"Wild River"-Elia Kazan-1960
Kazan thought about making a film about the TVA for over 25 Years. He first visited the area in 1933. This was just about the time when the TVA was buying up land and constructing the first dams. He returned 4 years later as part of a crew filming a documentary. He worked on a possible script for a decade and a half. He self produced this film. Obviously, this was a project he was personally invested in making. Paul Osborn is credited with the screen play. There were nine drafts and considerable input from Kazan. The Director of Photography was Ellsworth Fredericks (a name unfamiliar to me). This is a beautifully photographed film.
Kazan wanted Brando to play the lead. He had to accept Montgomery Clift. Clift was problematic. He had serious problems with alcohol. Kazan with the help of Lee Remick and Jo Van Fleet kept him sober. Clift has residual problems from a serious auto accident. He experienced pain on and off. Lee Remick's husband was in an auto accident during shooting. When she returned Clift was very helpful. Remick and Van Fleet had both appeared in one previous Kazan film. They were the first choices for their respective parts. Despite other possibilities including June Carter Cash for the role of Carol, Remick was always the first choice. This was her favorite role. This is an excellent performance. Carol is well written, she is a character of strength who has the ability to be her own advocate . The most memorable performance is that of Jo Van Fleet. She is an 80 year old great grandmother living with her family and a group of black family retainers on an island settled by her husband decades before. This is the Garth family home in the deepest sense of the word. It takes a while, but
Chuck Glover (Clift) understands her and even comes to empathize with her. It is Glover's responsibility to convince her to leave the island. The federal government has the right of eminent domain. Everyone else has sold their land; she is the lone holdout.
Clift is not Brando. If Brando had played Glover; this would have been a very different picture. I really liked this performance. Glover is a knowledgeable man devoted to the TVA. He is convinced that tens of thousands of lives of people will be made substantially better. The film opens with newsreel footage of the flooding including one man telling how he lost most of his family. 98% of the population along the river was without electricity. When he arrives he finds the TVA land purchasing office housed in a building vacated by a business which failed. Remember this is set in the depths of the Depression. He faces a major deadline. When a dam is completed, the Garth island will be flooded. Opposition by several senators in Washington precludes the use of force to remove Ella Garth. Glover has to try persuasion. He isn't physically strong; he laments that he wishes he could win one fight in his life. What he does have is commitment and a belief in the TVA being a huge benefit.
Things get messy quickly. The banks of the river must be cleared quickly. It would help if he could hire Blacks at $5 a day. This is rural Tennessee in the '30's; this was going to create a huge problem. Locals believed that they should only make $2 a day. Glover representing the Roosevelt administration was committed to equal pay for equal work. He was beaten for his interference with local customs.
Then there is the attraction between Glover and Carol, Alma Garth's widowed grand daughter. Surprisingly, Carol has to take the lead role. Carol is planning to marry, Walter Clark, a decent hard working man whom she doesn't love. Chuck is faced with a dilemma; he tries to resolve this ethically He is leaving, and Carol and her two children will be remaining. He must not complicate and perhaps ruin their future.
Disgruntled locals try to force Chuck to leave. Chuck stands up to them and takes another bearing. Carol rushes to his defense. Chuck finally realizes that Carol is who hw needs. He still isn't sure that they will succeed as a couple, but he proposes marriage. They are quickly married before a justice of the peace. There is a good bit where the wife of the Justice of the Peace makes sure to get the $5 dollars for services rendered.
Finally, Mrs. Garth is removed from the island. She refuses help from the U.S. Marshall and her granddaughter, Carol. She is taken to her new home. Chuck worked very hard to find her a house with a porch. He favorite rocker awaits her, but she disdains it and sits on a bench. There is a scene where we glimpse Sam the one devoted Negro who stayed with her when all the other families left. Inerestingly, the actor who played Sam, was Robert Earl Jones the father of James Earl Jones.
The third emotional conclusion comes when Carol and her children fly away with Chuck. We see for the first time from the plane a view of the dam in question. Kazan spent six months editing the film. Fox gave it a very limited release. It was more recognized in France where it made the top ten list of the prestigious "Cahiers de Cinema" in 1962. It was buried for many years. Kazan tried to buy the rights from Fox, but the $300,000 they wanted was more than he could afford. The DVD has a solid commentary by Richard Schckel.
Fortunately, it is available at archive.org. This was better than I remembered. This is one of Kazan's very best films. You should not miss this triumph of filmmaking.
), I always meant to watch it, but I never did. Just streamed it on Amazon Prime. Fairly amusing. Lots of stupid people being stupid, with a few at least halfway smart ones sprinkled in. Joshua Jackson back when he was a name and Jaime King...I forgot how unbelievably pretty she was in her heyday (I'm sure she looks just fine now, but circa 2002, wow!). A few other names like John Mellencamp (throwaway role) and Thomas Haden Church, plus some people you recognize but don't remember their names. The linebacker from "Remember the Titans" is in it (he never did much else, but he was absolutely perfect in that one role). Oh and DJ Qualls, doing a typical DJ Qualls role. You could watch worse for 90 minutes. And did I mention Jaime King?