On the Waterfront [Blu-ray] starring
Marlon Brando
A Classic
Marlon Brandos famous I coulda been a contenda speech is such a
warhorse by now that a lot of people probably feel theyve seen this picture
already, even if they havent. And many of those who have seen it may
have forgotten how flat-out thrilling it is. For all its great dramatic and
cinematic qualities, and its fiery social criticism, Elia Kazans On the
Waterfront is also one of the most gripping melodramas of political
corruption and individual heroism ever made in the United States, a five-
star gut-grabber. Shot on location around the docks of Hoboken, New
Jersey, in the mid-1950s, it tells the fact-based story of a longshoreman
(Brandos Terry Malloy) who is blackballed and savagely beaten for
informing against the mobsters who have taken over his union and sold it
out to the bosses. (Karl Malden has a more conventional stalwart-hero
role, as an idealistic priest who nurtures Terrys pangs of conscience.) Lee
J. Cobb, who created the role of Willy Loman in Death of Salesman under
Kazans direction on Broadway, makes a formidable foe as a greedy union
leader. --David Chute
On the Waterfront (Special Edition)
On The Waterfront
Elia Kazans classic 1954 film On The Waterfront isnt just great
drama; its serious social commentary as well. Based on the boo k by Budd
Schulberg, On the Waterfront is the story of ex prize fighter Terry Molloy.
Terry, who famously claims I coulda been a contender, has lost a few brain
cells along the way, and now hangs out on the wharf where his brother
Charley The Gent (Rod Steiger) looks out for him in Johnny Friendlys (Lee
J. Cobbs) crooked empire.
Terry is drawn into the hostile and dangerous game of intrigue when
his brother pressures him to spy on the Parish Priest played by Karl
Malden, who is organizing a rival gang to take on the hoodlums. Terry says
he doesnt want to be a stoolie for Johnny. On the docks weve always been
D and D - Deaf and Dumb.
Considering Kazan was being pilloried in Hollywood for naming
names before the House Un-American Activities Committee, his cinematic
treatment of informing on colleagues has always been controversial. With
the death in August, 2009, of Budd Schulberg at age 95, the story has
come full circle. Its difficult in these days to comprehend the paranoia of
the post-WWII world, when Russia was the devil, and people saw
Communists under every bed. The pressure on Hollywood was
tremendous. The LA Times quoted Schulberg as saying: I was interested
in social conditions on the waterfront and drawing a truthful story, not in
justifying my position.
The cast of this classic is uniformly good: Steiger, Cobb, Malden, the
newcomer Eva Marie Saint, and the truly outstanding character actors and
non-professionals who play the dockworkers... street-hardened, hard-
drinking, and accustomed to playing by the rules of the docks. The Score
by Leonard Bernstein is dramatic and powerful, and Kazans direction takes
on the gritty, noir character of the docks.
Its not surprising On The Waterfront garnered eight Academy
Awards in 1954 - for Best Picture, Best Director (Kazan); Best Actor
(Brando); Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint); Best Screenplay
(Schulberg), and four nominations.
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