On the Waterfront (1954) User Reviews

Not what I expected- so much more.

[Kubris · 9/10 · 16 March 2012]

IMDb Top 250: 105

I finished On the Waterfront about 2 hours ago, and something strange happened. Something I haven't done in a long while, I can't for certain remember the film that caused it. When the film ended, I sat in silence for about 10 minutes.

On the Waterfront is an inspiring film. There's a feeling you get watching it- movie magic. Something great is playing out in front of your eyes and you are taking in the collective effort of geniuses. Right from the start, with the dramatic score (that stays fine throughout) introducing the film, something special is happening.

The plot synopsis gives the appearance of a plain film, and plain it is not. The mob, murder and romance are the stars of this show and right off the start this is apparent- like the lighting of a fuse. Then as the wick burns down, the drama unfolds. We learn about Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), his past and present, and his conflicted thoughts. We are introduced to characters that push him down the path he has to choose. A viewer grows to care about Terry, and until he decides for himself, we have no idea what he'll do.

This film is an acting gold magnet- it received 5 nominations in acting alone. I'll start with Brando's legendary performance. It doesn't matter what you think of him offscreen because for 2 hours he is at his very best, one of the best in acting ever. Terry is a fantastic character and Brando gives an unrivalled, honest performance.

Wanting him to stand against his negative influences are Father Barry (Karl Malden) and Edie (Eva Marie Saint). The father is a frustrated man, furious in his quest for righteousness. Only in The Exorcist have I liked a priest as much. He gives a raging performance, at its peak with a scolding of the longshoremen. Riveting. With him, but quite the opposite in character is Edie, who falls into the plot. Saint aces her characters role, which is to mold Terry. Their scenes are tender, believable, and in a recurring theme with the film, honest. During their bar scene I thought they could've just made a romance together, leaving out all the drama.

On the other side, the mob union leaders, we have Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb), the head honcho, who is ferocious, intimidating, and impeccably evil to honest workers. There's also Charley (Rod Steiger), Terry's older brother who is comfortably in with the mob. I didn't notice him at all, except for 'the scene' which must've made him in the Academy's eyes.

Speaking of 'the scene', the pivotal Taxi cab dialogue between Terry and Charley, you can tell as it happens this is the moment, the peak of On the Waterfront and Marlon Brando. It is the turning point of the film, where Terry makes some huge realizations that we can infer from only his face and tone. I won't even discuss his words, as it's been done by absolutely everyone. There are several other great scenes, like the 'It's a crucifixion' speech and the various rooftop scenes.

Right until the last scene we aren't sure what will happen. I won't spoil it, but it's elevating. Heroic. Even enlightening.

On the Waterfront is about the small speaking out against the large and corrupt. It's about going against the flow, breaking the silence. Sometime in your life you were or will be in Terry's position to some degree, and you'll either do or don't. Leave it at that, please don't read the director's reasoning behind the film. Take it for what it is: a fantastic film that will make you want to be a better person who can speak out against wrongdoers. Powerful indeed.

I thought On the Waterfront would be good, but not this good. With stupendous performances, a top notch story and a strong message, On the Waterfront is film at it's best. 9.4/10

A classic for all the right reasons

[ExpendableMan · 9/10 · 31 March 2008]

Watching On The Waterfront nowadays, two scenes stand out head and shoulders above the rest. First is the impassioned speech by Father Barry (Karl Malden) to the gathered dock workers in the hull of a ship where he tries to rally them against the mobsters running their lives. Second is the confrontation between Terry and Charlie Malloy (Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger) in the back of a taxi which ends in one brother pointing a gun at the other and Brando's now legendary "contender speech." Both of them are sequences where the characters do nothing but talk but each is a fine example of what makes On The Waterfront the undeniable classic it is; acting, scripting, cinematography, music, everything fits into one cohesive whole and the end result is a welcome addition to any film collection.

The story here concerns Terry Malloy, a New York shipyard worker who finds his conscience bothering him when one of his friends is murdered. Terry at first is a tough guy with a grim outlook ("you know my philosophy on life, give it to 'em before they give to you") who despite his inner turmoil refuses to confess anything to the Police as it would make him a "rat." However, the arrival of Malden's headstrong Preacher and the victim's innocent sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint in her debut appearance) throws his deaf and dumb world into chaos. Soon, Terry finds himself falling for Edie and the Preacher's words hit home, leaving the angry young dockworker to question what's really right. The mob meanwhile aren't too happy about Terry's UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIP and begin to pile on the pressure, especially his older brother Charlie who's torn between loyalty to his boss and looking out for his younger sibling. Before anyone can put a lid on things, the dockyard becomes a very tense place to be.

Brando of course puts his heart and soul into his performance. Terry by his very nature isn't one to carry his heart on his sleeve and so the great Method Actor is left to convey his turmoil through body language alone. It is a testament to how good he is that you can tell exactly what Terry is feeling even though he hardly ever expresses it verbally. Instead his shoulders hunch with resigned indignation and his eyes spark with anger, Brando playing the part so well he more or less disappears into the character completely. While he may have taken a lot of the credit however, he is far from the only strong presence in the film as Karl Malden's rock hard Preacher is just as compelling, his depiction of the dignified man of Christ who isn't afraid to drink beer and smoke cigarettes with the Wharf rats being a refreshingly positive portrayal of a Catholic leader. Eva Marie Saint meanwhile puts in a convincing portrayal of Edie, but she is hamstrung a little by some old fashioned writing. Her pursuit of her brother's murderers give her some powerful moments but there are a couple of instances where it becomes all too clear that the part was written by a man. However, she still gives us one of the most touching moments in the film, a confrontation with Terry where most of their chat is disrupted by a tug horn that is achingly sad despite the absence of dialogue.

Acting is only one half of the equation of course and needless to say, the story remains constantly gripping. The murder that opens the film leaves an instant grip on the viewer's attention and as Terry spirals further into an intricate web of half truths, things get incredibly dark. The New York tenement blocks that tower over the proceedings provide an imposing sense of claustrophobia while the rooftops are a smoke laden jungle of chimney stacks and TV aerials. However, if you look closely it becomes apparent that the crew still had some fun with the material and there is some subtle humour to be had - a wedding party degenerating into a brawl and a bar full of panicked customers emptying into the streets followed by a shot of one isolated individual desperately jumping into the bathroom.

