Winner of 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, ON THE WATERFRONT continues to be included on many top ten of all time lists. With the possible exception of THE GODFATHER, no other film has inspired multitudes of people into becoming actors, screenwriters, and directors. Just the backseat taxicab scene with Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger served as a training ground in future acting classes. And to further illustrate how much reverence the screenplay has earned, in RAGING BULL, a washed-up Jake La Motta stands before his dressing room mirror reciting dialogue from ON THE WATERFRONT prior to his taking the stage.
As with any great work of art, there is a dark side, and it involves Elia Kazan. A brilliant director on both stage and screen, Kazan's leftist politics eventually got him subpoenaed to testify before the House un-American Activities Committee that was rooting out communists real and imaginary. His naming of names made him a pariah in Hollywood's liberal community, and some actors ~not enough as far as I'm concerned~ flat out refused to work with him again.
Screenwriter Budd Schulberg was also a friendly witness to the committee, and many in the industry felt that ON THE WATERFRONT was his and Kazan's justification for being an informer, an act Kazan eventually admitted to towards the end of his life. To his dying day, Kazan remained a polarizing figure in Hollywood.
Kazan further damaged his credibility when it came to casting the male lead. Frank Sinatra originally agreed to play Terry Malloy, but when Marlon Brando found himself unexpectedly available, Kazan broke his verbal pact with Sinatra and gave Brando the part. The role of Edie Doyle was offered to Grace Kelly, who declined in order to work with Hitchcock on REAR WINDOW. Eva Marie Saint, an actress with background in stage and television, was hired to make her silver screen debut as Edie.
Brando won his first Best Actor Oscar as Terry Malloy, an ex-boxer currently making a living as a longshoreman on the Jersey docks. Once a promising contender, Terry now works for Johnny Friendly (Lee J Cobb), a ruthless mobster ~patterned after Albert Anastasia~ who controls the waterfront's union local with an iron fist. Friendly's mouthpiece just happens to be Terry's older brother Charley (Rod Steiger), who not only provides legal representation but actively sits in on the crooked dealings, making him more of an accomplice than counsel.
Terry's not a bad guy; he's simply a not-particularly bright palooka who fell in with the wrong crowd. His first awareness of this is when he unwittingly lures a dock worker to his death. It turns out the victim was due to appear at a subcommittee hearing on organized crime within the labor unions, and was bumped off by Friendly's goons to prevent this canary from singing.
The dead man's sister is Edie Doyle, an inexperienced girl/woman who's determined to find out who killed her brother. Edie's only ally is Father Barry (Karl Malden), a fearless priest willing to risk his neck to clean up the unions by legally ~and morally~ getting rid of the racketeers in control. This is easier said than done because the longshoremen, despite being shafted by Friendly ~unless they give him a percentage of what they earn~ and despite barely having enough pennies to rub together, adamantly refuse to become an informer.
Happenstance thrusts Terry and Edie together, and she starts seeing him socially, unaware of his involvement with her brother's murder. As he begins to fall in love with her ~and vice versa~ Terry is overwhelmed with guilt because he wants so badly to confess to Edie....but is terrified of losing her. And now, all of a sudden, he's been subpoenaed to testify before the waterfront crime commission.
Worried that the kid he's treated like a nephew is now going to betray him, the odious Friendly orders Charley to convince Terry to keep his mouth shut or else he'll end up sleeping with the fishes. (Oops, sorry, wrong Brando movie). And if Charley isn't successful, then both Malloy brothers will find themselves laying on a slab in the morgue. It's in the famous cab scene that we all learn about Terry's fall from grace in the boxing ring....and the role Charley played in it.
Brando's forceful performance as Terry Malloy is one of the most influential ever put on film, even more so than his Stanley Kowalski in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. When he received his fourth consecutive Oscar nomination for Best Actor, no one in Hollywood had any doubts about him winning this time. It was simply impossible to continue ignoring him and the impact he was having on screen acting. Future legends such as Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, and Martin Scorsese attested to his impact by admitting they couldn't look away from the screen whenever Brando was on.
Eva Marie Saint also took home an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her touching work as the sheltered Edie, a woman who is forced to mature quickly in response to the ugliness around her. Steiger, Cobb, and Malden all found themselves cancelling each other out in their supporting category, with the statuette going to Edmond O'Brien ~an excellent actor~ for THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA.
The remainder of golden hardware recognized ON THE WATERFRONT for the Screenplay, Editing, Black & White Cinematography, and Art Direction/Production Design. The accolades continued long after the Oscars. In 1989, ON THE WATERFRONT was selected by the Library of Congress to be inducted into the newly established National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". When the American Film Institute released its top 100 list, ON THE WATERFRONT landed at #8. It even found itself on the Vatican's own list!!!! And Brando's "I coulda been a contenda" monologue is among the most imitated in the movies.
