On the Waterfront (Special Edition) Reviews

• It was you Charlie....it was you.

  
  By ARA48345JZPZR on 2001-03-25
  If you want to know why Marlon Brando inspired and influenced an entire generation of actors, see On the Waterfront. His Terry Malloy is real down to his fingernails. Brando in his prime took and held the screen like no one else, absolutely magnetic, whether as a seeming uncaring pug with unawakened nobility in his heart (Terry) or a Mexican revolutionary (see Viva Zapata) or a racist jet ace (Sayonara) or whatever.

  Matching Brando is a perfect cast. Karl Malden, Eve Marie Saint, Rod Steiger, Lee J. Cobb, there isn't a missed note or lesser performance from any of them, not to mention the thugs and real-life dockworkers surrounding them. Elia Kazan was an actor's director, and his skill at eliciting superior performance is nowhere more evident than here. He also knew how to make a movie, and his work with the camera and pacing is first rate. The B&W photography is gritty, beautiful and serves to locate the film in time and place while eliminating distraction from the performances.

  You must know the story by now, culled from the real dockside union problems of the day, Budd Schulberg & Kazan fashioned a story that is about courage, loyalty (misplaced and otherwise), responsibilty and the willingness to stand up for something, stand alone if need be, and in that stance to risk the mistrust and misunderstanding and ostracism of your friends, your society, and the loss of your place in the world and even your life. They created a powerful melodrama of greed & corruption, of the struggle with compromise and conscience, of loss and redemption.

  Frankly, this is just great movie making. It isn't done any better than this, and if for some reason you have never seen this film, treat yourself to excellence.

  This is one of the best, don't miss it, and don't miss one of our greatest actors in his prime.
  
  

• A dramatic triumph!!!

  
  By A21LFSJSUSLKY7 on 2004-05-10
  "On the waterfront" is one of my favourite movies of all time. Marlon Brando is superb in this film and the dramatic tension throughout the entire production is a testament to the filmaker's skills. The acting, cinematography and script are all top-notch here.

  To the guy who wants this in widescreen, widescreen was not used greatly in 1954, the previous year saw the first use of it with "the Robe" so I wouldn't be holding my breath to see this one released in widescreen! For the other guy who won't watch it unless it's in colour, I hope your joking!! Talk about spoiling a great film.

  Thanks for reading and buy and enjoy this dvd.
  
  

• Brilliant film, great camera work -- lousy history!

  
  By AT4AHI9LCP0UD on 2005-04-04
  I highly recommend this film, but give it only 3 stars for history's sake. The portrayals of Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy and Rod Steiger as his corrupt brother who has a change of heart (not to leave out Eva Marie Saint as the girlfriend, and Lee J. Cobb as the rotten union boss) have become icons of great American cinema. The cinematography can't be beat. I love watching it.
  
  But what this film could've been if it only told the truth!
  
  Director Elia Kazan and writer Budd Shulberg created this effort as an apologia for their collaboration with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) during the Red Scare of the 1940s and 50s. Read the Communist Party as the Mob, the misguided longshoremen unwilling to testify agaist the mob as the Left who refused to cooperate, and the valiant Terry Malloy as Kazan and Shulberg and you get the picture. The truth is far more interesting, for in order to glorify themselves Kazan and Shulberg had to ignore the role of the Left in fighting the Mob on the New York docks.
  
  The film opens just after Terry's pal, Doyle, is murdered by the mob for his willingness to testify before a Gov't commission. The lonely cries of the longshoremen for justice is a direct allusion to the murder of the real-life Pete Panto, the fiery organizer buried alive in a lime pit by the mob. Back in 1939 it was "Who Killed Pete Panto?" that was yelled out in the middle of the night and scrawled on the walls. The irony is that Pete Panto was a Lefty working for Harry Bridges, the West Coast longshore leader and perennial target of the Red Hunters. Harry recruited a number of organizers to help the New York longies fight the mob, and many ended up alongside Panto. We now know how and why. The FBI was bugging Harry's phones. When they learned of another organizer they in turn would notify the leaders of the mob-dominated ILA, the east coast union, who in turn would make the guy disappear. Fighting Communism they called it.
  
  The role of Karl Malden, as the fighting labor priest, is also interesting. This role is modeled after Father John Corridan of the Xavier Institute of Labor Relations (Fordham University). Although bitterly opposed to one another, the labor priests of the Xavier Institute and the Communist Party were the only two outlets for the embattled longshoremen. Even Corridan had to admit, "The only constant information dispensed on the waterfront
  comes from either the Communist Party or from this school." It was indeed dangerous, as portrayed in the movie, for longshoremen to show up at meetings held by the labor priests (there was more than one priest), but the fact of the matter is that up until 1948, it was the Communist Party that carried the fight on the waterfront. For instance, it was Sam Madell of the CP who organized "Backpay Committees" in Brooklyn, Hoboken, and Baltimore. Several thousand longshoremen joined these committees to fight for the overtime and backpay siphoned off by the ILA leadership. Many of the New York Longshoremen were Italian, and Catholic by birth, but they remembered with some bitterness the Italian church as part and parcel of the status quo. In turn, they also remembered the Italian Communist Party as the one institution that consistently fought for unions and the interests of laborers.
  
  The final battle (fistfight) between Terry Malloy (Brando) and Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb as the union boss) is, of course, complete Hollywood malarky -- particularly the closing scene as the triumphant Malloy leads the men back to work (which is exactly what Friendly wanted), with the Honest Ship Owner in the background waiting to receive them. Clearly, no such fistfight would've ended mob domination (Malloy would've been thrown off a roof within the week), nor were the ship owners neutral, honest, or benign. They were as crooked as Johnny Friendly. The real Longshoremen fought long battles with the mob and their corrupt union, with one wildcat strike after another, for years. Going out on strike and staying out was the only way, not walking back into the lion's mouth after a fistfight.
  
  The great irony in all this: Kazan and Shulberg defend their own behavior by comparing Communists to Mobsters in a movie about beleagured longshoremen fighting for justice on the waterfront, when in reality the Communists -- the very group that Kazan and Shulberg (and HUAC) were trying to destroy -- were risking their lives to fight the mob, and were the most influential group in the fight.
  
