Looking back on Stanley kramer's films, it's striking just how distinct a voice he was, whether as a film producer, or later, when he began to direct most of his own productions. An early architect of the so-called"message film," Kramer tended to embrace the role of the maverick; a moviemaker willing to tackle subject matter that many considered anathema to commercial moviemaking.

As early as 1949, when his second production, Champion, an uncommonly dark piece about the brutal world of professional boxing, became a surprise hit, Kramer revealed an attraction for stories hewn on the margins of American life. His passion for social justice and affection for the outsider were consistent through the decades. His characters were all misfits or heretics of one kind or another, and he loved them for it.

Stanley Kramer was born in New York City's Hell's Kitchen to parents who separated when he was very young. After graduating with a degree in business administration from New York University at the age of 19,

he went to Hollywood to write movies. What followed was a string of less glamorous work: moving office furniture at MGM, a brief, disappointing stint as an apprentice writer, and general office work. He eventually found work as an editor, then moved on to become an assistant to a producer at MGM. At this point, Uncle Sam Ôbought out his contract' and threw him into the Army Signal Corps, where he made training films during WWII.

After the war he formed his own company, taking in a couple of his army buddies as partners. Said Kramer:"I declared myself a producer and went to work for myself."

His initial forays into producing were often successful and earned him the title of Hollywood's"wonder boy." His instincts were surprisingly good, and he landed on his feet more often than not. Though his first film, So This Is New York, was a flop, he rebounded with Champion and then Home of The Brave, a groundbreaking drama that put a lens on racism in the US army, a subject for which Kramer had a natural affinity; he had encountered anti-Semitism while in the armed services. Home of The Brave was widely credited with being the first film to portray a black man as something other than a hapless simpleton. It surprised distributors that the film did well, even in the South where it was expected to fail outright. Kramer's belief that"nothing is ahead of its time if you do it right" was confirmed.

Other films of like stature were to come. The Men (financed by a California lettuce grower) is a moving film about a young veteran who is paralyzed below the waist and struggles to reconstitute his life after the war. Fred Zinnemann brilliantly directed the film, which starred Marlon Brando in his first feature. Kramer produced the picture, which remains as powerful now as ever.

He was known to be intimately involved in every phase of the production process on his pictures, from story development to choosing the director, to casting and supervising and sometimes even working on the edit. Though there were periodic box office and critical failures, Kramer managed to prosper, following through with his bold commitment to fresh and original material.

What disappointments he did have usually came when he chose theater pieces that sometimes did not translate well to the screen. Films like Cyrano de Bergerac, Death of a Salesman, The Member of the Wedding and Eight Iron Men, while effective on many levels, did not find large audiences. Still, some of these early films stood out in marked contrast to the standard potboilers of the day: they had heart, and they often made you think.

High Noon was the clear star of this period. Though directed by Fred Zinnemann, the film in many ways underscores the values and conflicts that typically get played out in Stanley Kramer films. Starring Gary Cooper, High Noon is the story of a lone man swimming against the tide, struggling to do right and keep peace while those around him run for cover. Kramer returned to similar concerns when he later directed his productions of On The Beach, Inherit The Wind and Judgment At Nuremberg. It's touching to consider that despite his many accomplishments during this period, he was not completely satisfied with himself. A highly successful producer, Kramer was nonetheless unhappy. He saw himself as a director, and he was anxious to move into the director's chair. His production of The Caine Mutiny, starring Humphrey Bogart, did very well at the box office, enabling him to finally direct a feature of his own.

His first outing as a director, Not As A Stranger, was the story of an ambitious young doctor whose professional excellence is matched only by his arrogance. The film took an unprecedented look at the more unsavory aspects of the modern medical profession. It's a surprisingly good picture, even though it's not a film that readily comes to mind from this period. Scenes in the operating room feel authentic; the camera is disciplined, allowing the story to unfold unencumbered by directorial Ôstyle.' He was now on his way, and the films that followed continued to address the issues that mattered so much to him.

The Defiant Ones marked a return to the issue of race relations. Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis play prisoners who escape a chain gang, but must still contend with each other. As they make their way across swamp and field, still bound together by a chain, they are forced to rely on each other and to reconsider their jaundiced views.

Looking back on films like this, it's tempting to dismiss their treatment of racial tensions as simplistic or sentimental. But The Defiant Ones was a revolutionary film in its day, a stanard bearer for Kramer; the film that best exemplifies the ideas that motivated him. Its argument for tolerance and justice that won't become any less poignant with the passage of time. MM