, to encourage her to leave. Conflicts and complications arise when the townspeople turn on Clift and when he and Remick find themselves romantically drawn to each other.
It's a beautiful film with wonderful performances all the way around. Jo Van Fleet was brilliant, playing an octogenarian at the age of 44 (she didn't even get an Oscar nomination, but should have, and should have won). Paul Osborn's script is elegiac and beautiful. Ellsworth Fredericks' cinematography takes full advantage of the Appalachian landscape, and the score by Kenyon Hopkins is lyrical and haunting. It's a film that Kazan had wanted to make since he co-directed a documentary short for the WPA, The People of the Cumberland (1937).
It didn't get a lot of attention when first released, but it was revered by the French, which elevated it to some extent in America. In 2002, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Well worth a view if you haven't seen it.
Here's the trailer, though the film is far more elegiac than it would have you believe.
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Post by pimpinainteasy on Mar 13, 2019 17:30:54 GMT
I love it, spiderwort. Will post a more detailed comment tomorrow.
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Post by timshelboy on Mar 14, 2019 6:20:59 GMT
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Post by jervistetch on Mar 14, 2019 6:40:37 GMT
I've never seen it! Thank you for this wonderful write-up, Spiderwort. I feel like I HAVE to watch it immediately.
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Post by pimpinainteasy on Mar 14, 2019 12:52:09 GMT
It is an elegy for the old ways of life. I appreciated the beautiful scenery filled with leafless branches of trees, thickets, grounds covered by leaves and the rivers. The characterization is one of the film's strengths. I admired the spirit of the old lady (Jo Van Fleet) who staunchly refuses to move an inch for the forces of progress. The very believable Government man (Montgomery Clift) who is conflicted about his role in removing the old lady from the land. Lee Remick's earthy beauty would be hard for anyone to ignore. The plight of the helpless serfs who can only look on when their old master is forced out only for new masters to take over was interesting. The one dimensional and silly portrayal of the paranoid Southern American white folk may not have been too realistic.
The ending - I did feel like there was a hint of ambiguity when Clift and Remick looked away from the old lady's land (now almost completely drowned out by the water from the dam) and admired the dam. Elia Kazan while celebrating rugged American individualism was also saying that ultimately progress was the only way forward. I could be wrong.
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spiderwort
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@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 14, 2019 14:37:02 GMT
Yes Spiderwort - Kazan my favourite director and this is one of his best - beautifully made and emotionally affecting. I believe it was the film of his own he had the greatest affection for and it shows in every frame. Clift's post accident work was a bit erratic but he was splendid here. It was Lee Remick's favourite of her movies. Agree Van Fleet superb - but I'm sure she wasn't even nominated for her work here.
Yes, tim, you are right. She wasn't nominated, shame of shames! She should have been a winner. Anyway, I corrected my OP. Glad to see another fan.
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spiderwort
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@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 14, 2019 14:51:51 GMT
It is an elegy for the old ways of life. I appreciated the beautiful scenery filled with leafless branches of trees, thickets, grounds covered by leaves and the rivers. The characterization is one of the film's strengths. I admired the spirit of the old lady (Jo Van Fleet) who staunchly refuses to move an inch for the forces of progress. The very believable Government man (Montgomery Clift) who is conflicted about his role in removing the old lady from the land. Lee Remick's earthy beauty would be hard for anyone to ignore. The plight of the helpless serfs who can only look on when their old master is forced out only for new masters to take over was interesting. The one dimensional and silly portrayal of the paranoid Southern American white folk may not have been too realistic.
The ending - I did feel like there was a hint of ambiguity when Clift and Remick looked away from the old lady's land (now almost completely drowned out by the water from the dam) and admired the dam. Elia Kazan while celebrating rugged American individualism was also saying that ultimately progress was the only way forward. I could be wrong.
Great write-up, pimpin. Really appreciate your comments. As for the portrayal of the Southern American white folk - not all were that way, for sure - but in the 1930s too many were, and I think Osborn's script and Kazan's direction handle them well. Remember, there were dissenters, like Bruce Dern attacking his father after he slugged Lee Remick.
As for your spoiler comments, I'd say you're pretty much on target. Kazan's greatest interest was in ambivalence - in characters and in stories. He always felt it was the strongest route to conveying conflict.
