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On the Waterfront
01 February 2010
One of my personal all-time favorite films is On The Waterfront, starring Marlon Brando. An all-star cast includes
Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, (in her first movie)Eva Marie Saint and several familiar faces of great character players in the 1950’s. Directed by the then-controversial Elia Kazan and screenplayed by Budd Shulberg it tells the true story of a local New Jersey man Malcolm Johnson who ratted out the Mob controlling the New York/New Jersey docks.
The main players were all schooled in New York by Stanislawski’s “Method Acting” technique. Brando and Malden had been in New York theatre together and teamed again for the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire in 1951.
I saw this movie in my hometown in New Jersey not many
miles from where it was filmed in Hoboken. Filmed in black-and-white it was a realistic portrayal of the hard way of life for long-shoremen. There were few scenes filmed on days with sunshine. Kazan wanted to convey in his no-holds-barred way what the main character, Terry Malloy, was going through as he comes to grips with the dirty business he was in while falling in love with the beautiful innocent Eva Marie Saint.
Brando’s transitions are absolutely flawless. Every facial feature and physical gesture was unmistakable for realism and
pain. He is the younger brother of Mob lieutenant Rod Steiger and
boss, Lee J.Cobb. He’s a has-been fighter whose glory days are long gone and is simply going through the motions of living.
He drifts from job to job, always provided by brother Charley.
No matter how many times I view this movie I am moved
emotionally almost as if I was back in the darkened Mayfair
Theatre more than 50 years ago. Everyone who loves film knows the famous “taxi scene” by heart – and like me never tires of seeing again and again.
With unfailing direction the film moves Brando from his
mindless wanderings to a self-directed quest for honesty and love
in his life. While losing so-called friends to death and isolation because of his search Terry Malloy becomes the real person he
always wanted to be. Eva Marie Saint (Edie Doyle) stands by him
as he fights the demons both inside and out to a bitter end.
One of America’s greatest cinematic achievements On The
Waterfront will be revered forever as a classic American story of the underdog who really wins in the end.
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