All in all therefore, On The Waterfront is a film that is thoroughly deserving of its reputation. Brando excels in his role and heads up a highly talented cast giving it their all. Most of all though, it's an engaging and captivating story of urban paranoia, filled with tough guys spitting out slang in barking New York accents. Think you're a big shot, do ya? Huh? Well do us all a favour and check this one out. Ah enough a youse guys, ged outta here.

Brando makes this an intense movie, well worth seeing.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 8 December 2023]

Ex prize fighter Terry Malloy is conflicted, between The Mob and his brother, and a woman he's fallen in love with, who's husband fell foul of The Mob.

I haven't long completed Target, The Corruptors, and the wonderful algorithms suggested this film, what a great suggestion. Very much a story of people suffering at the hands of The Mob, and someone forced to bracelet make a stand.

This film is very gritty, very well paced, and boy you get a sense of the poverty and desperation of those men.

Marlon Brando makes this film so incredibly watchable, his performance is nothing short of captivating, he exudes masculinity, anger, rage, conflict and love. He definitely appears haunted in this movie, he has a look in his eyes.

9/10.

Kazan's film constitutes an extraordinary tour de force of fluid direction and nervous, edgy acting

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 10/10 · 4 May 2008]

"On the Waterfront" is basically the story of one man, Terry Malloy, a young dock worker with a little, and unsuccessful, experience as a boxer but not much intelligence or purpose… He wastes his time around the docks, vaguely discontented about his life and revealing a tender trace in his otherwise tough manner as he tends his pigeons caged on the roof of his modest building…

His brother Charley (Rod Steiger), a suave opportunistic lawyer, works for the local dockers' union, headed by Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb), the arrogant mob boss…

Friendly takes affectionate interest in Terry and tries to make things easy for him… He also takes advantage of Terry by involving him in the killing of an uncooperative docker… Unaware of their murderous intentions, Terry sets the trap for the man who is thrown from a roof top because he allowed himself to be interviewed by a crime investigating commission…

Terry's alienation from the crooked union leaders starts when he meets the dead man's sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint), and realizes the grief he has brought into her life… She asks his help in bringing the racketeers to justice, as does Father Barry (Karl Malden), a priest of complete goodness and rightness…

Brando's moral dilemma was superbly drawn in the film… He's an ordinary man finding the courage to stand up and be counted… As portrayed by Brando he is touchingly believable…

The rest of the cast is excellent:

Cobb is extremely good as the brute fury boss who intimidates the workers into silence, stopping at nothing to maintain his position of power on the docks...

Rod Steiger gives his finest performance as the clever and suave opportunistic lawyer who works for the local docker's union...

Eva Marie Saint manages to make the blood go through Brando's valves reviving and creating a heart that never existed before...

Karl Malden is hard and clear as the activist Catholic priest who continue encouraging other longshoremen to testify, inciting Brando to fight for his rights—regardless of the cost—rather than be a pawn in a ruthless system of bribes and killings...

"On the Waterfront" is one of the great American films, not only because it bravely spreads a strong light on the violation of justice, but because it is a powerful piece of cinema, which push forward a classic study of man's responsibility to his fellow man...

The film won eight Academy Awards...

A film I consider absolutely perfect

[PeachesIR · 10/10 · 28 February 2018]

I watched "On the Waterfront" last night, and I have seen it many times. This movie is a perfect capsule for any viewer. The actors are superb in their roles, the dialogue is raw and powerful, the staging is tight and reflects the claustrophobic nature of the characters' lives in this part of Hoboken. You have the feeling that they never leave this area of maybe a few blocks, because they feel trapped by their circumstances, poverty, grueling work, and the corruption that's endemic in this place and system.

Marlon Brando is Terry, a failed prize fighter with deep regrets and loneliness, who is a low-level thug in this corrupt system dominated by the bombastic, cruel union boss, Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb in an electrifying performance). He rules the waterfront with brutality and terror. To make Terry feel even more trapped is the fact that his only living relative, his brother, Charlie (Rod Steiger), is Friendly's right-hand man. Terry has no great ambitions in life, and seems resigned to this bleak path until fate, and two shining lights, appear in his life: Edie (Eva Marie Saint), a decent, loving, determined and angelic blonde woman, and Father Barry (Karl Malden), the local priest who can throw a punch, drink a beer and stand up to the mob with the strength of his faith behind him.

Terry and Edie embark on a seemingly doomed romance that both actors play so beautifully. You can feel their yearning, their awkwardness, their passion for each other and their deep connection -- all without the explicit nudity and fake grunting used in contemporary movies. When they embrace, you feel their desperation and desire for each other in a profound way.

"On the Waterfront" is certainly director Elia Kazan's great masterpiece. The performances are all outstanding, and Brando is just a marvel of tortured pain and passion and agony and courage. One particular thing I love about "On the Waterfront" is the scenery. Every set or outdoor shot conveys the grim, cold nature of the characters' lives. There is no movie glamour and little comfort here. Only a hot cup of coffee made on a plug-in heating plate in a "cold-water flat," or a beer and a shot hastily consumed in a waterfront saloon are pleasures to these characters. Their clothes are patched. Edie's hair isn't "styled," and she wears no makeup. Terry's face is a bit scarred. Malden's nose is...as we all know. The gritty setting feels real. If you've never seen this movie for any reason, do not delay!

Powerful portrait of N.Y. docks , being stunningly performed and excellently directed by Elia Kazan

[ma-cortes · 8/10 · 4 May 2012]

This compelling and dynamic drama is set on New York's dock where mobsters control the Union and stevedores . An ex-prize fighter named Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando who deservedly won an Academy Award) turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses (Lee J Cobb) and is embroiled in violence . Malloy faces the terrible dilemma of whether or not to turn informer . While his brother (it was originally offered to Lawrence Tierney , but he asked for too much money so the role went to Rod Steiger who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance) is a crooked lawyer and he meets a beautiful ex-nun (Eva Maria Saint , Grace Kelly turned down the role of Edie Doyle, deciding to make Rear Window instead) and falls in love for her .