For me, the ending is the perfect distillation of the acceptance of the new despite the sorrow of the loss of the old. I think that ironic ambivalence helps create the elegiac quality which makes the film so beautiful and so moving.
Oh, and I wanted to add that one of my favorite characters is the black man, Sam, who won't leave Miss Ella. He's so wonderful, and she loves him so tenderly. One of the best speeches in the film is the one she gives to him. And what a beautiful performance by Robert Earl Jones, James Earl Jones' father.
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Post by timshelboy on Mar 14, 2019 14:52:48 GMT
 Yes Spiderwort - Kazan my favourite director and this is one of his best - beautifully made and emotionally affecting. I believe it was the film of his own he had the greatest affection for and it shows in every frame. Clift's post accident work was a bit erratic but he was splendid here. It was Lee Remick's favourite of her movies. Agree Van Fleet superb - but I'm sure she wasn't even nominated for her work here.
Yes, tim, you are right. She wasn't nominated, shame of shames! She should have been a winner. Anyway, I corrected my OP. Glad to see another fan. Well I believed you! - I only know because looked up nominees to see Van fleet competition! Yes - another winner from Mr K. I think I'll give it another spin soon.
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Post by pimpinainteasy on Mar 14, 2019 16:25:38 GMT
spiderwort - one of the most surprising scenes for me in the film was when CLIFT gets thrown into the river.
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Post by pimpinainteasy on Mar 14, 2019 16:26:55 GMT
It is an elegy for the old ways of life. I appreciated the beautiful scenery filled with leafless branches of trees, thickets, grounds covered by leaves and the rivers. The characterization is one of the film's strengths. I admired the spirit of the old lady (Jo Van Fleet) who staunchly refuses to move an inch for the forces of progress. The very believable Government man (Montgomery Clift) who is conflicted about his role in removing the old lady from the land. Lee Remick's earthy beauty would be hard for anyone to ignore. The plight of the helpless serfs who can only look on when their old master is forced out only for new masters to take over was interesting. The one dimensional and silly portrayal of the paranoid Southern American white folk may not have been too realistic.
The ending - I did feel like there was a hint of ambiguity when Clift and Remick looked away from the old lady's land (now almost completely drowned out by the water from the dam) and admired the dam. Elia Kazan while celebrating rugged American individualism was also saying that ultimately progress was the only way forward. I could be wrong.
Great write-up, pimpin. Really appreciate your comments. As for the portrayal of the Southern American white folk - not all were that way, for sure - but in the 1930s too many were, and I think Osborn's script and Kazan's direction handle them well. Remember, there were dissenters, like Bruce Dern attacking his father after he slugged Lee Remick.
As for your spoiler comments, I'd say you're pretty much on target. Kazan's greatest interest was in ambivalence - in characters and in stories. He always felt it was the strongest route to conveying conflict.
For me, the ending is the perfect distillation of the acceptance of the new despite the sorrow of the loss of the old. I think that ironic ambivalence helps create the elegiac quality which makes the film so beautiful and so moving.
Oh, and I wanted to add that one of my favorite characters is the black man, Sam, who won't leave Miss Ella. He's so wonderful, and she loves him so tenderly. One of the best speeches in the film is the one she gives to him. And what a beautiful performance by Robert Earl Jones, James Earl Jones' father.
i watched it a while ago, spiderwort. i do not remember the black worker. it is time for a rewatch.
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Post by delon on Mar 15, 2019 18:49:21 GMT
I was fortunate enough to see Wild River (1960)on the big screen just recently . It is a wonderful film that effectively captures the conflict between progress and tradition, common good and individualism, and the lengths that people will go to preserve both. Needless to say that it is visually stunning with all-around great performances, particularly from the female part of the cast. Also I heavily agree with you, Spider, about the clip you provided. Definitely one of the film's highlights !
