My second film in my Yesterday’s Films, Today’s Issues series is going to be another Elia Kazan film (there was recently a Kazan retro in NYC).  Kazan’s Wild River is a beautiful film starring Lee Remick and Montgomery Clift as a young Tennessee woman named Carol and a government agent named Chuck sent in to get Carol’s grandmother off of her river property so that they can build a dam. With that basic plotline though Kazan has created a subtle story about eminent domain and land-use.

The film begins with footage of the flooding of the Tennessee River and an explanation of the Tennessee Valley Authority and how they were authorized to build a new dam to stop the flooding.   And with that authorization TVA was required to get the folks living on the river out of their homes. Clift’s Chuck is a TVA official from D.C. and he comes to Tennessee with the task of removing Carol’s grandmother Ella Garth from her home on a small island in the middle of the river.   Ms. Garth does not want to be removed from the only home she has ever known though and refuses to leave voluntary.

With this an interesting debate comes into play about what is more important, the need to protect the society from future flooding or Ms. Garth’s rights as a property owner.  It’s an issue that is also extremely relevant today.  Just take the example of The Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.  Right now people in the area surrounding Bruce Ratner’s giant development project are being forced out of their homes and are being told that the area needs more jobs and that that is more important than their homes.  While in 1960 eminent domain was not as prevalent an issue, as time has gone on and property gotten more more scarce, displacing people happens more and more often and unfortunately the people doing it aren’t as nice or handsome as Montgomery Clift.  Eminent Domain abuse is one of those issues that often gets overlooked and the abuses keep right on happening.

And while it isn’t the focus of the film, it also deals with racism and segregation and the struggle to overcome both of those things.  One of the most inspiring parts of the film is when Chuck hires the town’s black people at the same wage as the white people (for the same job) despite being threatened by violence if he does so.   It is a moment that makes you realize the importance of standing up for equal rights when you have the power to so do.

Unfortunately Wild River isn’t available on DVD but you can watch the opening to the film below. It is truly beautiful and inspiring and full of issues we should be thinking more about today. And on that note do go to the “act” section of this post to get involved in fighting eminent domain abuse!