On the Waterfront

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.

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.

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

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.

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