To celebrate my 2400th review for IMDb, I turn to another of my favourite films. In the 1940s and 1950s American labour unions were often run in the interests of organised crime; waterfront unions were a frequent target for this sort of infiltration because of the opportunities they afforded for embezzlement and extortion.
"On the Waterfront", based on a series of non-fiction articles in the New York Sun by the investigative journalist Malcolm Johnson, is a film noir about this issue. It deals with the longshoremen (or "dockers" as we would say in Britain) working on the waterfront of Hoboken, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York City. The men's union has fallen under the control of a local gangster named Johnny Friendly. Friendly by name (or at least by pseudonym, his real name being Michael Skelly), but not friendly by nature. Although on first acquaintance he may seem affable, even amiable, you cross him at your peril. The union members accept Friendly's control because without his approval they lose their union cards and be unable to work. And for those who try and stand up to him he has more violent methods of enforcing his will than a mere threat of unemployment.
The film opens with the murder of a young longshoreman named Joey Doyle, thrown from a roof by Friendly's henchmen to prevent him from testifying to the Waterfront Crime Commission, which is investigating Friendly's activities. The main character is another young longshoreman, Terry Malloy, and the driving force behind the plot is Terry's inner conflict about whether or not he should himself give evidence to the Commission. His initial reluctance to do so is due not just to fear of the possible consequences. Family loyalties are also involved because his elder brother Charley is Friendly's right-hand man.
Terry's conscience, however, is troubled, for a number of reasons. Joey was his friend, and he feels guilty about the man's death, having persuaded Joey to speak to Friendly's men in the mistaken belief that they wanted to do no more than talk. There is his religious faith; he is a practising Catholic, and the local parish priest, Father Barry, is urging his parishioners to stand up to Friendly. There is his growing relationship with Joey's sister Edie, who wants justice for her brother's death. And Terry has a personal grudge against Friendly. He was previously a promising professional boxer but his career came to an end when in one fight he was ordered to "take a dive" by Friendly, who had backed his opponent to win, thus costing Terry the chance of a title fight.
The film was a controversial one when first released in 1954. This was the era of McCarthyism, and both the director Elia Kazan and the scriptwriter Budd Schulberg were former Communists who had renounced their one-time allegiance and "named names" before the HUAC. When Terry finally decides to denounce Friendly to the Commission, it seemed to many that Kazan and Schulberg were using the film to justify the stance they had taken, a stance which had cost them many friends in Hollywood. Despite the controversy, "On the Waterfront" was a huge critical and commercial success, being nominated for twelve Oscars and winning eight, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay for Schulberg and Best Director for Kazan.
The film's success was well deserved. Schulberg's screenplay is a powerful, affecting one. Kazan's direction gives the film a gritty integrity and a visual look comparable to the "kitchen sink" social-realist dramas which were becoming popular in Britain around this time. The film's greatest asset, however, is the acting, which is uniformly excellent. Marlon Brando (Terry) won the Oscar for Best Actor and Eva Marie Saint (Edie) in her film debut won Best Supporting Actress. Three of the cast, Karl Malden (Father Barry), Lee J. Cobb (Friendly) and Rod Steiger (Charley) were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but all three of them lost out to Edmond O'Brien in "The Barefoot Contessa". Of these my favourite would probably be Malden as Father Barry, a man of great integrity and moral stature. I would have awarded Malden the Oscar ahead of O'Brien, but he may have been handicapped by the fact that he had won this award for "A Streetcar Named Desire" three years earlier; the Academy like to spread their honours evenly.
Excellent though the supporting cast are, however, this is Brando's film, the one in which he gives what, in my view, was his greatest-ever performance. (This was probably the performance which finally persuaded Hollywood of the value of Method acting in the cinema). With any other actor as Terry (including Frank Sinatra, himself a native of Hoboken, who was once considered for the role) this would have been a quite different film. Brando makes Terry America's Everyman, the little man faced with a big issue, who we know will eventually find the courage to do what is right. In the film's most famous speech, he complains "I couda been a contender instead of a bum which is what I am". In the end, however, Terry faces a struggle- with his own conscience- more important than any boxing match, and proves that he is indeed a contender. 10/10.