  All and all, I still love this film. I'm a softy for Brando and Steiger's brilliant work as two brothers, one who trusted, one who betrayed. "On the Waterfront" is an affront to history, but a great movie.
  
  At the time, many of the longshoremen may well have felt the same. Excited at first with the thought of their story being told, and with the notion of Brando playing one of them, they left the theaters terribly disapointed. One veteran of the times, in a History Channel interview, told of encountering Marlon Brando soon afterward in a airport waiting room. He introduced himself as a New York longshoremen, then asked, "How could you guys have betrayed us so?" Reportedly, the unknowing actor could only return a blank stare.
  
  
  
  
  

• VERY DISAPPOINTING TRANSFER OF AN AMERICAN CLASSIC

  
  By A1M9DQDGE07Q0U on 2003-03-11
  Columbia continues its downward spiral where its classic DVD output is concerned. "On The Waterfront" is not only a great Academy Award winning film, it is an American icon. The plot is concerned with a union stooge, Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) who eventually realizes that the intimidation racket of his boss, Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) is an evil and destructive force in his community. Eva Marie Saint costars as Edie Doyle, the sister of a man who was thrown off of a rooftop on Friendly?s orders. It is partially through her love and the stoic commitment of Father Barry (Carl Malden) that Terry reforms his ways. Rod Steiger is particularly effective as Charley Malloy, Terry?s brother.

  Quite simply: this transfer is a let down. Contrast levels are extremely low, fine details are lost in video noise reduction enhancement and digital grit, grain and noise are detected throughout. The gray scale is poorly balanced. Scratches, chips and distortions in the original camera negative stick out like a soar thumb. The audio is mono and undistinguished. It's not a bad mix, though there are moments where a slight background hiss crops up. No extras! Oh, come on Columbia. This is one of your BEST PICTURES and it gets this kind of treatment on DVD?!? It ?could'a been a contenda'!?
  
  

• All the Praise is Well Deserved

  
  By A13LU15OCKJXM7 on 2005-12-25
  Tons of praise has been heaped on this film, and there is a very good reason why: This film is as good as it gets! Combine an A1 screenplay with the masterful direction of Elia Kazan and the powerful acting of Marlon Brando, and there should be no surprise that you get a great movie.
  
  Brando plays Terry Malloy, a Hoboken dock worker haunted by his lost opportunity to make it as a professional boxer. Malloy was a highly talented boxer who sold out his career throwing matches for the mob.
  
  Malloy sets up a co-worker who was going to testify against the mob-controlled dockworkers union. After this co-worker is murdered, Malloy falls in love with the victim's sister (played by Eva Marie Saint). He ultimately seeks redemption by agreeing to testify against the corrupt union leaders.
  
  The Screenplay had special significance to Kazan as he had testfied truthfully before HUAC and, for so doing, was vilified by his former Stalinist cohorts and their liberal apologists.
  
  With his performance in "On the Waterfront," Brando outdid even himself, setting a new, higher standard of acting excellence. Previously, actors were supposed to concentrate on their outward appearance. Brando found his characters by focusing on the inside.
  
  You will notice that there are very few negative reviews of this film at Amazon, and that's partly because it takes a very creative reviewer to find something to criticize in it. It is truly a work of art and one of the greatest films of all time.
  
  
• One of the best films of all time
  By A3CWH6VKCTJAD on 2000-11-21
  Often mentioned among the greatest films of all time, this gritty story of corruption in the longshoremen's union and one man's courage to resist the mob bosses, hits with the force of an emotional sledgehammer. The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won 8 including best picture, best actor for Marlon Brando, best director for Elian Kazan and best supporting actress for Eva Marie Saint in her feature film debut. The acting talent was so deep that four cast members (Saint, Malden, Cobb, Steiger) were nominated in the best supporting actor category. The film was also rated number 8 on AFI's top 100 list of the twentieth century.

  The story focuses on Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), a small-time former boxer whose brother was highly placed in the corrupt longshoremen's union. Terry lures out Joey Doyle, an informant and friend of his, so the mobsters can deal with him. Terry thinks they are going to rough him up to keep him quiet, but instead, they throw him off a roof to his death. The guilt begins to gnaw at Terry, compounded by the fact that he is falling in love with Joey's sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint). He is further urged to inform on the mob by Father Barry (Karl Malden) setting up a dramatic confrontation with the union.

  The setting was highly realistic, filmed on the docks of Hoboken, NJ with the New York City skyline as its backdrop. Most of the extras were actual longshoremen who worked on those same docks. The use of black and white film rather than color only served to enhance the dramatic effects.

  This film was a vehement and personal political statement by Elian Kazan. Kazan had just finished testifying before the House Unamerican Activities Committee, naming former associates who were affiliated with the Communist party. As a result, he was ostracized by most of the filmmaking community. "On The Waterfront" became his personal mission to justify his testimony. He looked at Terry as his own alter ego. In one scene, a union boss shouts, ``You ratted on us, Terry,'' and Brando retorts: ``I'm standing over here now. I was rattin' on myself all those years. I didn't even know it.'' This was Kazan's defiant statement in response to the vituperation of his critics.

  For this reason the film was reviled by the Hollywood elite and Kazan vilified as turncoat. In his 1988 autobiography, he wrote about how he felt after the film won 8 Oscars: "I was tasting vengeance that night and enjoying it. `On the Waterfront' is my own story; every day I worked on that film, I was telling the world where I stood and my critics to go and **** themselves.''

  The political agenda aside, this was brilliant filmmaking. The story had gut wrenching power, a classic struggle between good and evil with one man defying insurmountable odds and certain death to stand by his beliefs. It contains one of the most memorable and most quoted scenes in film. Brando gives his now famous "I coulda been a contenda" speech in chastising his brother for selling him out and making him take a dive so the mob could win the bets they laid on his opponent. The ending of the film is one of the most triumphant in filmmaking history.

