On the Waterfront
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Short description
Terry Malloy is a former boxer who now works the docks, taking jobs through his brother Charley, a lawyer tied to the union leadership. The union is run by Johnny Friendly, and the men who work the piers live under a system of kickbacks, violence and silence. When Terry becomes caught up in the death of a fellow longshoreman who had considered informing on the union bosses, his guilt begins to weigh on him. The dead man's sister, Edie, and a local priest, Father Barry, press him to tell what he knows, drawing him toward a decision that puts him at odds with the men he works for.
Elia Kazan directed the film, working from a screenplay by Budd Schulberg; Sam Spiegel produced it. It followed A Streetcar Named Desire and Viva Zapata! in Kazan's filmography and reunited him with Marlon Brando, who plays Terry. The cast also includes Eva Marie Saint as Edie, Karl Malden as Father Barry, Lee J. Cobb as Johnny Friendly and Rod Steiger as Charley, among 28 credited performers.
Released in 1954, the crime drama runs 108 minutes. It took about 10 million dollars worldwide against a modest production. On IMDb it holds 8.1 out of 10 from roughly 177,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7.8 from a much smaller 1,842 votes. A critics' rating of 9.3 out of 10 from 115 reviews places it well above the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- This was Eva Marie Saint's debut in a major film; prior to this, the actress had appeared on television.
- Director Elia Kazan initially approved Frank Sinatra for the lead role. But producer Sam Spiegel believed it would be more advantageous to cast the successful Marlon Brando. Despite a signed agreement with Sinatra, Spiegel sent the script to Brando, but the actor refused. Spiegel resorted to trickery, placing several newspaper clippings between the pages, and when he found them in the same place, he realized that Brando hadn't even read the script. It later turned out that the actor did not want to work with Kazan, disagreeing with his loyal stance towards the authorities during the McCarthy era in the United States. Spiegel insisted and convinced Brando to take on the role, and the rejected Sinatra even sued the producer for breach of contract.
- The plot of the film is based on a series of articles published by Malcolm Johnson in 'The New York Sun' under the general title 'A Crime on the Waterfront'. In 1949, Johnson received the Pulitzer Prize for this series (a total of 24 articles were published).
- The film was shot in 36 days.
- Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Montgomery both auditioned for the role of Edie Doyle.
- The American Film Institute ranked the film 'On the Waterfront' eighth on its list of '100 Greatest American Movies of All Time'.
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