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spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 15, 2019 21:42:44 GMT
I was fortunate enough to see Wild River (1960)on the big screen just recently . Oh, I envy you that, delon!! I've never had the chance to see it on the big screen, and I probably never will. Can't imagine what a joy that would be. I'd love to see those scenes with Remick and Clift on the raft in the river with the hymn playing in the background on the big screen. So beautiful! Glad to see another fan.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Mar 15, 2019 21:58:05 GMT
Wild River (1960) is one of Elia Kazan's lesser known and viewed films for reasons that I've never understood, because I've always considered it one of his best. It's the story of a Tennessee Valley Authority agent played by Montgomery Clift who arrives in a small town in Appalachia in the 1930s to supervise the clearing of land around the Tennessee River before it's flooded by the release of waters from a new hydroelectric dam upstream. But he must first acquire the last piece of property owned by an elderly Jo Van Fleet. She's determined not to sell and will not leave her lifetime home on an island in the middle of the river, despite Clift's admonitions and the efforts of her widowed granddaughter, Lee Remick, to encourage her to leave. Conflicts and complications arise when the townspeople turn on Clift and when he and Remick find themselves romantically drawn to each other.
It's a beautiful film with wonderful performances all the way around. Jo Van Fleet was brilliant, playing an octogenarian at the age of 44 (she didn't even get an Oscar nomination, but should have). Paul Osborn's script is elegiac and beautiful. Ellsworth Fredericks' cinematography takes full advantage of the Appalachian landscape, and the score by Kenyon Hopkins is lyrical and haunting. It's a film that Kazan had wanted to make since he co-directed a documentary short for the WPA, The People of the Cumberland (1937).
It didn't get a lot of attention when first released, but it was revered by the French, which elevated it to some extent in America. In 2002, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Well worth a view if you haven't seen it.
Here's the trailer, though the film is far more elegiac than it would have you believe.
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spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
Posts: 2,519
Likes: 9,318
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 15, 2019 22:12:40 GMT
Absolutely marvelous film spidey, and lets not forget Bruce Dern made his screen debut in it.
Yes, indeed! And it was also the feature debut of Barbara Loden, who the next year brilliantly played Warren Beatty's sister in Splendor in the Grass, and even later became Kazan's second wife.
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Post by teleadm on Mar 16, 2019 15:27:29 GMT
I remember seeing a docomentary about Kazan, and he especially praised Jo van Fleet, as she played a character much older than her.
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spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 16, 2019 22:02:58 GMT
I remember seeing a docomentary about Kazan, and he especially praised Jo van Fleet, as she played a character much older than her.
Yes, I remember the story he told about van Fleet wanting old age make up on her hands. He told her that it wasn't necessary, because no one would know if she didn't have it, and she replied, " I'll know." What a magnificent performance she gave.
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Post by teleadm on Mar 16, 2019 22:55:06 GMT
I remember seeing a docomentary about Kazan, and he especially praised Jo van Fleet, as she played a character much older than her.
Yes, I remember the story he told about van Fleet wanting old age make up on her hands. He told her that it wasn't necessary, because no one would know if she didn't have it, and she replied, " I'll know." What a magnificent performance she gave.
is one of the many movies that I wan't to rewatch. I watched it once many years ago on television, but not under the best circumstances (Neighbour problems years ago). Another thing that I noticed, is how the cinematographer and Kazan captured flowing water, I don't know how to explain it, it might sound silly, they made the flowing water look angry.
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spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Mar 19, 2019 14:38:43 GMT
Another thing that I noticed, is how the cinematographer and Kazan captured flowing water, I don't know how to explain it, it might sound silly, they made the flowing water look angry.
Yes, I think I would agree with you about this, except for the lyrical sequence with Remick and Clift floating across on the raft. The river is sort of a character in and of itself, and soon to be a dangerous one to the people living nearby.
Btw, the opening flooding sequences are from the WPA (Works Progress Administration) documentary, The River (1938), directed by Pare Lorentz, about the flooding of the Mississippi River. He also directed another WPA film that I love, The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936), about the farming processes that created the Dust Bowl.
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spiderwort
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@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Oct 18, 2020 3:32:42 GMT
Came across this Lee Remick quote and wanted to add it here: "My interpretation of the role in Wild River was the truest in my experience, and it was Kazan who enabled me to make it true."
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Post by london777 on Oct 21, 2020 15:17:08 GMT
My favorite Kazan. Lee Remick was underrated. Never included in the top rank of Hollywood female stars, but a better actress than most of them. But the river was the real star here.
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