Revisiting Elia Kazan's 'Wild River'

The 1960 film, depicting the origins of the Tennessee Valley Authority, has been restored and got a rare screening at a recent film festival.

2 minute read

November 18, 2005, 2:00 PM PST

By Brenda Meyer


"Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick and Jo Van Fleet star in "Wild River," a stirring drama set during Depression-era Tennessee. The film revolves around true events â€" the controlled flooding of the Tennessee River by the newly formed Tennessee Valley Authority. In order to flood the river, though, the residents need to be relocated, but one woman (Van Fleet) refuses to leave her homestead. Enter Clift as the TVA agent sent out from Washington, D.C., to persuade her to leave the area where they have resided for generations."

"The creation of the vast system of dams... tamed the Tennessee River, which almost annually flooded, carrying away millions of dollars worth of land, buildings, livestock â€" not to mention people [and] brought electricity to a seven-state region that had been nearly devoid of modern life's most essential power source..."

"[Kazan] believed in the TVA, perhaps the most successful act of civil and social engineering in American history. Those dams were mighty constructions â€" it is said their individual masses were sometimes 12 times that of all the pyramids, that you could have buried 20 Empire State Buildings in some of their excavations."

"...those great dams abide. They are still the property of the U.S. government, and the money they earn goes to dozens of local governments and institutions. "The New South" â€" no longer backward and benighted but an economically, socially and culturally vibrant region -- began in the Tennessee Valley."

Thursday, November 10, 2005 in

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 23, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

A bus stop in Philadelphia, where people wait under a glass shelter for a bus as it arrives.

Philadelphia Councilmember Proposes Transit Access Fund

The plan would allocate 0.5 percent of the general fund toward mobility subsidies for low-income households.

5 seconds ago - Streetsblog USA

Cyclists on an empty rural paved road with hills and sunset in background.

Texas Bill Would Ban Road Diets, Congestion Pricing

A Texas state senator wants to prevent any discussion of congestion pricing and could suspend existing bike lane and sidewalk projects.

1 hour ago - Houston Chronicle

New York City traffic on elevated highway at sunset.

USDOT Threatens to Pull New York Highway Funding

The Trump administration wants the state to kill New York City’s congestion pricing program despite its demonstrated success.

2 hours ago - Smart Cities Dive