This is an interesting and thought-provoking film with attractive plot by screenwriter Budd Schulberg , containing intense drama with pungent lines , emotion , wonderful performances , memorable climax , magnificent direction and classic musical score by maestro Leonard Berstein . For this brooding film and highy charged throughout story writer Budd Schulberg took the idea from newspapers , as he started with an expose series written for The New York Sun by reporter Malcolm Johnson , the articles won him a Pulitzer Prize and were reinforced by the 1948 murder of a New York dock hiring boss which woke America to the killings , graft and extortion that were endemic on the New York waterfront . Marvelous acting by entire casting . Marlon Brando is perfect as stevedore who faces the thorny dilemma of whether or not to become himself into an unfortunate informer . The taxicab scene , one of the most known scenes in the cinema, in which Brando began to improvise some dialogue , while surprising Rod Steiger listened and Kazan simply stood back and let the two actors direct themselves . Along with first-rate main cast : Brando , Steiger , Eva Maria Saint , appearing here and there great secondaries giving nice interpretations , such as : Lee J. Cobb , Leif Erickson , Michel V. Gazzo, Pat Henning , James Westerfield , Martin Balsam , Pat Hingle , Nehemiah Persoff, among others . Being film debuts of Michael V. Gazzo, Pat Hingle, Martin Balsam, and Eva Marie Saint . The leading characters were based on real people: Terry Malloy was based on longshoreman and whistle-blower Anthony De Vincenzo ; Father Barry was based on waterfront priest John M. Corridan ; Johnny Friendly was based on mobster Albert Anastasia. On the Waterfront is widely known to be an act of expiation on the part of Elia Kazan for naming names to the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) during the Joseph McCarthy witch-hunts of the 1950s.

This trend-setting film has a gritty portrait of N. Y. waterfront and stand up well nowadays and resulted to be a huge financial hit , it is a winner all the way , as from a budget of just under $1 million, the film went on to gross ten times its production costs in its initial release. And winning eight Academy Awards , including : Best Picture , Direction (Elia Kazan) , Actor (Marlon Brando), special mention for Eva Maria Saint who gave a debut performance that won her the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, Cinematography (cameraman Boris Kaufman) , Art Director (Richard Day) . The motion picturre was compellingly directed by Elia Kazan , and it seems to be a direct response to Miller's play The Crucible. In fact , Kazan intended it as a direct attack at his former close friend Arthur Miller who had been openly critical of Elia's actions . Rating : Very good , above average , and a real must see . Well worth watching .

A Few Side Remarks on a Consensus Classic

[dougdoepke · 9 March 2014]

No need to echo consensus points, except to say the movie is indeed a powerhouse. Instead, I'll offer a few side comments. The production took place during the McCarthy era. Thus, I expect the catalytic role of Father Barry is no accident, appealing, as it does, to the aggressive anti- communist sentiments of the period. Apparently, initial preferences were to make the union gangsters communists instead of real gangsters. For various reasons, the communist idea was shot down and we get Johnnie Friendly, instead. Still, the religious message is spread on pretty thick by a forcefully effective Karl Malden as the working class Father.

In this same political vein, Director Kazan was never forgiven by large segments of the Hollywood left for naming names before the HUAC sub-committee on communist influence in the US. Apparently, he looked upon this movie as a defense of his role before the committee. After all, it's Terry's (Brando) willingness to testify about underworld control of the union that breaks their hold. But, of course, the movie couldn't end on a bland courtroom proceeding, so we get the powerful showdown on the docks, where Terry undergoes a purifying beating for his earlier collaboration with Friendly.

It's hard to say enough about the effectiveness of the decision to film on actual dockside in New Jersey. The uncompromising nature of that filming lends necessary grit to an explosive drama. Note too the ongoing sounds of the waterfront that keep reminding us.

Maybe I missed something, but I can't understand why the mob killed Charley (Steiger) instead of Terry once they knew Terry would inform. After all, what's going to motivate a guy to retaliate more than killing his brother. Charlie's dangling corpse does make for a powerful scene, as does Terry and Edie's expressionist flight down the shadowy alleyway. But the choice to kill Charlie still seems murky to me.

Anyway, these are a few side remarks on a much reviewed film that remains an undiminished classic, even after 60-years.

Powerful every time I see it

[jjh6519 · 10/10 · 3 October 2002]

Back in the early 1950's, after a movie had run its course at the theaters, it did not go to video. Nor did it go on prime-time TV, as that concept came up many years later. Instead, they put it on afternoon TV, sometimes around dinner time. Well, that's when I'd come home from high school, and got to enjoy free black and white classics such as "High Noon" and "On the Waterfront".

It made a moviefan of me for life. I remember the effect of "On the Waterfront", as I remember thinking about Terry Malloy in that final scene, "Wow, that guy's got guts! I wish I could be like him." Being just a typical Midwestern teen, I didn't know who Marlon Brando was, but I just was fascinated by this life of these good and bad people, on the tops of buildings and in the cold, wet streets and alleys of this far-away place near the waterfront.

Now, every time I watch it, years later, I still love it. Yes, there is definitely an attempt to make Terry into a Christ-figure at the end. That's no coincidence that he stumbles from having been beaten to a pulp, to walk and carry a hook on his shoulders, to lead others to a better life. (In the book by Budd Schulberg, by the way, Terry disappears after testifying and what is thought to be his body is found floating in a barrel of lime. But he has become a legend on the waterfront.) I love the powerful Elmer Bernstein score (glaring for our present tastes, but back then, exactly what people expected to hear during a drama -- you've got to wonder what a future generation will say about the constant replays of fairly irrelevant pop and rap songs as themes during most movies today, dramatic or comedy).

And being raised in a Catholic home, I found Father Barry to be a great dramatic figure, one of the only times I saw a priest portrayed as a gritty, brave, heroic person, not afraid to mix it up with the common folks in the parish. He smoked, drank and slugged it out. And he was not afraid to die for the right reason. Folks, that's true Christianity at work. And that's powerful.

