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Article: KRAMER IMPORTANT OR JUST SELF-IMPORTANT?(Spotlight)
- Article from:
- Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
- Article date:
- February 25, 2001
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Rocky Mountain News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Dialog LLC by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Robert Denerstein News Film Critic
Director Stanley Kramer died last week at 87, leaving some to wonder whether Hollywood had lost its last messenger, a filmmaker whose booming social statements seemed to sail into theaters with the word important stamped across their prows.
For many critics, Kramer's name became synonymous with the worst kind of puffed-up liberalism. His pictures tended to wrap worthy sentiments in mantles of self-importance. Kramer's films could be soapboxes from which he preached a gospel of tolerance. He directed the kind of movies that made people nod in agreement - and then go home relieved of the obligation to act. Seeing ...