On the Waterfront (1954)

On the Waterfront a drama about the corruption-glutted New York docks. It is also the story of the dock workers' excruciating struggle to make a living and of the awesome power of the unions that control them.

Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) is the gangster union boss and Charley Molloy (Rod Steiger) his crooked lawyer. Charley's brother Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), an ex-prizefighter, hangs around the docks and runs errands for Johnny, who gives handouts to those who do his bidding. Already a has-been as a young man, Terry keeps pigeons on a rooftop and dreams about his days as an up-and-coming fighter. Charley tells Terry to ask a truculent union worker who is holed up in his apartment to meet him on the roof of his tenement building. The worker goes to the roof, and two of Johnny's goons push him off to his death as Terry watches in shock. Later, Terry tells some of Johnny's other thugs, "I thought they were only gonna lean on him a little," to which onetime heavyweight boxer "Two-ton" Truck (Tony Galento) replies, "The canary could sing but he couldn't fly!"

Terry later meets pretty Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint), the murdered man's sister, and begins to feel responsible for the death. She introduces him to Father Barry (Karl Malden), who tells Terry that the dead man was killed because he was going to expose racket boss Johnny and his brutal henchmen. The gritty priest then exhorts Terry to provide the crime commission with information that will smash the dock racketeers. Another dock worker, "Kayo" Dugan (Pat Henning), does cooperate with the crime commission, loudly bragging that he will bring Johnny down. But while Kayo is working in the hold of a ship, a huge packing crate is "accidentally" dropped on the rebellious docker, killing him. Father Barry shows up and gives Kayo his last rites, then addresses the longshoremen, urging them to stand up and go to the authorities to tell what they know about union corruption. Truck and fellow thug Tillio (Tami Mauriello) begin to shout down the priest. When Tillio throws a can that strikes Father Barry, Terry steps forth and warns the goons to stop it. The priest continues to address the workers, head bleeding, his clothes soiled by the rotten food hurled at him. Tillio starts to hurl another object, and Terry jumps in front of him, delivering a powerhouse blow that knocks the hulk unconscious.

Terry falls in love with Edie, and Father Barry gently leads him into cooperating with Glover (Leif Erickson) and other members of the crime commission. Seeing that Terry is straying, Johnny orders Charley to get his brother in line or face the fatal consequences. Brothers' talk Charley takes Terry for a ride in a cab driven by one of Johnny's henchmen (Persoff), and the two have a brotherly talk. Charley says that Terry is to get a new job, plenty of money, and all kinds of favors, but he must keep silent and not talk to the crime commission. Terry is now thoroughly disillusioned with his older, educated brother. Charley pulls a gun on Terry and insists that he do as he is told, but Terry shoves the gun away in disgust. Charley realizes what he's done and then waxes nostalgic about Terry's failed career as a boxer, saying Brando could have been another Billly Conn in the ring and that "the skunk we got you for a manager brought you along too fast." "It wasn't him, Charley," Terry responds. "It was you. Remember that night in the Garden and you came down to my dressing room and you said `Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson.' You remember that? This ain't your night! My night! I could have taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets a title shot outdoors in a ballpark and I get a one-way ticket to palookaville! You was my brother, Charley, you should've looked out for me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money." Charley shrugs: "We had some bets down for you—you saw some money." Terry winces: "You don't understand! I could have had class. I could've been a contender! I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am! It was you, Charley."

Charley decides to tell Johnny that he couldn't find Terry and then hands his brother the gun, letting him out of the cab. The driver, overhearing everything, takes Charley to a garage where Johnny's goons are waiting. Terry meanwhile runs to Edie and forces himself on her, but as they begin to make love, Johnny's goons call up from the street: "Your brother's down here—he wants to see you!" Terry leaves, goes down an alley, and is joined by Edie; a truck barrels down the alley after them, and they barely escape being run over. Then Terry sees Charley, hanging from a hook in the alley, dead, filled with bullet holes. Gently, he removes the body from the hook. Asking Edie to take care of his brother's body, he goes to Johnny's saloon headquarters looking for the boss. There he holds several goons at bay with the gun Charley gave him, but they escape when Father Barry shows up and talks Terry into going to the crime commission to break Johnny's murderous stranglehold on the dock workers.