  The acting was superlative across the board. Brando's performance is without question one of the most unforgettable ever. His character was a simple man with extraordinary courage making him an amazingly attractive hero. The anguished torment he portrayed was deeply affecting. Karl Malden was electrifying as the defiant priest who stood with the union members to encourage them to oppose corruption. Lee J. Cobb was also fabulous as Johnny Friendly, the crooked and maniacal union boss who would stop at nothing to maintain power. Rod Steiger gave a fantastic performance as Terry's older and "smarter" brother who was nothing more than Johnny Friendly's stooge. Eva Marie Saint was compelling as the courageous sister of the slain longshoreman. Also playing minor roles were a very young Fred Gwynn and Martin Balsam.

  This is one of my favorite films of all time. Of course, I rate it a 10/10. It is required viewing for any classic film buff. Its power cannot be adequately described, it must be experienced.
  
  

• it's a shame it's modified format!
  By A1Y36EPZ2D1G2S on 2002-02-14
  I am disappointed to see this movie in 1:33 aspect, and not in full screen. Why would such a great movie be released in a "modified" format?
  
  
• An American Classic
  By A1I8JJ0RUEPETD on 1999-12-29
  In On the Waterfront, all the elements of great film making meet so ideally that the subtext of Kazan's self-justification becomes a non-issue. Those who dismiss the film because they villify its maker have a personal ax to grind and forget that great art is often achieved by very flawed artists. The plot turns Greek tragedy (and Shakespearean) on its ear. Brando's Terry Malloy is a self-proclaimed bum with no apparant redeeming virtues. But he rises to greatness when one virtue surfaces and exhalts him. It is not a sense of duty to break the corrupt union that saves him. It is love--for his brother and for the girl whose brother he has helped to murder, although unwittingly. The acting, from Brando all the way to the slightly smarmy government agents and the thugs and hangers-on who do Johnny Friendly's dirty work, is supurb. Kazan has said that Brando's performance is the greatest in American film history, and I agree. He is so inventive and so unlike anything that had ever been seen at that time. Though his character is certainly not subtle, Brando's performance is immensely subtle. I'll mention one emotion that is central to the theme of the story: indecision. In the scene in the bar (with Eva Marie Saint), he suffers a moral agony unfamiliar to him as his attraction to her, his horror at her brother's death, and his misplaced sense of "don't squeal" values hold him in conflict. This indecision comes to its conclusion, again in a bar, when he struggles with the same sense of allegiance and his hatred for Johnny Friendly. Kazan achieves one his most brilliant insights when Brando hurls the pistol at the mirror which holds his own reflection: his decision is clear. (Interestingly, Kazan used a smashed mirror to convey an entirely different idea in "Streetcar"). The music, which is indeed by Leornard Bernstein, not Elmer, is as elemental, brutal, and blood-stirring as is Kazan's direction and Brando's acting. I've seen Citizen Kane and the other films that some rate above this one, and I don't get it. On the Waterfront is America's great movie, the product of two geniuses at their best.
  
  
• The Contender
  By A3K5IMGDCDBCNF on 2000-11-22
  I have heard people say that they do not understand why this film was seventh on the A.F.I 100 Greatest American Film Movies list so perhaps I can tell you what I think. When this movie came out the Committee for Un-American Activities had just completed their search of Hollywood for communists. In the 50's this was a big deal and people in the business were blacklisted form working in Holywood as a result. The director of this film, Elia Kazan, and it's producer, Lee Strasburg, both reportly gave names to the committee. This upset many people. After Kazan made On the Waterfront Terry Malloy's struggle became a metaphor for this time in Hollywood. It was a very bold statement at the time.

  That being said, this is also a fantastic movie even if taken out of that context. Marlon Brando plays Terry Malloy, a longshoreman, who does a favor for teamster boss Johnny Friendly which leads to a neighborhood friend, Joey Doyle, getting murdered. Joey was going to testify against the union that controls the docks. Terry will soon face a similar dilema when he is approached about testifying. Terry has become interested in Joey's sister(Eva Marie Saint), but his brother(Rod Steiger) works closely for the Union leader. Eventually his struggle will come to a head.

  This movie is great I don't really want to reveal too much about the plot. The story is timeless and very compelling. The performance from Brando is one of the greatest of all time(he won best actor). This film has stood the test of time and should be seen by any fan of cinema because it is quite an achievement.
  
  

• The quintessential Brando performance...
  By A2TV6SBCWT7P8S on 2002-08-11
  Marlon Brando's performance alone justifies watching this movie. Without mentioning any of On the Waterfront's other merits, it could be given 5 stars simply because of his brilliant interpretation of his role as Terry Malloy, the confused and inarticulate former prize-fighter. In addition to Brando's performance, On the Waterfront features great performances from the other actors, a compelling and realitic situation, and some really moving scenes and speeches.

  In On the Waterfront, Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) moves from an apathetic, cynical bum to a fighter who stands up for what he believes in. At first, in order to get work, Malloy cooperates with the corrupt union (it really is more like a gang) that runs things in the waterfront area. Although the union has murdered several people, the police cannot break it up because nobody has the courage to stand up and testify against it. But by the end, through the guidance of a passionate priest and the beautiful, idealistic daughter of his murdered friend (Eva Marie Saint, who gives an excellent, Oscar winning performance in her first movie), Malloy finds the courage to testify against the union's boss, Johnny Friendly.

  Admittedly, the film does have its faults - the soundtrack, for instance, is overdone, and sometimes the director, Elia Kazan, gives the impression that he is trying to make certain scenes very deep (which strangely enough takes away from them). Overall, however, On the Waterfront is a great film - a classic in the true meaning of the word. Again, it is worth seeing for Brando's performance alone!
  
  

• Brando is excellent, but ...
  By on 2002-11-06
  Marlon Brando's performance is still watchable: subtle, surprising. So ... just damn good. He clearly modified his part on the fly, to make it compelling and real.

  But the movie is barely watchable: melodramatic, unreal, unceasingly moralistic, and the music by Leonard Bernstein is so badly over-the-top it makes you want to scream. The rest of the actors are all sporting their soap-operatic gestures and their radio voices and their canned character quirks. The script is well-structured but the dialogue is terrible ... except in Brando's case: he's like a magician who's stumbled into the middle of a high school play.