A classic. A must-see. 10/10

Excellent performances; so-so story

[sme_no_densetsu · 7/10 · 1 July 2008]

Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront" is frequently listed among the greatest of all American films. It concerns a longshoreman's inner and outer struggles in exposing the corruption of union bosses.

Unquestionably, the strength of the film is the acting. Brando's performance in particular is one for the ages. He won his first Oscar for this role and Eva Marie Saint also garnered an Oscar in her introductory film role. On top of that Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb & Rod Steiger all earned Best Supporting Actor nominations. These accolades give an idea of the level of talent on display here.

Kazan's direction is well done as he strives for a gritty, realistic look. Shooting on location was an important part of that. Leonard Bernstein's score, on the other hand, is often overbearing. There's nothing wrong with the music itself, only the prominence of it.

The main area in which I feel the film doesn't quite deliver is the story. The film does a fine job of exploring the characters but I find that the underlying storyline doesn't really work for me. The main premise is a good one but after the initial confrontation I began to lose interest. The self-consciously 'inspiring' ending doesn't help, either.

All things considered, I give the film high marks for the excellent acting and direction which, unfortunately, are in service of a merely average story.

Protecting All That's Tragic

[JFHunt · 10/10 · 27 September 2005]

"Im just a bum sitting in a motor home on a film set, Brando said, and they come looking for ZEUS".

I think Brando was a guy who was perfect in the moment. All his power and shortcomings can be revealed in a single sentence. Other's might have been great and still more will be. But there's just something about him.

For me, Brando has always been the ultimate male. Simply put, bruiting desire. Brando represents the very definition of method acting, even though he was said to have hated the phrase. Being able to reach inside yourself and pull something out that kicks everyone in the ass. He was truly one of a kind. They say sometimes beautiful people are born under a dark cloud. I think Brando was born under a rain of thunderbolts. He was powerful and tragic.

On The Waterfront is basically a showcase for Brando. Everything coming together. This film is truly one for the ages.

I guess the only thing really wrong with this life is time.

A sense of dislocation

[Igenlode Wordsmith · 6/10 · 14 July 2007]

I queued for twenty minutes in a crowded cinema to get into this film, and was lucky to have even a sidelong seat... yet I was left in the end feeling disappointed.

The only people on the IMDb who fail to worship "On the Waterfront" appear to be those who hate its director - on 'ethical' grounds. Well, I care little enough about Elia Kazan's history or politics, yet all the same somehow I wasn't sufficiently impressed. The film features all the technical skill of Hollywood's Golden Age, supporting actors and establishing shots and, yes, innovative use of music; in many ways I'd rate it 8 out of 10. But the best film ever - the greatest star performance? That I honestly can't see, and I admit that the high expectations hurt my reaction to the result. But thinking back, I find the chief causes of my vague dissatisfaction to be twofold: Marlon Brando, and the too-convenient outcomes of the plot.

Brando I suppose I just don't 'get' - I saw him in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "One-Eyed Jacks", and missed whatever-it-was I was supposed to spot then. Where I'm concerned he holds if anything a sort of physical anti-charisma - the slouch, the mumble - and the acting that supposedly makes his contemporaries look like posturing hams, I simply don't see. And so in my ignorance, not knowing that this was held to be one of the greatest performances of the century, I was left with the impression that Marlon Brando was actually the weak link in this film.

The revelation that the character is thirty years of age comes as a real shock: he's treated and acts throughout as little more than a sulky teenager. The lack of expression may simply be skillful acting to depict the character's stunted emotional growth, but I'm afraid I found it hard to care much what happened to Brando's Terry Malloy, whereas Rod Steiger, with far briefer screen-time, brought brother Charley and his wrenching choice vividly to life. But there's nothing inherently wrong with the role of Terry, and I can't help feeling that it would have been fascinating to see what some other actor might also have made of it.

My other serious problem, unfortunately, was the way that the plot treats our heroes with kid gloves... thus undermining the whole sense of menace on which any "one man against the Mob" plot ultimately relies. Yes, the script is happy enough to bump off a minor character or two in order to emphasise the threat of Friendly's organisation, and yes, Terry does finally get beaten up. But compared to the summary justice administered to Joey Doyle or Dugan for far lighter offences, a punch-up seems pretty easy going - Terry's lucky not to fall victim to another 'accident'.

But the fact remains that up until then, our heroes have got away with open defiance. As far as the Production Code goes, Edie is evidently sacrosanct by virtue of her sex and the priest by virtue of his cloth (despite Dugan's portentous warnings, the worst the Father gets seems to be a rotten tomato). Brando is, one can only assume, preserved by being The Hero.

A highly dramatic assassination attempt amounts to no more than driving a lorry at him in the street, with no attempt to finish the job as he takes the bait and hangs around Charley's body to emote. He walks into his enemies' headquarters with no more protection than a single unaccustomed gun, and no-one even attempts to lay a finger on him... even after his own ally, equally unscathed, knocks him down! The worst repercussion he seems to face, for all the trumpeted bravery of his betrayal, is a petulant "you'll never work in this town again" - and even this is undermined by a convenient unheralded change of heart on the part of the workers who have never previously cared for him: the 'bum' who gets all the cushy jobs and now the traitor who broke the code of the docks, yet losing a fight suddenly makes him some kind of holy hero. I'm left with that feeling of manipulation: things happening or failing to happen because they meet the desired message, not because they further the emotional value of the plot.

Some aspects of the script are very well done, but I found myself with the jarring conviction that I'd just watched a film noir - and a good one, with all the skills and devices of the genre - with a tacked-on happy ending. In a great film, the plot should seem ordained, interlocking, inevitable. Here, I got the impression that the screenplay was more interested in showcasing big scenes for its star, and in an arbitrary moral, however obtained - maybe politics does come into it after all...

In many ways, the film is good; it's worth having seen. But I cannot truthfully say that I would recommend it whole-heartedly to a friend, let alone recommend him to put himself to trouble or expense to see it, as I did. That makes for a rating of 6/10. Without Brando, for my part, it would probably have been a seven.

