Michael Hiltzik: Yes, Elia Kazan named names, then made 'On the Waterfront' to justify his treachery
Actress Zoe Kazan created a stir at a television industry publicity event by candidly responding to a question about her grandfather, the distinguished director Elia Kazan, and his decision in testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee to name eight others who had been Communist Party members with him.
Elia Kazan's action in 1952 made him a pariah in some quarters of Hollywood, which was being riven by the McCarthy-era red-hunting. Numerous actors and writers saw their lives and livelihoods destroyed; those who refused to "name names" were blacklisted, denied work.
What makes Kazan an especially controversial figure was the action he took to defend his decision to inform: making "On the Waterfront." It's an indisputably great American film, but it has a dark, seldom-noticed theme.
As Victor S. Navasky observed in his indispensable 1980 book "Naming Names" - one of the best explorations of the McCarthy witch hunt ever written - "On the Waterfront" was designed to make "the maximum case for informing." Its screenwriter, Budd Schulberg,
