Marlon Brando at his strutting, mumbling best as former boxer turned dockworker Terry Malloy confronts corrupt union bosses.
The murder of nice-guy Joey Molloy by the union mob, headed by Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) leads to unrest among the New Jersey dockers. Corruption, extortion and racketeering is the norm – with Joey’s convent-educated sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) turning to Father Barry (Karl Malden) and Malloy to end the violence.
The overt and unsubtle anti-union politics of director Elia Kazan and scriptwriter Budd Schulberg, both ‘friendly witnesses’ in McCarthy’s House Committee on Un-American Activities, makes On the Waterfront a controversial feature – particularly as the original script was written by Arthur Miller and changed to reflect popularist politics of the day. But there’s no denying the power of Brando’s sultry Oscar-winning performance and the unfolding claustrophia of the drama.
Nominated for 12 Oscars in 1955 including 3 for supporting actor (Cobb, Malden and Rod Steiger), won 8 – including best film, director, actor, supporting actress, script.
Rating: 76%
Director: Elia Kazan (East of Eden, A Streetcar Named Desire)
Writer: Budd Schulberg (The Harder They Fall, A Face in the Crowd)
Main cast: Marlon Brando (The Godfather, The Wild One), Lee J. Cobb (12 Angry Men, Exodus), Eva Marie Saint (North by Northwest, Raintree County)
An Opinion or Two 