  By the way, the DVD is full-screen, not widescreen. Which is a shame, because the cinematography is quite interesting. The features on this DVD are worthless.
  
  

• More Than a "Contender"
  By A26JGAM6GZMM4V on 2003-07-08
  Most of the various lists of all-time greatest films include this one because it offers a rare combination of superior talent in all areas of production: directed by Elia Kazan...edited by Gene Milford...starring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, and Lee J. Cobb...art direction by Richard Day...a screenplay written by Budd Schulberg based on Malcolm Johnson's novel...musical score composed by Leonard Bernstein...with cinematography provided by Boris Kaufman. Producer San Spiegel accepted the Academy Away for best picture. Brando, Day, Kaufman, Kazan, Milford, Schulberg, and Saint also received Academy Awards; Bernstein, Cobb, Malden, and Steiger were nominated. As I viewed it again recently, I was curious to learn how well it has held up since it was released in 1954. It holds up very well indeed.

  My favorite scenes still have the same impact, most of them involving a conversation: when Malloy teases Edie in the mini-park, when Glover and Gillette engage him on the roof as he tends to his pigeons, the scene in the cab with his brother Charley...also when finds he finds his brother hoisted up on a wall, the scene in the barroom as he awaits Johnny Friendly's arrival, and of course as the film concludes when he somehow gets up and drags himself into the warehouse, followed by the other longshoremen. The integration of dialogue, action, and setting with music in these and other scenes is exquisite. All of the acting is outstanding. In fact, I cannot think of a single weakness throughout the entire production. Yes, that was Pat Hingle playing a bartender, Nehemiah Persoff driving the cab, and Martin Balsam as Gillette. And yes, that was Tony ("Two Ton") Galento playing Truck, one of Friendly's several thugs. There are so many other character actors with familiar faces who never achieved any celebrity but without whom this film could not have achieved its greatness. They include Pat Henning ("Kayo" Dugan), John Hamilton ("Pop" Doyle), and Barry Macollum ("J.P."). They deserve to have their names mentioned.

  We know now that there was serious and substantial opposition to making On the Waterfront because of the film industry's close ties with organized crime. We also know that the House Un-American Activities Committee was initially much more interested in Communist infiltration of labor unions than it was in any corruption by various mob "families" in the metropolitan New York York area. Nonetheless, the film was finally made. It has lost nothing during the past 50 years and I expect that also to be true for decades to come.
  
  

• It's a damn moth!
  By ARYL2DET8L7UE on 2006-05-09
  I knocked a star off the rating of this classic film because the quickie flip to DVD. I also have an old VHS copy(1984)where there's a moth(!)fluttering across the screen for several seconds. Some of it was cleaned up for this "Special Edition" DVD, but the editors obviously were dozing or had to get said product to market so you still inexplicitably see it fluttering around on the DVD version.
  
  Honestly, they were probably too lazy to get the orignal masters from the vault & just transfered the VHS version through the computer cleaning up a few dropouts, but not really taking the time to release a professional standard.
  
  That being said, the extra features are essential for film geeks. James Lipton gets almost teary-eyed talking about Brando's artistic choices & the famous scene in the cab has a great backstory.
  
  Maybe a "definitive" version of this release is still a few years away. Perhaps there's an even better version in pre-production for HD DVD or Blu-ray. Until then, there's tons of VHS copies floating around for cheap or classic movie weekends on cable.
  
  If rating this movie on its power as a story, then it's five star hands down. This is what Brando was capable of before becoming a victim of his own ego. The priest character played by Karl Malden is anything but preachy. He drinks & smokes w/the dockworkers & even throws a punch. Even though some reviewers on this forum don't get it, this is perhaps one of the best examples of the paschal mystery ever caught on film.
  
  
• So good it doesn't need us
  By A1Y8FBJLVK6LS9 on 2006-08-21
  This is simply one of those "required reading" films--part of the new Western Cultural Canon. If you are exploring older movies, or are simply exploring, you'll find considerable merit here: an excellent script, a dazzling Brando performance, a cast that's from top to bottom exceptional, beautiful direction, tremendous atmosphere and cinematography, and a dynamic score by Leonard Bernstein. It's almost an exercise in how to make a fine film.
  
  For younger people who may not have a good sense of what the past was like, or may have learned too much about certain struggles and not enough about others, this is an educational film. This is what New York City--and most of urban America--really looked like back in the Fifties. Get a good sense of that and you'll understand why so many back then were drawn to glass and steel skyscrapers and big colorful cars with tail fins--between the Stock Market crash in 1929 and the end of WWII in 1945, urban America was a mean and grubby place, and it took till the late Fifties to begin to change that. The mean and grubby characters are pretty accurate too--nothing glamorous about corruption and racketeering back then. It was a pretty sad world.
  
  I'm a little bewildered and saddened by some of the reviews this fine film has picked up.
  
  
• What Makes Terry Malloy Run?
  By A1LBBULBEREVEF on 2001-02-10
  For my money, On The Waterfront is an even better washed-up-boxer movie than Martin Scorsese's acclaimed Raging Bull. Strong words from a Scorsese fanatic such as myself (even if I prefer Raging Bull's lower key ending).

  Marlon Brando (Terry Malloy) gives an even better performance than I had any right to expect. In the hands of a lesser actor, it wouldn't have been as easy to care about this self-described bum. Rod Steiger, as Malloy's brother Charley, and Lee J. Cobb, as union boss Johnny Friendly, match him move for move. If I can't fault Eva Marie Saint's performance, she failed to make as much of an impression. I was reminded of Talia Shire in Rocky, which makes me wonder if the timid Adrian wasn't at least partly inspired by the purehearted character of Edie Doyle.

  The dialogue throughout, with the exception of a few of Karl Malden's clunky lines, manages to be both raw and poetic. It's eminently quotable stuff, but never comes across as flashy or merely clever. If you've read screenwriter Budd Schulberg's classic Hollywood roman a clef, "What Makes Sammy Run," this should come as no surprise; the guy had a way with words. (Unlike Terry, however, Sammy is a man who wins the world -- only to lose his soul...if he had one to begin with.)