"On the Waterfront", based on a series of non-fiction articles in the New York Sun by the investigative journalist Malcolm Johnson, is a film noir about this issue. It deals with the longshoremen (or "dockers" as we would say in Britain) working on the waterfront of Hoboken, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from New York City. The men's union has fallen under the control of a local gangster named Johnny Friendly. Friendly by name (or at least by pseudonym, his real name being Michael Skelly), but not friendly by nature. Although on first acquaintance he may seem affable, even amiable, you cross him at your peril. The union members accept Friendly's control because without his approval they lose their union cards and be unable to work. And for those who try and stand up to him he has more violent methods of enforcing his will than a mere threat of unemployment.
The film opens with the murder of a young longshoreman named Joey Doyle, thrown from a roof by Friendly's henchmen to prevent him from testifying to the Waterfront Crime Commission, which is investigating Friendly's activities. The main character is another young longshoreman, Terry Malloy, and the driving force behind the plot is Terry's inner conflict about whether or not he should himself give evidence to the Commission. His initial reluctance to do so is due not just to fear of the possible consequences. Family loyalties are also involved because his elder brother Charley is Friendly's right-hand man.
Terry's conscience, however, is troubled, for a number of reasons. Joey was his friend, and he feels guilty about the man's death, having persuaded Joey to speak to Friendly's men in the mistaken belief that they wanted to do no more than talk. There is his religious faith; he is a practising Catholic, and the local parish priest, Father Barry, is urging his parishioners to stand up to Friendly. There is his growing relationship with Joey's sister Edie, who wants justice for her brother's death. And Terry has a personal grudge against Friendly. He was previously a promising professional boxer but his career came to an end when in one fight he was ordered to "take a dive" by Friendly, who had backed his opponent to win, thus costing Terry the chance of a title fight.
The film was a controversial one when first released in 1954. This was the era of McCarthyism, and both the director Elia Kazan and the scriptwriter Budd Schulberg were former Communists who had renounced their one-time allegiance and "named names" before the HUAC. When Terry finally decides to denounce Friendly to the Commission, it seemed to many that Kazan and Schulberg were using the film to justify the stance they had taken, a stance which had cost them many friends in Hollywood. Despite the controversy, "On the Waterfront" was a huge critical and commercial success, being nominated for twelve Oscars and winning eight, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay for Schulberg and Best Director for Kazan.
The film's success was well deserved. Schulberg's screenplay is a powerful, affecting one. Kazan's direction gives the film a gritty integrity and a visual look comparable to the "kitchen sink" social-realist dramas which were becoming popular in Britain around this time. The film's greatest asset, however, is the acting, which is uniformly excellent. Marlon Brando (Terry) won the Oscar for Best Actor and Eva Marie Saint (Edie) in her film debut won Best Supporting Actress. Three of the cast, Karl Malden (Father Barry), Lee J. Cobb (Friendly) and Rod Steiger (Charley) were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but all three of them lost out to Edmond O'Brien in "The Barefoot Contessa". Of these my favourite would probably be Malden as Father Barry, a man of great integrity and moral stature. I would have awarded Malden the Oscar ahead of O'Brien, but he may have been handicapped by the fact that he had won this award for "A Streetcar Named Desire" three years earlier; the Academy like to spread their honours evenly.
Excellent though the supporting cast are, however, this is Brando's film, the one in which he gives what, in my view, was his greatest-ever performance. (This was probably the performance which finally persuaded Hollywood of the value of Method acting in the cinema). With any other actor as Terry (including Frank Sinatra, himself a native of Hoboken, who was once considered for the role) this would have been a quite different film. Brando makes Terry America's Everyman, the little man faced with a big issue, who we know will eventually find the courage to do what is right. In the film's most famous speech, he complains "I couda been a contender instead of a bum which is what I am". In the end, however, Terry faces a struggle- with his own conscience- more important than any boxing match, and proves that he is indeed a contender. 10/10.