(Edit: I was fascinated to discover by chance today that the uneasy strain between the basic story set-up and the final outcome is *not* in my imagination alone: it's the direct result of warring visions between writer and director. The character of Terry really has been 'sexed up' to provide Brando with a more significant and sympathetic role, and the apotheosis of the informer is all Kazan's idea - in Schulberg's published version, Terry winds up in an unmarked grave and Father Barry is the most important protagonist... It turns out that the dislocation that jarred me so can be traced with almost clinical exactness to this collision of two quite separate concepts of message and plot: frankly, it explains an awful lot!)

Magnificent statement about the power of one

[blanche-2 · 10/10 · 6 February 2007]

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke) The evil in 1954's "On the Waterfront" is the union bosses, brilliantly portrayed by Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger and their thugs. They are allowed to do business because of the fright, intimidation, and passiveness of an entire group of longshoremen, who either work or don't while the big shots take kickbacks and steal from them. Then Joey Doyle, who had agreed to testify against the union bosses, is set up by a clueless Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) and thrown off of a roof. His sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) is determined to find out what happened. But no one will talk. She shames Father Barry (Karl Malden) into taking more of an interest in what is happening on the docks, and he does. Still, no one's talking. Terry falls in love with Edie but still can't do the right thing. Another man is killed. When the killing finally affects Terry, he realizes something has to change.

"On the Waterfront" is one of the most amazing films ever made, directed by the great Elia Kazan. There were three Oscar nominations (Malden, Cobb and Steiger) in the Best Supporting Actor category, and the film took home the top acting awards, Kazan as director, and best film, best screenplay, best editing, best cinematography, best art direction. There was a nomination for Leonard Bernstein's fantastic score, and it's difficult to understand how he could have lost the award. This is the only film for which he wrote incidental music. It is fantastic, particularly in the tender moments between Terry and Edie.

"On the Waterfront" has the classic performance of Marlon Brando, a man who is loyal to his brother Charlie (Steiger) even though Charlie ruined Terry's fight career and now is part of the union corruption. Brando is sensational as a tortured young man (based on whistle-blower Anthony DiVincenzo) who knows what he should do, but the price is too high. It's his love of Edie that gives him a conscience. She's from another world and hasn't been jaded by life yet. It's impossible to believe that this role was offered to Grace Kelly, but it was. Why Kazan thought her cold beauty and finishing school accent would have fit into this scenario is beyond me. Saint is perfect - warm, strong, gentle and most importantly, comes off as the kind of girl who lives in a blue collar neighborhood.

Lee J. Cobb as Johnny Friendly (based on real-life mobster Albert Anastasia) gives a bombastic, violent, and scary performance; Karl Malden is letter-perfect as the priest who fights for Terry's soul; and Steiger is excellent as Charlie, a weak man who has taken advantage of his brother to feather his own nest. Karl Malden's character of Father Barry was based on the real-life "waterfront priest," Father John M. Corridan, who operated a Roman Catholic labor school on the west side of Manhattan. Father Corridan was interviewed by screenwriter Budd Schulberg.

The saddest thing in the film is the attitude of the young boy who helps Terry take care of Joey's pigeons. He's already been inculcated with the "D&D" (deaf and dumb) policy of the longshoremen.

The cloudy, rich atmosphere of the story is captured by the Hoboken, New Jersey locations - although this is a fictionalized version of events on the New York waterfront.

The end of "Raging Bull" is a homage to "On the Waterfront." The end of "On the Waterfront" will give you goosebumps.

Evil only triumphs when good men do nothing. When those same men stand up for what they believe in, they show evil for what it really is - cheap, lousy, and dirty.

A Classic

[Route 66 · 7/10 · 9 July 2004]

On The Waterfront is truly a classic piece of film history, combining key elements of the standard gangster/mob film with the incredible acting of Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint. The Cab scene is an incredible portrayal of Marlon Brando's amazing acting ability and the thought and feeling that separates this film from being 'just another gangster film'.

I also greatly enjoyed the rooftop scenes, as the director and actors played with the bumps and ledges in dynamic ways, with Brando looking over the lip of a roof, and people running the length of the roof, jumping up and down off the ledges and coming to a halt, eyes at another person's foot level. The rooftop added an incredible depth and intrigue to the parts of the film that were staged there, and I have never seen such well orchestrated rooftop scenes in a film.

On The Waterfront is a marvel of acting and directing that really captures the skill and power of Brando's performance. While a little slow at times, it truly is an excellent film.

The Film School Movie

[Lechuguilla · 5/10 · 15 December 2008]

Except for Karl Malden who overplays his role as a priest, the acting here is quite good. Rod Steiger, Lee J. Cobb, and Eva Marie Saint all give fine performances. And Brando is indeed terrific as Terry Malloy, the non-intellectual brick-head and former boxer who is torn between his own conscience and loyalty to a corrupt gang of bullies. His scene in the taxi with Steiger is his most famous in the film. But I actually prefer his performance in the bar, wherein he tries to console the sister of the dead man.

Apart from the acting, however, I find little of interest. The B&W cinematography, though competent, is nothing special, except for the scene where Malloy and his girl run through an alleyway; that scene is quite effective and a good example of noir lighting. Otherwise, the visuals are drab, cheerless, and dull beyond words. The low contrast lighting of the blue-collar shipyard area conveys a mood of bleakness and misery.

Most of the script's characters are humorless hoods and thugs devoid of sentiment or kindness. Everyone is angry, and they're angry through the whole story. There's not an ounce of humor anywhere. Conflict is both verbal and physical. This is a very talky script. Some of the longer scenes could pass for stage play material. I couldn't care less about the political intrigue that was the basis for the original film concept. And the film's background music is loud and overbearing.

"On The Waterfront" is one of several old movies that film school instructors like to use to show examples of high quality acting. Similarly, for a viewer to say he or she likes this movie would be "safe"; hardly anyone will force him to defend his opinion.

But times change. The movie is way outdated. Along with a number of other cinematic "sacred cows", "On The Waterfront" seems stale, bromidic, shopworn and tired. However "instructive" the film might be for new actors, I find it lacking in entertainment value.

Simply one of the best

[gerald-koh99 · 10/10 · 21 April 2018]

This is a film which has garnered a reputation as among the greatest films of all time and is fully deserving of such credit. Revolving around a ex-boxer turned dockworker, who is one of the hundreds of dockworkers under the corrupt and murderous rule of mobster Johnny Friendly and his army of assistants, he is gradually faced with the choice of continuing to waste his life under the tyranny of this system, or stand against the evil that this is. Along the way, he is helped by a girl whom he falls in love with and a priest from the neighbourhood parish.