And I haven't forgotten about Elia Kazan. Despite his divisive actions Kazan's direction won him his second Oscar. All in all, ON THE WATERFRONT is a powerful motion picture that demands to be seen, in spite of the warts of its director. 🔚
As with any great work of art, there is a dark side, and it involves Elia Kazan. A brilliant director on both stage and screen, Kazan's leftist politics eventually got him subpoenaed to testify before the House un-American Activities Committee that was rooting out communists real and imaginary. His naming of names made him a pariah in Hollywood's liberal community, and some actors ~not enough as far as I'm concerned~ flat out refused to work with him again.
Screenwriter Budd Schulberg was also a friendly witness to the committee, and many in the industry felt that ON THE WATERFRONT was his and Kazan's justification for being an informer, an act Kazan eventually admitted to towards the end of his life. To his dying day, Kazan remained a polarizing figure in Hollywood.
Kazan further damaged his credibility when it came to casting the male lead. Frank Sinatra originally agreed to play Terry Malloy, but when Marlon Brando found himself unexpectedly available, Kazan broke his verbal pact with Sinatra and gave Brando the part. The role of Edie Doyle was offered to Grace Kelly, who declined in order to work with Hitchcock on REAR WINDOW. Eva Marie Saint, an actress with background in stage and television, was hired to make her silver screen debut as Edie.
Brando won his first Best Actor Oscar as Terry Malloy, an ex-boxer currently making a living as a longshoreman on the Jersey docks. Once a promising contender, Terry now works for Johnny Friendly (Lee J Cobb), a ruthless mobster ~patterned after Albert Anastasia~ who controls the waterfront's union local with an iron fist. Friendly's mouthpiece just happens to be Terry's older brother Charley (Rod Steiger), who not only provides legal representation but actively sits in on the crooked dealings, making him more of an accomplice than counsel.
Terry's not a bad guy; he's simply a not-particularly bright palooka who fell in with the wrong crowd. His first awareness of this is when he unwittingly lures a dock worker to his death. It turns out the victim was due to appear at a subcommittee hearing on organized crime within the labor unions, and was bumped off by Friendly's goons to prevent this canary from singing.
The dead man's sister is Edie Doyle, an inexperienced girl/woman who's determined to find out who killed her brother. Edie's only ally is Father Barry (Karl Malden), a fearless priest willing to risk his neck to clean up the unions by legally ~and morally~ getting rid of the racketeers in control. This is easier said than done because the longshoremen, despite being shafted by Friendly ~unless they give him a percentage of what they earn~ and despite barely having enough pennies to rub together, adamantly refuse to become an informer.
Happenstance thrusts Terry and Edie together, and she starts seeing him socially, unaware of his involvement with her brother's murder. As he begins to fall in love with her ~and vice versa~ Terry is overwhelmed with guilt because he wants so badly to confess to Edie....but is terrified of losing her. And now, all of a sudden, he's been subpoenaed to testify before the waterfront crime commission.
Worried that the kid he's treated like a nephew is now going to betray him, the odious Friendly orders Charley to convince Terry to keep his mouth shut or else he'll end up sleeping with the fishes. (Oops, sorry, wrong Brando movie). And if Charley isn't successful, then both Malloy brothers will find themselves laying on a slab in the morgue. It's in the famous cab scene that we all learn about Terry's fall from grace in the boxing ring....and the role Charley played in it.
Brando's forceful performance as Terry Malloy is one of the most influential ever put on film, even more so than his Stanley Kowalski in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. When he received his fourth consecutive Oscar nomination for Best Actor, no one in Hollywood had any doubts about him winning this time. It was simply impossible to continue ignoring him and the impact he was having on screen acting. Future legends such as Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, and Martin Scorsese attested to his impact by admitting they couldn't look away from the screen whenever Brando was on.
Eva Marie Saint also took home an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her touching work as the sheltered Edie, a woman who is forced to mature quickly in response to the ugliness around her. Steiger, Cobb, and Malden all found themselves cancelling each other out in their supporting category, with the statuette going to Edmond O'Brien ~an excellent actor~ for THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA.
The remainder of golden hardware recognized ON THE WATERFRONT for the Screenplay, Editing, Black & White Cinematography, and Art Direction/Production Design. The accolades continued long after the Oscars. In 1989, ON THE WATERFRONT was selected by the Library of Congress to be inducted into the newly established National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". When the American Film Institute released its top 100 list, ON THE WATERFRONT landed at #8. It even found itself on the Vatican's own list!!!! And Brando's "I coulda been a contenda" monologue is among the most imitated in the movies.
And I haven't forgotten about Elia Kazan. Despite his divisive actions Kazan's direction won him his second Oscar. All in all, ON THE WATERFRONT is a powerful motion picture that demands to be seen, in spite of the warts of its director. 🔚