Father Barry: "You want to know what's
wrong with our waterfront? It's the love of a lousy buck. It's
making love of a buck---the cushy job---more important than
the love of man!"
The basic story involves a loner, ex - prize
fighter longshoreman, Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) who inadvertently
witnesses a murder of a fellow longshoreman, Joey Doyle, at
the hands of two thugs, who were ordered to do this heinous
act by the corrupt union boss, the infamous Johnny Friendly
(Lee J. Cobb). Johnny, with the help of Terry's brother, Charlie
(Rod Steiger) also organized illegal activities along the waterfront,
and ran the dock workers' lives. When He meets Doyle's surviving
sister, Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint) he starts to feel responsible.
After Edie sees a strong quality in his character that he had
never recognized before, and he is further encouraged by a rough
and tumble priest, Father Barry (Karl Malden) this loner takes
on the responsibility to fight the good fight, and testify before
The Waterfront Crime Commission, investigating corruption, union
crime, and underworld infiltration.
This 1950 message film is a classic because of its dynamite
acting, involving story, and memorable musical score, by Leonard
Bernstein. Its story and characters are moving and involving,
staying with you long after the film is over.
This dynamic, powerful screenplay by Budd Wilson
Schulberg, and Malcolm Johnson (articles), gives this talented
cast a lot of great material to really shine through. Brando,
Steiger, Saint, Malden and Cobb give riveting performances,
that powerfully tell the story that must have really pleased
Schulberg and Johnson.
My favorite scene takes place between Terry
(Brando), and Charley (Rod Steiger), in the back of a taxi.
Referring to a prize fight that Steiger had Brando lose, Brando
delivers the classic line, "I could have been a contender,
I could have been somebody, instead of a bum which is what I
am."
Another great scene takes place on top of the building where
Brando lives, at night. As Brando shows Eva Marie Saint his
pigeons, we see the sweet soul inside the sometimes violent
longshoreman.
The great, inspiring direction, by the very
talented Elia Kazan, a Greek-born immigrant, may have been inspired
by Kazan's own whistle blowing troubles, which happened when
he sincerely reported to the House Un-American Activities Committee,
the names of other directors, as a matter of principle. Obviously,
this didn't make him very popular with his peers, or the Hollywood
crowd then or now. When he received an honorary Oscar in the
late '90's, some in the audience refused to applaud.
Some have claimed that this film was really
an allegory defending the 1950's, communist "witch hunt,"
that has Brando's character representing Hollywood types who
reported suspected communists to the House Un-American Activities
Committee, much as Kazan had done.
Unionists at the time of its release accused
this film as being "communistic" and "anti-American."
Despite its critics, "On The Waterfront"
was a huge hit with the movie-going audience, and won eight
Oscars, including: Best Picture, Director, Actor (Brando), Supporting
Actress (Saint), Story & Screenplay (Budd Schulberg), Cinematography
(Boris Kaufman), Art Direction - Set Decoration (Richard Day),
and Editing (Gene Milford).
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