18) On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront (1954)

Director: Elia Kazan

Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rob Steiger



The torrential rain outside meant that cricket was called and I had the afternoon at home. Kate felt like watching a movie and I'm always happy to, so we decided to watch On the Waterfront as she'd never seen it before, she was in the mood for something old and it wasn't too long (we had cleaning to do).

Terry Malloy (Brando), a one time prize fighter, works on as a longshoreman on the docks at Hoboken, New Jersey and runs errands for underworld figure and corrupt union boss Johnny Friendly (Cobb). Terry's brother Charlie (Steiger) is Friendly's right hand man. Friendly uses Terry to unknowingly set up the murder of a fellow longshoreman, Joey Doyle, who had threatened to go to the authorities about the corruption of the union bosses. When Terry meets Joey's sister Edie (Saint) he starts to feel the pangs of conscience. When he comes clean to her, Edie and Father Doyle (Malden) try to convince Terry to lead the way in testifying against Friendly and his gang at the Waterfront Crime Commission hearings.


On the Waterfront is an absolute classic. It won 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture and had a further 4 nominations. It has a screenplay which has been universally praised by critics as near perfect. It helped make Marlon Brando into a legend and it contains one of the most famous scenes in the history of American film (the famous "I coulda been a contender" scene between Terry and Charlie in the back of the car).


Marlon Brando is electrifying in this film, delivering what is probably the performance of his career. If you are only familiar with Brando as a fat, old man and you don't really know what all the fuss is about get your hands on a copy of this movie. This is Brando establishing his legendary status rather than just resting on it as he did later in his career (Superman: The Movie). This was the last of three collaborations between Brando and Elia Kazan, the director who gave Brando his big break in A Streetcar Named Desire and who seemed to be able to get the best out of him (Brando was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for every film he did with Kazan). His performance as Terry Malloy, a man tormented by his conscience and the frustrated by the knowledge that he was unable to be all that he could be because of his loyalty to his brother who never had the same devotion to him, is one of the most powerful in film history. On the Waterfront earned Brando his fourth Best Actor Oscar nomination (an amazing statistic given it was only his sixth film), won him his first Oscar and played a major role establishing him as the legendary figure that he now is.

Brando's performance is well supported though. Eva Marie Saint won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Edie Doyle, sister to the murdered longshoreman Joey Doyle and love interest/conscience of Brando's Terry Malone. Karl Malden does a great job as the fiery Father Barry and along with Lee J. Cobb and Rob Steiger earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. But despite having three of the five nominees in that category On the Waterfront did not claim that Oscar.

Interestingly, this was a very personal film for director Elia Kazan. In 1952, shortly before the making of this film Kazan had agreed to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee in naming colleagues associated with the Communist Party. By doing so, he was given a free pass and able to continue his career unhindered. This gives extra resonance to the scenes in which Terry stands up in court to testify against those his friends, and the way in which he is outcast by even those he thought he was standing up for as a result of it. Through the portrayal of Terry's actions Kazan is insisting that it was a sense of conscience rather than self interest which motivated him to speak up.

Unless you are one of those people who flat out refuses to watch black and white films, in which case you need to wake up to yourself because you are missing out on some brilliant films (These people do exist. When I worked at a video store I had a customer ask if they could exchange a film because they didn't know it was going to be in black and white. Philistine!), you have to see this film. An essential part of any film education.