When I dedicated my short film to him, it was for a reason. He changed my outlook towards the purpose of making films. I would rather make dated films than irrelevant ones. To stress a little more on this, I would share a quote by one of the greatest filmmakers of our times Steven Spielberg who said that Stanley Kramer is one of our great filmmakers, not just for the art and passion he put on screen, but for the impact he has made on the conscience of the world.
Stanley Kramer is known for his message films dealing with socially relevant and controversial topics like racism, anti-Semitism and social disparity. His ability to focus on topics rather than money making films and remain strong impressed critics and audience alike. Films like Not As A Stranger, The Defiant Ones, Judgment At Nuremberg, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, Inherit The Wind, On The Beach and Ship Of Fools are testament of his belief that films can pass a message strongly. He faced sanctions and criticism from certain sections but he remained unperturbed.
One noted criticism for Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner was that he created a white black character to be played by Poitier. The character was so well creased out that it appeared to be of a white man than a black. Though the critic made a good point because most of the Afro-Americans would rarely be in shoes Poitier’s character was in. However, he missed a point. Hypocrisy of prejudice against a certain race can be exposed only when the only difference remains of that single denominator. In this case – color. Kramer understood this and ensured that he was not comparing apples with bananas. To add to this, the timing of release was simply perfect.
Stanley Kramer’s ability to make relevant films for popular audience can be as much as textbook material as his ability to make films with limited resources and constrained budgets. He was one of the proponents of independent film culture in mainstream Hollywood. His experience as producer of low budget films was one of the main forces behind his ability to make films about controversial topics. He was able to take financial risk because he was not risking everything. It come as a help when he became director. Both Judgment At Nuremberg and Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner were shot largely in one location.
Stanley Kramer redefined being American. To people who criticized his films being un-American, he said – “Any American film that contains criticism of the American fabric of life is accepted, both critically and by the mass audience overseas, as being something that could never have been produced in a totalitarian state. This in itself builds tremendous respect for American society among foreigners—a respect I've always wanted to encourage.”
Written By: Sujoy Ghosh