The next day Terry goes before the crime commission and testifies against Johnny and his thugs. Shrieking curses and vowing revenge, Johnny tells Terry he's a dead man. Although no longer in office, Johnny still exercises control of his union, and when his straw boss, Big Mac (James Westerfield) hands out jobs the next day on the docks, everyone gets one but Terry. Terry runs down a gangplank to a barge where Johnny and his goons are waiting. He is viciously beaten, but scores of workers shout that they will not go to work without him. He struggles to his feet, half-conscious, and staggers up the gangplank, making his way through the crowd toward the warehouse to be the first worker to enter and take his job. The men follow him, a clear-cut defeat for the mob and a victory for the workers.

Brando is spectacular as the ex-fighter who finds his conscience and risks his life for his newfound principles. The realistic dialogue is poetic in its simplicity, and the grimy, seedy tenements and clammy docks are strikingly captured. Kazan sets every scene with menace and suspense, evoking a pitiless, steel-gray world where tough hope is requisite for survival. Cobb is a great villain, exercising his power with a payoff, a sneering smile, and a booming voice, and his goons are really frightening characters, many of them former real-life boxers with faces scarred by years in the ring. Saint is an island of sanity and decency, as is Malden, who gives one of the finest performances of his career. His speech in the ship's hold is a searing indictment of evil. The film is a draining experience from beginning to end, relentless in its portrayal of inhumanity. And it is all the more grim and hard-hitting because of the startling documentary approach of cinematographer Boris Kaufman. It is also extremely violent and bloody.

Accused of being anti-American and denounced by union leaders, the film was mired in controversy at the time of its release, but it has stood the test of time and has emerged as a great portrait of a nonconformist who is not an informer but rather a man who experiences a moral transformation for the good of his fellow man. Budd Schulberg's literate, uncompromising screenplay makes sure that no one can mistake Terry Malloy's intentions. Schulberg based the screenplay on a fascinating and heroic series of articles written by Malcolm Johnson for the New York Sun. What Johnson unearthed in his investigation of waterfront crime and later published in a 24-part series—following the murder of a New York hiring boss in April 1948—shocked America. The hard-hitting series, which won Johnson a Pulitzer Prize, described in detail the killings, bribery, kickbacks, thievery, shakedowns, and extortion that were everyday occurrences along New York's waterfront.

When Kazan took over the project, he had fallen into disfavor in Hollywood, chiefly because he had cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), as had Schulberg. This film, however, reaffirmed Kazan's wonderful talent. Casting Kazan's first choice for the role of the ex-fighter was Brando, but the actor reportedly could not make up his mind whether he wanted to play the part, so Kazan offered it to Frank Sinatra, who had just made a memorable comeback and was one of the hottest actors on the scene. Before that deal was finalized, however, Brando decided he wanted to play Terry Malloy after all, and Sinatra later loudly complained, according to one report, that he had been misled by Kazan. Brando's decision proved to be an excellent one, and his dynamic, Oscar-winning performance is one of the most memorable in his distinguished career.

The film went on to win eight Academy Awards in 1954. Awards In addition to Brando's Best Actor Oscar, the film was honored as Best Picture, Saint was named Best Supporting Actress, Kazan won Best Director, Schulberg got Best Screenplay, Kaufman won for his cinematography, Richard Day for his art direction, and Gene Milford for his film editing. Steiger, Cobb, and Malden were all nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and Leonard Bernstein received a nomination for Best Score.

CAST:

PERFORMER, CHARACTER

Marlon Brando, Terry Malloy

Karl Malden, Father Barry

Lee J. Cobb, Johnny Friendly

Rod Steiger, Charley Malloy

Pat Henning, "Kayo" Dugan

Eva Marie Saint, Edie Doyle

Leif Erickson, Glover James Westerfield

Big Mac, Tony Galento

Truck Tami, Mauriello Tillio

John Hamilton, "Pop" Doyle

PRODUCTION

Producer, Sam Spiegel

Director, Elia Kazan

Screenwriter, Budd Schulberg based on a story suggested by a series of articles by Malcolm Johnson

Editor, Gene Milford

Cinematographer, Boris Kaufman

Composer, Leonard Bernstein