  I saw On The Waterfront for the first time on a double bill with Raging Bull. It gave me a shiver to hear Robert De Niro (as Jake LaMotta) quote from Brando's famous taxi cab speech at the end of Raging Bull. I still had the image of Malloy's heartbroken face in my mind. In the book "Final Cut", author Steven Bach claims that one "RDN" co-wrote the script for Raging Bull, even if he isn't credited as such. I'd like to imagine that this scene is as much a tribute to On the Waterfront as it is from one great actor to another. How perfect that both would also win Oscars for their work in The Godfather Trilogy -- for playing the same character at different stages in his life.
  
  

• Gritty Drama
  By A1GN8UJIZLCA59 on 2001-10-25
  On The Waterfront was released in 1954, but even today, it remains one of the grittiest and uncompromising films of all time. Director Elia Kazan examines the seamy underworld surrounding the shipping docks in New York City. The starkness of the black and white cinematography adds a sense of despair. The main reason to watch this film, though, is Marlon Brando. His portrayal of a has been boxer is a text book example of method acting. Mr. Brando chews up the screen in every scene he's in and gives one the best performances of all time. There are some excellent supporting turns from Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb and a young Rod Steiger. Mr. Brando finally won the Best Actor Oscar after being nominated 3 times prior and Ms. Saint won Best Supporting Actor while the film took home the Best Picture award.
  
  
• WOW -- what a disappointment!
  By on 2002-03-26
  Can you all really be talking about the same movie I saw? The photography was drab, the dialogue pretentious, I could see the plot developments coming two miles away, Cobb's Johnny Friendly was as one-dimensional as Boris Badenoff, and I can't believe Eva Marie Saint got an Oscar for daring to go without makeup. What guts! As for Brando, His face was made up so that he was supposed to look like a fighter who'd taken one too many punches, but all he looked like was an actor with too much makeup. His Method interpretation was so self-conscious, so narcissistic, that he didn't seem to be truly aware that anyone else was ever in a scene with him. And come on, after the beating he takes, he's going to get up and stagger all the way to the factory gates -- and THEN also go to work? with every rib broken? And by the way, I'm sick of cigarette smoking, beer drinking priests in movies. This one does it, and so did The Exorcist. I've never known a priest who did these things, and why the Catholic Church would give public approval to such roles is a mystery to me. Kazan ratted on his peers and ruined careers and lives, and this was his valentine to himself for that horrible act. I for one was not entertained.
  
  
• "All I Wanna Know Is Is He D & D, Or Is He A Canary?"
  By A3I4EX7TBWUT1U on 2002-08-23
  "On the Waterfront" is a thrilling, landmark drama. While it remains as entertaining today as it was back in the fifties, it may be difficult for today's audiences to appreciate what this film was to audiences back in 1954.

  Marlon Brando stars as Terry Malloy, an uneducated longshoreman and washed up boxer who works the docks of New Jersey. Terry and the other longshoremen work for Johnny Friendly, a cold-blooded gangster and his fellow thugs who have taken over the dockfront union. Every day, Terry and the longshoremen come down to the docks where the gangsters decide who will work, and who won't. Since Terry's brother works for Johnny Friendly and Terry runs certain "errands" for him, he always gets picked. Needless to say, his fellow workers don't have the hightest opinion of Terry, always referring to him as a "bum".

  The working conditions are terrible. The longshoremen slave away for starvation wages while the corrupt union members live high off the hog. In addition, the longshoremen must steal cargo for the gangsters. Nevertheless, since the gangsters control the waterfront, the longshoremen have a policy of being D & D (deaf and dumb). Speaking out would mean certain unemployment and putting your life on the line. In addition, it would mean pointing the finger at your co-workers for taking part in the pilfering of cargo. Therefore, Terry and his co-workers stay D & D, complying with the corrupt union.

  Then one day, Terry finds his beliefs tested when he does a job for Johnny Friendly and unwittingly sets up one of his friends for a knock-off. It seems, Joey Doyle was prepared to sing to the crime commission about the corrupt union practices and the dockfront conditions. Matters are further complicated when he meets and falls in love with Joey's sister, Edie. Edie wants Terry to testify against Johnny Friendly, while Terry's brother Charlie wants to stay D & D. With the crime commission investagators pressuring Terry on one side, and Johnny Friendly breathing down Terry's neck on the other, Terry begins to question his morals. If Terry testifies, then he will lose his job, the respect of his co-workers, and possibly his life. But if he stays quiet, then Johnny Friendly will get away with murder and the smuggling and poor working conditions will continue.

  "On the Waterfront" was made during a time when films that dealt with social themes were considered to be political hot potatoes and surefire box-office disaster. Darryl Zanuck reportedly turned the project down saying "Who gives a s--- about lonshoremen?" Zanuck was convinced that making colour and cinemascope films would save Fox from television, and that no one would go to see a black & white film about a seemingly uninteresting subject. Fortunately, Kazan was lucky enough to find Sam Spiegel who had a contract for Columbia Pictures. Spiegel, who would go on to produce "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia", agreed to produce "On the Waterfront".

  The screenplay by Budd Schulberg, was based on a series of articles by Malcom Johnson detailing actual dockfront smuggling and mob control. I remember reading a while back in the papers about some shipment smuggling going on on Vancouver's dockside, which makes me think that nothing much has changed since those times. The Terry Malloy character was based on an actual dockfront worker named Tony Mike, who risked his life to testify against the mob. Like the Terry Malloy character, this decision brought much scorn against him from his friends. The character of Father Barry was also based on an actual dockfront priest who tried to stand up for the longshoremen.

  Kazan directed the film on location in crisp black & white in the dead of winter, giving the film a realistic feel. Often overlooked is the great score by Leonard Berstein, his only one written directly for the screen. It adds immeasurably to the dramatic effect.

  Last, but not least, this film gave Marlon Brando one of his most famous roles. Brando is one of Hollywood's truly great actors and this is one of his best performances. Like Kazan and Brando's previous collaboration "A Streetcar Named Desire", this film helped to revolutionize movie acting with Brando's naturalistic performance. Pay special attention to that scene where Eva Marie Saint drops her glove and Brando picks it up and puts it on his hand. This was not rehearsed, Saint accidentally dropped her glove but Brando kept things going by improvising.