Undoubtedly one of the biggest contributions to the greatness of this film is Marlon Brando's performance as Terry Malloy, which I firmly believe is the greatest of his entire career. His performance alone would probably be a good enough reason to at least be interested in the film, as he perfectly encapsulates the anguish and inner tension that his character faces throughout the film. Lee J. Cobb, playing Johnny Friendly, the mobster in charge at the waterfront, also turns in a brilliant performance as a domineering kingpin who will do absolutely anything to cover up his evil deeds, even at the expense of other people's lives. These are just two of the many great acting performances in this film, which also included Eva Marie Saint (As Edie, a sister of one of Friendly's casualties and Terry's love interest), Karl Malden (a tough, justice-oriented priest who plays a role in motivating Terry to stand up against Friendly) and Rod Steiger (Terry's brother and Johnny Friendly's right hand man).

On the Waterfront is also very well shot, not relying on spectacular cinematography or breathtaking special effects, but the sturdy, gritty black-and-white depiction of the harsh dockworkers' environment is phenomenal and helps to make the film more captivating. But above all else, it is an emotionally gripping story that leads you to empathise with the main character and the other dockworkers, as well as sensing a righteous indignation against the evil and injustice perpetrated by Friendly and his gang. You also journey with Brando's character as he is gradually led down a path of personal redemption. The iconic scene of Terry and his brother in the cab, as he pours out his heart in lamenting his wasted opportunities and regrets while resenting his brother's previous betrayal of him. This is undoubtedly one of the finest movies in American cinema that has ever been made, and totally worth watching for any film lover.

Still Packs A Wallop

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 1 February 2006]

Still powerful after all these years, it's easy to see why this film won so many awards. Even though it isn't classified as "film noir," it might as well be, as it has the earmarks of one: gritty, downbeat with a feeling of dread, magnificent black-and-white cinematography, etc.

It's certainly not a "fun" movie but if you appreciate great film-making, you have to rate this near the top of the list Not only is the direction (by one of the all-time greats, Elia Kazan) superb and the photography striking, the acting also is top-rate.

Marlon Brando was just riveting to watch in here and deserved all the accolades he received for his performance. Talk about a guy with mixed emotions and a tormented soul! Eva Marie Saint, as Brando's "conscience" and love interest, proved to be worthy in her role.

The rest of the characters were angry people, always shouting it seemed, always upset at someone. Even the priest, played by Karl Malden, was that way although one of his passionate speeches was remarkable to hear. How many films does one hear about Jesus Christ being everywhere men are? None I can recall, offhand. He, like Saint's character, also influenced Brando to do the right thing.

Lee J. Cobb filled his bill as the angriest of them all, the labor boss who would have anyone killed who dare speak out against his illegal practices, and Rod Steiger was his normal intense self as Brando's older brother. Hey, almost everyone was intense in this film. It gets you involves and wears you out by the end.

Steiger and Brando's conversation in an automobile fairly late in the film ("I couda been a contenda") is one of the most famous scenes in movie history, but I found many memorable scenes in this movie....too many to recount here.

Suffice to say if you are looking for a hard-nosed drama with great acting and photography, a film that still looks and sounds up-to-date in many respects, don't be afraid to give this "oldie" a look. You'll see why it's considered one of the best movies of all time.

More and more, the Rolled-out Dough will crook the Rolling Pin

[CihanVercan · 8/10 · 19 September 2008]

Terry lives in the shadow of his smart brother Charley the Gent working for a double-handed businessman of the underworld. He had his best times of his life during his boxing career, and has brought his dimes in for his brother. Charley's boss named Johnny Friendly is the man who is behind Terry's fame, but he is also the same man who nibbled his dimes from boxing.

The curtain opens with Terry working for Johnny Friendly to be participated in a murder. He does his duty and the murder takes effect. The victim was a labor, whose labor leader also works for Johhny Friendly. Terry turns gloomy when he finds out that the victim has been only seeking his rights when he became a rebel. Especially when Terry meets with the victim's sister his suspects grew. She reasons with him that there are two opposite sides: Johnny Friendly's rich and still-growing syndicate versus the dependent and needy workers who are driven into Johnny Friendly's punitive sanctions. Provided that Terry finds a third side: His own.

A run of the mill plot of the mid-20th century. Everybody is pretty much familiar with labor union issues. Mainly the subject gives nothing more than workers seeking out their rights. However, consider that it's Elia Kazan who ushers a new era of actors who rage the whole scenes and turn out heroes out of bums. On the Waterfront has surely inspired millions. For instance, in Robert De Niro's "Raging Bull", a prize-fighter like Terry Malloy turns out to be a stage actor and affirms Terry's speech of reproach to his brother, where no other words could describe his situation he fell into.

Marlon Brando's can-do attitude created an inspirational movement, imprinting our memory, that "If Terry Malloy can do this, yes; I can do this, and yes; everybody can do this". Subsequently movie makers began to deliver efforts and accomplishments to the silver screen in order to catch viewers' appreciations. On The Waterfront, Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando are those to remember together in the motion picture history.

Still a contender after all these years.

[jlspenc-35519 · 10/10 · 13 December 2022]

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, it, more than any other film, has inspired multitudes of people into becoming actors, screenwriters, and directors. Just the backseat taxicab scene between Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger alone served as a training ground in acting schools. And to illustrate how much reverence the script has earned, in RAGING BULL a washed up Jake LaMotta stands before his dressing room mirror reciting dialogue from ON THE WATERFRONT.

As with any great motion picture, there is a dark side, and this one involves Elia Kazan. A brilliant director on both the stage and screen, Kazan's leftist politics eventually got him subpoenaed to testify in front of 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 Kazan's way of justifying being an informer, an act he finally admitted to towards the end of his life. To his dying day, he remained a polarizing figure in Hollywood.

