America America (1963)

Academy Awards, USA 1964

Winner Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Gene Callahan
Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Elia Kazan
	Best Director Elia Kazan
	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen Elia Kazan

Warner Bros.
Directed by Elia Kazan
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

A Greek family living in Turkey sends their oldest son to Istanbul to make money in the family carpet business. Along the perilous journey he manages to lose all of his possessions, even his shoes, to a fast talking fellow traveler. His relative in Istanbul tries to convince him to marry the daughter of a wealthy customer, but he dreams of starting a new life in America so refuses. He ends up homeless on the streets and is almost killed when he is mistaken as a rebel by Turkish soldiers. After recovering from his wounds, he once again ends up with his relative and engaged to the same wealthy daughter. He can't go through with it and instead concocts a plan to get to America by starting an affair with an older wealthy American woman. He manages to reach New York City and fulfills his dreams. Gritty account of director Elia Kazan's family history, he provides narration at the beginning and end of the film. Young unknown actor Stathis Giallelis, with a permanent smirk on his face, makes it more difficult than it should be to sympathize with in the leading role.