By ALI NADERZAD – September 8, 2010

20th Century Fox has acquired rights to “Letter to Elia,” Marty Scorcese’s documentary chronicling the life of Elia Kazan. Here is what Marty said (quote courtesy of Thompson on Hollywood): “… took many years. I asked my old friend and collaborator Kent Jones to work with me, and we spent quite a long time looking at the films, talking about them, looking at the life, the fame, the infamy, and finding the tone, the balance that felt right for this picture. I feel that the finished film speaks to the power of art, in this case the art of Elia Kazan.” Let’s go to the videotape, watch a clip of Kazan getting an honorary Oscar and, notice how people like Nick Nolte and Ed Harris, and many others, not standing up or clapping.

The quandary of reconciling the man, his exceptional opus, and his sinister legacy during the McCarthy area will likely remain forever.