Kazan damaged his credibility even further 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 singer never forgave either one. To portray Edie Doyle, Grace Kelly was offered the role. But when Kelly declined so that she could work with Hitchcock, Kazan hired Eva Marie Saint, an actress with background in stage and television but about to make her silver screen debut.

Brando won his first Best Actor Oscar as Terry Malloy, an ex-boxer now making a living as a longshoreman on the Jersey docks. Once a promising contender, Terry works for Johnny Friendly (Lee J Cobb), a ruthless mobster -patterned after Albert Anastasia- who controls the 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 isn't 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 (Saint), an inexperienced girl/woman who's determined to find out who killed her brother. Edie's only ally is Father Barry (Malden), a tough 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 her that he's terrified of losing her. But all of a sudden, he's been subpoenaed to testify before the waterfront 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 in the morgue. It's in the famous can scene where we learn all 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 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 admitted they couldn't look away whenever Brando was on the screen.

Eva Marie Saint also took home an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her touching work as the sheltered Edie who is forced to mature quickly in response to the violence and corruption permeating 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 photography, 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,.an 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 one of the most imitated in the movies.

And I haven't forgot 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.

Great film with troubling political overtones

[mcrego · 12 November 2001]

There's no question that Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando are at their very best in "On the Waterfront". Kazan led a cast of solid talent in a morality play amidst the backdrop of the Depression-era New York waterfront. Brando, much calmer than in his mercurial performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (also directed by Kazan), personifies the best in "Method" acting, perfectly engaging the viewer with his genuineness as Terry Malloy.

In the most famous scene, Brando, a has-been prizefighter, confronts his brother (Steiger) who is about to set him up to be executed by the mob bosses of the union. When Steiger reveals his intent to set Brando up, the scene explodes with reality and pathos. Brando's words, "Wow", sum up the intensity and emotion of the scene.

Great acting and directing, however, cannot cover up the transparent political/apologetical intent of the movie. Two years earlier, Kazan had sold out his integrity to the House Unamerican Affairs Committee (HUAC), "naming names" of those who would become the blacklisted Hollywood 10. Kazan, a former communist himself, regretted his involvement with the Party, and evidently decided it was politically advantageous to name his former associates. Likewise, Brando character Malloy finds himself in a mob-run labor union, and in his effort to 'get out', repeats much of what Kazan did in real life. Worse, Kazan, through the allegorical message of the film, brands his former writers as criminals and murders, and himself as the naive innocent. Being a communist was no crime in the 30s, and he was no innocent.

"On the Waterfront" is thus steeped in a right-wing political worldview. Mobs run labor unions. Unions are thus corrupt organizations who exploit workers and make it harder for businesses to thrive. Turn in union leaders into the police. Even the church becomes a tool of the state to further the cause of the police against the union.

Brando was never satisfied with "On the Waterfront". In fact, he later commented that it was indeed a tool for Kazan to justify his actions to the HUAC. One thumb up for the acting, one thumb down for the cheap political message.

Either it works for you ...

[Vic_max · 6/10 · 18 June 2008]

... or it doesn't. This movie is considered a classic, but it may not appeal to as broad an audience as it once did. Unfortunately, I ended being part of the group that it did not really appeal to. As ground-breaking and artful as this movie may have been, to me, most of the elements were too commonplace by today's standards to be enjoyable.

The movie is about a dockworker (Brando) who witnesses a murder of a fellow worker who was going to testify against the mob. The mob, as it turns out, runs the docking business on the waterfront. Brando's character was comfortable playing "deaf and dumb" to the murder until he meets and falls for the murdered man's sister. Add in a priest that weighs heavily on his conscience, and you can see where the movie is headed.

The ideas involving whistle-blowing, inner moral conflict and even corrupt bosses vs. innocent laborers have been pretty well played out do date ... so as powerful as they once may have been, they are not quite as effective to a modern viewer.

Brando's performance was clearly good and will forever stand the test of time. The way he moves, speaks and even communicates through his body-language is impressive. We can perceive his conflict and struggle through his mannerisms and the delivery of his words. Good as his performance was, it was not quite enough to make up for the familiarity of the plot.

Because this movie is so well respected and celebrated, the prudent thing to say is to check the movie and see what you think. My rating only reflects the fact that it's not an automatic win in everyone's book; my guess is that you'll know in the first 15 minutes if this movie is going to appeal to you.

Still a contender after all these years.

[jlspenc-84630 · 10/10 · 14 March 2023]

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. 🔚

Another vastly overrated mafia-type flick

[Horror-yo · 6/10 · 8 February 2017]

You would think the equilibrium for cinema would be more than a mere one two punch sort of combo, that for a great film to be made it'd be required that it would master a number of things, not simply make sure it contains a couple things.

Here, Marlon Brando plays the sensitive big man, ex-prize fighter. The whole idea of the film is there's a mafia in town that's forcing an omerta city-wide and a few like a priest or others are standing in its way calling it out for its oppressive ways. So far, nothing revolutionary. Brando and Eva Marie Saint and the other actors all do a really good job at their roles. So far, we're at standard level.

Brando is linked to some key members of the 'mafia' mob including the big boss and tries to help out Saint's character, who's lost her brother earlier in the film. So he's torn between trying to help her out from goodness of heart and purity, and keeping his mouth shut; this is a major crucial theme in the film: you're either a "D n d (deaf and dumb) or a "canary" (a squealer).

The film is basically a constant strain between silence and speaking out the truth, but at no moment, despite the dramatic climaxes and attempts to draw in the viewer, is that theme explored in an interesting or particular light; we're just given these most obvious, common narrative and theme which are fine but by no stretch of the imagination anything unique or above 'good' in quality.

So as explained earlier in this text, sometimes you just need to put a couple of things together: good acting, an obvious but engaging theme, with a mafia-type environment. The film is well constructed enough, but not anymore than an endless myriad of others.

6.5/10.

My extended review of the film

[sol- · 10/10 · 9 August 2005]

My comments here are written in light of having watching the film for a second time. While I liked 'On the Waterfront' a lot the first time round, I appreciated it even more the second time. There are some slight negative points - the music is at times overbearing and the religious side it tries to bring forth does not quite work - but there is not anything significant that I would flaw the film on.

