One of American cinema’s finest directors is finally getting his due; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is set to release a mammoth 18-disc DVD set that will include the Martin Scorsese documentary “A Letter To Elia” (recently acquired by PBS and premiering on October 4) along with fifteen of the director’s films, five of which have never before been released on DVD, on November 9th.
Simply titled, “Elia Kazan Film Collection,” the set will include Kazan’s celebrated and tender directorial debut “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn,” “Viva Zapata!” starring Marlon Brando as the titular revolutionary, the epic immigrant tale “America, America” along with “Man On A Tightrope” and the fantastic “Wild River,” starring a grizzled, post-car accident Montgomery Clift in yet another unforgettable performance. Rounding out the set will be the rest of Kazan’s works that have already seen release including “Boomerang!,” “Gentleman’s Agreement,” “Pinky,” “Panic in the Streets,” plus a few classics you may have heard of, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “On the Waterfront,” “East of Eden,” “Baby Doll,” “A Face in the Crowd,” ” and “Splendor in the Grass” (terrific performances by Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty). Basically, these are all films you need to get acquainted with and if you already are, having them all in one place is certainly exciting.
And btw, if you’re in New York, both, “A Letter To Elia” and “America, America” will screen at the upcoming New York Film Festival. Would be great to see both of those two projected.
November is going to be a tough month on the pocketbooks of cinephiles. The Criterion Collection is already set to release the excellent box set “America Lost And Found: The BBS Story” featuring a classic set of films including Bob Rafelson’s trippy Monkees movie “Head,” Dennis Hopper’s seminal, “Easy Rider,” Rafelson’s 1970 classic, “Five Easy Pieces,” Jack Nicholson’s own little-seen directorial debut, “Drive, He Said,” Henry Jaglom’s introspective and underappreciated 1971 drama, “A Safe Place,” Peter Bogdanovich’s stone-cold crumbling America classic, “The Last Picture Show” and Rafelson’s “The King Of Marvin Gardens” starring Bruce Dern and Nicholson in a memorable casting-against-type swap.
Basically, November is a film nerd’s wet dream. You might want to let friends and family know ahead of time you won’t be leaving the house — wouldn’t want anyone to worry.