On the Waterfront

Rating:
Summary: Very 50's. Very good.
Review: OK, I'm no film historian or anything, but I've noticed the tendancy for movies of this era to try to take on large social issues using powerful, even forceful, vignettes. I've got nothing against this per se, although On The Waterfront really pushes the barriers. The villains are heinous, the hero is conflicted, the moral imperative is a little too clear cut. But can our guy turn on his own to do what's right? Well, that's for you to find out. I love this movie, because Marlon Brando seemed simultaneously larger than life and utterly dwarfed by his situation, thereby underscoring the importance of the message. Really, this is an excellent piece of [information]. Wriiten and directed by Elia Kazan, a man who ratted on his friends during the Red Scare, this movie makes being a sellout seem noble. Well done. Really.

Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary
Review: I remember seeing "On the Waterfront" when I was eighteen. It was thrilling. I wanted to enroll in an acting school the next day. However, our Navy wanted me for four years. This film and the performances inspired an entire generation to act. Kazan made some wonderful films: Viva Zapata, The Men, A Face in the Crowd, East of Eden, among others. The performances of Quinn, Brando, Dean, .....wow

Rating:
Summary: Marlon Brando at his best (Oscar)!
Review: "On The Waterfront" is easily one of the greatest movies ever made. It was great when this movie won the Best Picture Oscar and Marlon Brando winning the Best Actor Oscar. Brando is Terry Malloy, an ex-prize fighter, who could've been a contender, instead of a bum, which is what he is. He meets and falls in love with Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint, Oscar-winner), the sister of her brother who was killed by Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb, Oscar-nominated) and his evil henchmen. It was also great when Elia Kazan won the Best Director Oscar. I have "On The Waterfront" on DVD and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Who's in love with Marlon Brando? I AM! I AM!!!
Review: If you have ever seen A streetcar named desire, you know that Marlon can play a mean, brute of a man amazingly( I love that movie, he was amzing). But when he does sensitive and nice it's just heart wrenching. I fell in love with Terry Malloy, the bum who coulda been a contender. And when an actor makes you believe in a character so much and feel for him, you have to recognize and praise his greatness. Marlon, I don't care that you say the part was actor proof, no one could have done it like you!!!

Rating:
Summary: Marlon Brando at his finest (Oscar)!!!
Review: "On The Waterfront" is one of the best movies that Marlon Brando has ever created. That's why he won the Oscar for Best Actor. Brando stars as Terry Malloy, an ex-prize fighter, who could've been a contender, instead of a bum. He meets and falls in love with Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint, Oscar-winner), the sister of the brother who has been killed by Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb, Oscar-nominated) and his henchmen. The movie won the Best Picture Oscar for 1954 and Elia Kazan won Best Director here. I have "On The Waterfront" on DVD and I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies ever made
Review: This is, by any standard, one of the best movies ever made. Brando plays Terry Malloy, a young dock worker who gets involved - against his will - with the mob, via a labor union. He finds himself struggling with his conscience after he inadvertently plays a role in a mob "hit". He tries to tell himself that keeping quiet is a matter of protecting himself - after all, Johnny Friendly, the mob boss (Lee J. Cobb) likes him and makes sure he gets work.

His conscience bothers him even more when he finds himself falling for the victim's sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint). Then Father Barry (Karl Malden), a gutsy parish priest stands up to the mob when no one else will do so. He encourages Terry to tell what he knows. Terry doesn't want to go against his brother Charlie (Rod Steiger), who is a close associate of the mob boss.

Terry must choose between good (as represented by Edie and Father Barry) and evil (as represented by Friendly and Charlie). Choosing good involves enormous risk, even to his own life, but can he live with himself if he chooses evil? Terry's testimony would put the mob on the ropes and protect innocent workers, but at what cost to Terry? (Also noteworthy - in a moral sense - are the crowds, who stand firmly behind whoever seems to have the upper hand!)

For all of its non-glamourous, gritty reality, this movie boasts an all-star cast. Even small roles are played by the likes of Martin Balsam, Pat Hingle, and a very young Fred Gwynne. It was shot in black and white, perhaps to underscore its moral message. Brando's Malloy emerges as a hero, standing alone among the dock workers (although supported by Edie and Father Barry) against corruption and greed.

This is not only good movie-making, it is responsible movie-making. How often do you see a movie in which the main character decides to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing? All of the performances are excellent and the message is one that needs to be repeated in every generation. This movie gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: On the Waterfront review
Review: Here is a fantastic movie. Marlon Brando is perfect in this anti-corruption drama about a man who chooses to take on a murderous labor boss. Just when you think the movie is about to end, Terry Malloy makes a heroic decision to show up for work; and his littany of insults against his boss is the best part of the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Brando is excellent, but ...
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A contender in the top ten
Review: I have now seen On the Waterfront straight through for the third time in my life (actually, the fourth, since a few days later I watched if with the audio commentary.). The three viewings came 20 years apart or more. It holds up better each time with my increasing maturity.

This is clearly a story of someone finally speaking out against injustice and corruption. Did Kazan speak some needed truth, or did he rat on his associates? Terry Malloy is faced with the same dilemma. Maybe Kazan's "truth" was colored by his perceptions and was not absolute.

But the message here is for speaking out. No matter your own political or ideological persuasion, you can find an example to support doing this. Just fill in the blanks. Maybe "ratting" on Klan members in your organization?

The DVD has a wealth of audio commentary and other extras. There is some duplication across features, which maybe could have been avoided. But if you want to take the time to reflect on this film, it is worth it to do every special feature. Columbia has an impressive model here and with some other films that other movie companies could well follow as they eventually put their films on DVD.

Rating:
Summary: "All I Wanna Know Is Is He D & D, Or Is He A Canary?"
Review: "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.