The acting is definitely the film's strongest point. Marlon Brando gives and intense and realistic performance. It is not just because of the famous car scene, or the well-known scene in the bar with Saint, that makes his performance great. It is everything that he does throughout, in particular the facial expressions that he captures on his face. Towards the end there is a scene in which he stands alone and just stares at his fellow workers. His expression is unflinching without being unrealistic. Eva Marie Saint is quite good too, also giving off a performance in which her face is central. However, there is less to talk about with her than there is about the supporting actors.

When I first viewed the film, it was Karl Malden's acting that stood out the most to me. His performance and character are powerful, however on a second viewing it seems a bit over-the-top, as does the whole religious side of the film in which he is involved. On the other hand, Lee J. Cobb is brilliant as Johnny Friendly, providing a fierce performance while not letting his character turn into a stereotype of evil. Then there is Rod Steiger, whose acting, after only one viewing of the film, I did not take much notice of. He is hardly there, and until the point when he instructed to talk with Brando, he does not have much to do. Indeed, Rod Steiger has very few good scenes in the film, however he is excellent in those scenes. It is incredibly realistic acting, the way he interacts with his brother, and the way he is torn between the mob and his family.

The next thing to mention is that this film could never be as effective in colour. The bleakness of the black and white prints is used well by Kazan. There are many shots of the characters, which just show their heads against a white sky: a bleak white sky. We cannot even see if it is cloudy or sunny day. The sky is as plain and as barren as what the future holds for each of the characters. Leonard Bernstein's music deserves a mention too. It is an electrifying score and often fits the actions very well. It is at times a tad overbearing (note the scene where Brando goes to Saint's house) as it has a tendency to over-ride the dialogue and the action. However, this does not subtract much from the overall picture.

The sound recording is very realistic. The dock noises can often be heard, which helps to set up the waterfront atmosphere, and there is one scene in which the noise of a ship plays a key element in a conversation between Saint and Brando. In that conversation it is metaphoric, and it could even be argued that it is only heard through perceptual subjectivity. The other noises are sharply recorded too, such as banging at the basement of the church. The photography is excellent, using shadows very well to set up the atmosphere, all of which is captured well with some glides and tilts.

One can praise a film for many different reasons, but it is not worth much unless one can explain what the film is about. I would say that 'On the Waterfront' is a drama about struggling against the restrictions of society, and of what it takes to stand up for what one believes in. However, I also see it as an exciting thriller about fighting corruption and the harshness of stevedore life in a community that is effectively run by gangsters. Perhaps it is about love and how relationships develop, and the events that help them to grow strong. I think different viewers will take some different out of it. And it is perhaps that, more than the artistic and cinematic qualities of the film, which makes it a great piece of cinema.

Hypocritical Meta-Fiction

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 30 April 2014]

ON THE WATERFRONT is considered to one of the great classics of American cinema . It's easy to see why . It's a story that involves a nobody standing up to a powerful and corrupt organisation and doing the right thing , of one man making a difference . However it's impossible to watch this once you know the background of the director Elia Kazan . A Turkish immigrant to America he started off in theater and along with Lee Strasberg introduced something called " Method acting " where the actor gets in to the psychological depths and motivation of their character and effectively becomes that character . Where as previously film stars like Clark Gable , Errol Flynn etc etc were always playing a different shade of themselves a new breed of actors in the 1950s such as James Dean and Marlon Brando brought the method acting style to cinema and the method hit new heights in the late 1960s and 70s with New Hollywood . Perhaps we should be thankful for Kazan ? Maybe but the downside was Kazan was not a nice person at all from a very important moral viewpoint

This film features a corrupt union who are fleecing the workers and lining their own pockets . The Waterfront Crime Commission are very interested in bringing down this corrupt union but they have a problem in that no one wants to talk to them and the union are more than happy to arrange accidents for suspected informers such as throwing people off roofs and fearing that former boxer Terry Molloy might snitch on them because they murdered the brother of a girl Molloy is falling in love with decide to put heavy pressure on him . You might like to consider that a couple of years previously Kazan was more than happy to testify in front of The House Of Un-American Activities and named eight former colleagues he knew from the American communist party with these eight people then being blacklisted . In effect he grassed them up and stabbed his friends in the back .With friends like that who needs enemies ? Continually this film screams that informing on " bad guys " is all that's needed for good to defeat evil and unfortunately while being a red might not necessarily make you a bad person there does seem to be some sort of moral equivalence of being a murderous gangster and someone suspected of leftist leanings . I mean it doesn't matter what someone has done because if they've done something wrong then they've only got themselves to blame if someone snitches on them isn't that right ? . A snitch is a good thing

There's also a large dose of irony . The only character with a moral compass is Father Barry played by Karl Malden . Yeah I mean a Catholic priest makes for a superlative role model . Yeah I'm sure if Father Barry found out about a paedophile ring for example he'd be round the police station right away naming names ? Or maybe not . After the death of a longshoreman who knows too much Father Barry pleads in the name of Jesus for the workers to rise up against their cruel union bosses who are taking the bread from hungry babies and using it to pay for expensive suits .Let's think about this for a tiny second . If the character of Barry wasn't a priest and just an ordinary worker , and who doesn't mention Jesus and pointed out the exploitation the workers were experiencing what sort of person would Barry be ? No doubt a good guy but one with leftist , almost certainly fundamental Marxist leanings , in which case he'd automatically be blacklisted as a filthy red . Oh it's an entirely different ball game now eh comrade ? Yet another example of Americans not getting irony . And remember - no one likes a snitch

not so good

[rdonald-2 · 4/10 · 24 March 2006]

After loving Brando's incandescent performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire", and conditioned by the hagiographic treatment it gets in film history, I was psyched to see "On the Waterfront". What a disappointment. Karl Malden's "acting" is wooden and banal. Brando seems constrained (almost bemused at times) and halfhearted at best. The Bernstein score is an annoying and distracting retread of "West Side Story". The screenplay is full of stilted dialog, with a plot (apparently developed with the creative consultation of J. Edgar Hoover) that was hackneyed 15 years before the film was made. The supporting characters are stereotypes from gangster movies from the thirties and forties. A prime example of a movie perhaps somewhat blindly worshiped.