  Perhaps the thing that left audiences at the time thinking, was the way the film attacked the conventional "don't rat even if you know they're guilty" mentality. How many of us know how that message is pounded into us from the time we enter childhood? Terry Malloy showed us that ratting is not always a bad thing to do. Sometimes, it is those who stay quiet about things they know are wrong who are the real rats.

  As Terry says, "I was rattting on myself all them years and I didn't even know it."

  Now there's food for thought.
  
  

• Filled with genius, and not just that of Brando
  By AQIRBENYADT43 on 2005-08-23
  It would take a truly stunning performance from Marlon Brando to relegate his performance as Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather' to the second best of his career, but this is what Brando delivers as Terry Molloy in 'On the waterfront'.
  
  Only his staggering abilities were able to outshine those of Karl Malden who plays the local priest. The intensity and passion that Malden brings to his role electrifies a number of pivotal scenes in the movie. Indeed were it not for the famous taxi cab scene it may well have been Malden's scenes that were quoted and re-run on television for years after.
  
  One of the wonderous things about this movie is it's ability to find beauty in the ugliest of settings and among the most base and unpleasant of social groups. Terry refuses to succumb to the drab inevitabilities of life on the waterfront, and strikes a chord with the audience when he hits out that he "could have been a contender". This scene and indeed the entire movie will touch on feelings in audience members of missed opportunities in life, and the idea that no matter how far someone drops they can always salvage some dignity and pride.
  
  As Oscar Wilde said "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars"
  
  
• One of the best...ever
  By A33L7G4E8CID3 on 2001-11-28
  On the Waterfront is an enduring masterpiece. It stars Marlon Brando in the legendary role of Terry Malloy, who is an ex-prizefighter and is now a longshoreman. On the docks he is D and D (deaf and dumb) to the corruption and murder that surround him. Yet Terry just goes through the motions until he can no longer just plod through his life. His friend Joey is killed by union boss Johnny Friendly and he begins to fall for the dead man's sister, who tries to get him to follow his conscience. This escalates into suspicion by Friendly and the death of his brother Charlie, which forces Terry over the edge to become a "cheese-eater" and tell of the illegal activities that his union is involved in. But, unfortunately, he is blacklisted for threatening the order. This is a tremendous film that is as exciting today as when it first opened, Brando is truly astonishing as Malloy. He really becomes the character. His "I coulda been a contenda" speech is one of the most immortal moments in all of film, and was repeated verbatim in Martin Scorsese's excellent film Raging Bull. Great camerawork and realistic set and wardrobe decoration just pull us into the action. This movie is a must see. Now it is available in a special edition DVD with a load of special features, which makes it an even more collectible item.
  
  
• "It wasn't him, Charely, it was you."
  By A1F6DHVFE1ZIXX on 2002-01-17
  Marlon Brando. What can you say about this guy? He's the greatest actor ever. Every single role he plays is at least as good as, say, De Niro in Raging Bull. Except for this one, because this one is the best. Wow. You might have heard the famous "I coulda been a contenda" speech but if you haven't seen the movie, you are missing out on one hell of a ride. I'm 17 years old and I absolutely love this movie. The minute it was over I was seized with a feeling that I had to see it again.

  The mob hit at the beginning immediately grabs your attention and it doesn't let go until the final credits. Thoughts of the movie will stay with you long after that, however. That's how I think you can judge how good a movie is, by how long you are thinking about it afterwards.

  This is the story of Terry Malloy, a washed up boxer who now is working on the waterfront, which is controlled by the mob (which was true in real life). Eventually, Terry has to decide whether or not he should go against the mob or just keep his mouth shut and his eyes closed like he had done in the past. I won't say anything more than that, because I don't want to spoil it for you. Just let me say that this isn't one of those movies with a huge surprise ending or dazzling special effects, it's simply a great drama that leads up to an exciting climax and holds you riveted from beginning to end.

  And to top it all off: the DVD treatment is incredible! It includes a commentary by critic Richard Schickel and Elia Kazan biographer Jeff Young which provides much incite into the making of the movie, a fascinating interview with Elia Kazan, a featurette, and the sound has been digitally mastered! It's not in widescreen, but it wasn't originally shot that way, so that doesn't matter (it was shot in 1.33.1, so full screen DOES preserve the aspect ratio).

  If you are still unsure, go up to the top of this page, and click on "quotes and trivia" and read some of the dialogue. That's what clinched it for me. And if you don't want to do that, I will leave you with the famous "contenda" speech:

  Charley Malloy: Look, kid, I -- how much you weigh, Slick? When you weighed one hundred and sixty-eight pounds you were beautiful. You coulda been another Billy Conn, and that skunk we got you for a manager, he brought you along too fast.

  Terry Malloy: It wasn't him, Charley, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.

  Charley Malloy: Oh I had some bets down for you. You saw some money.

  Terry Malloy: You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.

  Still don't know if you should buy this or not? What's wrong with you, then?!! Go buy it! NOW!!!
  
  

• More Than Just A Famous Scene
  By A1345VRK5MYG7 on 2003-06-14
  Marlon Brando gives a stunning performance as a former boxer who finds himself in the middle of a battle involving a mob boss who has overtaken a dockworkers' union and the law that wants to take that boss down. The film is most famous for the scene in the back of a cab where Brando tells his corrupt brother Rod Steiger that Steiger guided him wrong, telling him to take falls instead of letting him become the boxer he could have been. He could have been a contender, but instead is just a "bum".

  But there is more going on than just that famous scene. This film is compelling in tbe way it presents one man's internal conflict over his own actions and whether he should inform, as well as his conflict with the mob he has grown to hate, but also fears. Brando plays all sides of these conflicts with such charisma and depth.

  He is well supported by strong performances from Eva Marie Saint, Steiger, Karl Malden, and especially Lee J. Cobb in an explosive role. Director Elia Kazan packs a number of scenes with a real dramatic punch, building to an unforgettable climax. There is a toughness and strong urban feeling created by the stark black-and-white photography and location shooting. On The Waterfront is both a social drama and character study, and in all respects, a great film.
  
