On the Waterfront

You think you're God Almighty, but you know what you are? You're a cheap, lousy, dirty, stinkin' mug! And I'm glad what I done to you, ya hear that? I'm glad what I done!

On the Waterfront is directed by Elia Kazan and adapted to screenplay by Budd Schulberg from a series of Malcolm Johnson articles. It stars Marlon Brando, lee J. Cobb, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger and Pat Henning. Music is by Leonard Bernstein and cinematography by Boris Kaufman.

Terry Malloy (Brando) was once a boxer with potential and big dreams. Now working as a longshoreman on the docks for mob boss Johnny Friendly (Cobb), Terry witnesses the murder of a fellow dock worker and finds himself conflicted about if he should inform to the crime commissio...

This coulda been a contender in a lot of greatest movie polls if people just took a second to fully appreciate it.

Although it's Marlon Brando who takes top billing here, I found it was Karl Malden's "Father Barry" who stole the story as the priest who is determined to galvanises the New York dockers to step out from under the oppressive shadow of their boss "Johnny Friendly" (Lee J. Cobb). He's standing over a corpse, that of "Doyle". The deceased had been reputedly chatting with the crime commissioner and so took an unexpected dive off his building. He was a pigeon fancier, and it was this hobby that we know "Malloy" (Brando) used to lure the man to his pen on the roof. We know, but the late man's sister "Edie" (Eva Marie Saint) doesn't. As she determines to get to the bottom of the crime, she and "Malloy" start to become closer. He even begins to fal...

Popular quasi-film noir early in Brandos career

A former prize-fighter (Marlon) wrestles with his conscience as a longshoreman on the Hudson River across from Manhattan and the Empire State Building. He finds himself attracted to the sister (Eva Marie Saint) of a murdered dockworker while his lawyer brother (Rod Steiger) defends the corrupt Union boss (Lee J. Cobb). Karl Malden is on hand as a concerned local minister.

"On the Waterfront" (1954) is an iconic B&W crime drama that won myriad awards when it came out. Its a seminal socio-political noir and one of Brandos three big hits in the early 50s, along with A Streetcar Named Desire and, less so, The Wild One. I cite those movies because this is cut from the same cloth, just ...