  

• Best Ever - Not PC
  By A83TWQ1J9YU0A on 2003-09-27
  This is my favorite American Movie - outstanding. Great story, great acting and the struggle are real - because it was and is real.

  The story of the American worker standing up and testifying against his mob run union and violating the standard of not squealing or being a "stool pigeon' is real.

  But, this story had other meanings during the 1950s - it was about American Communists who learned that their party, their movement was corrupt, rotten like the mob run unions had to decide whether to testifying, name names and go against the Reds in Hollywood.

  The Director here Ellie Kazan did turn against the Communists and he did cooperate with the House Committee on Un American Activities because he was a good American and he learned how corrupt and evil Communism was in Russia and here in Hollywood.

  For squealing and naming names, Kazan was the one who was Blacklisted, not the Communists who the PC Left always moans about.

  Look at this great American movie and decide who was right and who was wrong.

  I love this movie and hope someday great pro American movies can be made again in Hollywood.

  Until then I will support New Zealand movies like Lord of the Rings.
  
  

• A Great Conservative Epic Film
  By A2GOTTK868X1CR on 2005-02-27
  This is a great film among the usual sea of liberal trash
  produced in hollywood. The surface theme is good: A boxer,
  a true rugged American individual, is held down and corrupted
  by a so-called labour union run by thugs and criminals.
  
  They control
  and steal from good ordinary people through fear and violence.
  The only person to stand up against them does so because he
  has GOD on his side. And in the end, the rugged individualist
  is convinced to fight back because of the two things liberals
  hate more than anything: GOD and the love of a man for a woman.
  
  The boxer lives in shame as the film starts. Because he threw
  away his chance to be something on his own and for himself
  (a boxing contender). He threw it away because the bosses
  wanted him to do what was right for "the community" (meaning
  in reality the bosses themselves) rather than be a success in
  his own right. You can see in that the pure evil of communism.
  Its wrong to be successful, rich or better than other people.
  And if you are, you should not use your talents.
  
  Below the surface of the film is the struggle by conservatives
  in the 1950s against liberals and communists which were trying
  to infiltrate every aspect of american life and using communist
  labor unions to end freedom in america.
  
  As the lead character in the film did, the director of this film
  bravely came forward to tesify against criminals, communists
  and the like. And for being a patriot, he was persecuted by
  the hollywood liberals for the rest of his life. The liberals
  never would ever forgive a man who told the truth about how
  communists were creating anti-american propoganda through the
  movie industry and how unions were terrorizing people, stealing
  from them, destroying freedom in america and attempting to
  take the life out of american capitalism.
  
  This film is in many ways a "sparticus" for conservativism.
  As sparticus rose out of slavery in rome as an inspirational
  individual, the lead character here rises up out of the slavery
  of unions and liberalism to restore freedom to the people.
  You can see in that character William Buckley, Barry Goldwater,
  Ayn Rand or Ronald Reagan. Lone people standing against a world
  full of communists and liberals trying to destroy them.
  
  In a few years, when we have got the federal courts out of our
  businesses & lives, restored GOD to government & schools,
  have defeated terrorism and spread freedom to the rest
  of the world, this great epic film should be shown to all
  real american children along with books like 1984 to educate
  the new generations about the evil of the liberals and what
  could happen if they let those people take over America again.
  
  
  
  
  
• Alternately irritating and poetic
  By A3H6MNSBAZDRJF on 2005-09-17
  There is a part of me that will never be able to enjoy "On the Waterfront." The reason is that the director, Elia Kazan, used this movie to answer his critics. Kazan had "named names" for Joseph McCarthy's "red-hunting" HUAC. Whether Kazan did this out of conscience (as he claims) or as a "business" decision, we'll never know. But On the Waterfront, a story about a "bum" who exposes the corrupt union bosses, is more or less Kazan's defense of his own actions. I feel that what Kazan did was indefensible, so I find the very foundation of the movie somewhat offensive.
  There's also some other reasons to not like On the Waterfront. Father Barry (Karl Malden) may be the single most annoying character in film history. Preachy and abrasive, he's a reminder of how smarmily self-righteous Elia Kazan was in making this movie. I also hate Leonard Bernstein's overbearing, pretentious score.
  So I can't really enjoy On the Waterfront for these reasons.
  But on the other hand, why do I have a copy of this film? The reason is that despite the smarmy political undertones, there are moments of incredible grace and beauty and humanity in the film. The relationship between Edie (Eva Marie Saint) and Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) is one of the most sensitive of all movie love stories. I particularly love the scene in the bar -- the way Terry begs Edie to drink some beer is so pathetic and yet touching at the same time. The scene between Terry and his brother Charlie (Rod Steiger) in the back of a taxicab is also justly famous. This is probably Brando's greatest performance -- it's Method acting at its best. Terry is not the most articulate character, so much of Brando's performance is in his body language. Shoulders hunched, head tilted downwards, chewing gum nervously, he portrays Terry as a loser who knows he's a loser.
  SO in the end I have mixed feelings about On the Waterfront. I find its political undertones very disgusting, but I also come back to this film for the wonderful performances.
  
  
• As a film of concern, "On the Waterfront" is about the best the American cinema has to offer...
  By AGZVS6M8XJGN6 on 2007-01-11
  It is difficult to come to grips with "On the Waterfront" On the one hand it has enormous strengths, indisputable elements of greatness, and on the other it is surrounded by ambiguities which cannot be wished away...
  
  The surface concern of the film is gangsterism in the trade-union movement... The film appears to be concerned with the exploitation of working men by the mob, and thus presents itself as a reformist picture, one that demonstrates a social ill and apparently hopes that it will inspire its cure... However, on inspection, this surface concern seems little more than a gloss, covering up a story whose real concern is the problem of whether or not a man should be an informer...
  
  Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) agonizes over this problem of informing... His moral dilemma is well drawn in the film... The crucial question of whether or not to "squawk"--which provides the film's suspense--is only resolved after incidents of considerable dramatic intensity... Elia Kazan will always be remembered as the director of some of the most vivid film performances of the fifties... His film constitutes an extraordinary tour de force of fluid direction and nervous, edgy acting...
  
  The scene between Rod Steiger and Brando in the taxicab--one of the famous scenes of American film--is an example of Kazan at his best... He himself takes little credit for it, insisting that the special way Brando says "Oh, Charley" is the key to its success... But the conviction of both actors, and the total truthfulness of their performances must be credited to a fine director working at the height of his powers...
  
  The same could be said for the scene between Brando and Eva Marie Saint, when Brando--haunted by his complicity in the "shape-up" scene, faces a crisis of his own conscience... It is a love scene of enormous power... Brando's love for Edie Doyle, his anguish at what he must say, and her reactions to both, make it one of the truly exquisite moments in cinema acting...
  
  Eva Marie Saint is not exceptionally beautiful, but manages to make the blood go through Brando's valves reviving and creating a heart that never existed before... There is a melancholy in her eyes, an exquisite sweet sadness...
  
  Cobb is excellent as the arrogant racketeer Johnny Friendly, 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 Charley, the clever and suave opportunistic lawyer, who works for the local docker's union headed by Johnny Friendly...
  
  Karl Malden is hard and clear as the activist Catholic priest who defies the abuse of labor racketeering, and urges Brando to fight for his rights and control his own destiny, 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 wonderful light on the violation of justice, but because it is a powerful piece of film drama, which propels a classic study of man's responsibility to his fellow man... The motion picture was nominated for 11 Oscars and won eight... The actors were all convincing, even the smaller parts for thugs...
  
  
  
  
• A Triumph On Every Level
  By AK2Q7ML2RANDN on 2002-07-23
  "On the Waterfront" has such a formidable reputation that almost anyone with some film knowledge has heard of it whether they have seen it or not. Often, one is disappointed with the end result after hearing about a classic for so long that it becomes larger than life. This film more than lives up to the accolades that have fallen upon it over the past fifty years. The story is a gripping one, and it is told with such grim flair that it's impossible to tear your eyes away from the screen. The script is spare and effective, the black and white cinematography chilling in its complete absence of color. Still, the performances are the stand-out aspect of "On the Waterfront". Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, and Lee J. Cobb give what most actors could only dream of calling the performances of their careers. They are a powerhouse group; it's amazing that each continued to turn in equally impressive work throughout their careers.

  It truly does not get better than "On the Waterfront". Ignore the controversies behind the politics of the script and of director Elia Kazan and bask in the glow of a great film.
  
  

• Perfect
  By A3H4EV4UMST3HV on 2005-08-25
  Is Brando's performance as Terry Malloy in On The Waterfront the best screen performance of all time? Well I have never seen a better one. Watch this film and see why Brando was so highly rated. As the ex boxer turned longshoreman/borderline gangster, Brando gives a perfect performance. Yet Brando does not dominate the film, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, Lee J Cobb and Eve Marie Saint all give marvelous performances, which but for Brando's would all be remembered as a high point of film acting. Malden, Cobb and Steiger were all nominated for the Oscar as best supporting actor.
  
  The story is about corruption on the Brooklyn Docks of the nineteen fifties. It is one of the few American films to portray the working class. The black and white shots of working class Brooklyn are the perfect background for a story of a loser struggling to do the right thing dispite the social pressures on him.
  
  Brando and Steiger in the back of the taxi cab is one of the greatest. if not the greatest, movie scene of all time.
  
  There is nothing false or overdone in this film. All to often in films and in life working class people are told that the way to success is to move out of their communities and leave them behind. This film is about real people struggling not to leave their community, but to make that community better. Realism is everything in this film, the acting, the costumes, the sets, the story. Even today the fight between Brando and Cobb at the end of the film is shocking in it's realism.
  
  On the Waterfront must have a claim to be the best film ever made, it is certainly one of the best two or three American films ever made.
  
  Watch and enjoy a perfect film which will leave you gasping at the talent of everyone who had anything to do with it.
  
  
• The mystery: What makes a great movie great
  By AHD101501WCN1 on 2006-05-10
  This is on everyone's list as one of the great movies of all time. It is also the movie I have seen more than any other. I actually in my younger days went to see it eight or nine times.
  Why? What was so great about it? Why did it seem so great to me then?
  Clearly there is something in the picture of the hero who fights back with courage and by doing the right thing seems to win in the end. The famous closing scene in which the beaten bloody- faced Terry Malloy leads the union- workers against the will of the Mob back to work, is a powerful and moving one.
  So too the picture of the hero Brando and the girl Eva Marie Saint, their love story. I did not even understand exactly what was going on in the scene in which he is trying to explain why he set up her brother without knowing that it was for the kill but rather just to 'rough him up a little'. That scene with the bleak sky and the train whistling and the two Terry Malloy and Edie still remains in my mind years later. The quiet restrained beauty of Eva Marie Saint .
  Other great scenes, the most famous one of all Brando in the cab with his brother Charlie the Gent ( Rod Steiger) The ' I could have been a contender speech' which is replied to by the brother ' Just take the money kid , before you get to 437 River Street'.
  The whole look of the picture. The black and white beauty.
  Karl Malden in his great speech calling for the union- workers to break the silence .'Every time .... it's a crucifixion'.
  That terrific fight between Johnny Friendly and Terry Malloy.
  All the political dimension of the film regarding Kazan and 'singing' before the House Committee was unknown by me then. I think the film still makes complete sense without knowing any of it.
  All this said, I still do not feel I understand why precisely this film spoke so much to me.
  In any case, it's a great one. And I am sure you will enjoy it.
  
  
• Early Brando reveals full-blown genius
  By A3JFYR9XFQQPTQ on 2007-06-26
  Superb performances by Marlon Brando and Karl Malden and Eva Marie Saint in this raw, gritty classic of union corruption on the NYC waterfront, offers a study of Brando's profound ability to become the tormented "Terry" with every subtle change of expression a reflection of the inner man. The film is as fresh and gripping today as it was 50 years ago and bears watching again and again for anyone who claims to be a student of acting, cinemantography or just plain great films that don't need to rely on special effects for their impact. - A. Madsen, Baltimore
  
  

• Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (Two-Disc Special Edition)
• Casablanca
• Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)
• Lawrence of Arabia (Single Disc Edition)