By Marc S. Sanders
Terry Malloy innocently calls up to his friend Joe’s window and tells him to go to the roof of his apartment building to check on the pigeons. Only what happens to Joe when he gets there is not what Terry expected setting off a complex dilemma of morality and preservation of life.
In one of Marlon Brando’s most famous roles, Terry Malloy is an ex-prize fighter who now carries out menial tasks for the New Jersey mob bosses that have a foothold over the longshoremen and their union contracts. Terry listens to what his mobster brother Charley (Rod Steiger) tells him to do. As long as he keeps his mouth shut, he’ll be selected each day on the dock for work and he’ll never have to lift a finger. Just let things be and keep quiet.
Charley’s boss is Johnny Friendly (Lee J Cobb), who is ruthless with his control over the area. The guys have to surrender to the demands of Johnny and his toughies because it is no secret what really happened to Joe and who was responsible. The cops can investigate and ask questions, but they’ll get nowhere. It’s up to Father Barry (Karl Malden) to talk some sense into the fellas, and considering Terry was one of the last guys to see Joe alive, he’s the best option to overthrow Johnny’s reign. If Terry shows up for a subpoena, it could put Johnny and his goons out of business.
Another conflict of interest for Terry is that he has taken to Joe’s sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) who also knows of Johnny’s corruption. She just has not realized that Terry might have been indirectly responsible.
Marlon Brando looks everything like a movie star should. His slicked back hair and dark eyes shadowed by his thin eyebrows and the way he carries himself in a plaid winter coat is held in a permanent memory just as James Dean and later pop culture figures like Fonzie, or Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt evolved. It sounds silly but there’s a reason Madonna lends recognition to the classic actor in her club song Vogue, and this is one of many films in his early career to reference for the honor.
Eva Marie Saint is wonderful as the young woman in pain and confusion following the death of her brother. Edie is as least as conflicted as Terry due to her immediate attraction to the tough guy’s charms while still bent on discovering who had her kind brother killed and why. Brando and Saint have a magnificent scene together when the truth comes out and Leonard Bernstein’s music comes to a halt of silence.
On The Waterfront has an irony of life imitating art. Mind you, I’m not here to provide a history lesson and wallow in political divisions. I find it interesting that Terry Malloy’s dilemma is whistle blowing the corruption that occurs, while also being intimidated to keep quiet. Patterned similarly is what director Elia Kazan infamously became known for when he testified during the Joseph McCarthy hearings against people in Hollywood suspected of having communist ties. A Union community is designed to protect its members, but sometimes the dynamics lead to just one who is singled out to expose what is not cooperating legally and accordingly. (Some of the actors were against working on this film because of what Kazan committed but they were bound by studio contracts.)
I am aware of how much On The Waterfront is hailed as a perennial classic. The cast is an outstanding collection of actors beginning of course with Brando, Malden, Steiger and Cobb. Following television appearances, this was Eva Marie Saint’s first film, and there are other uncredited actors who had not made their mark yet including Martin Balsam, Michael V Gazzo, and Fred Gwynne. The film boasts Oscar nominations for five actors (two wins, for Brando and Saint respectively) as well as wins for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay. All that being said and yet I cannot say I felt invested in the film.
The characters’ plights and pains simply did not connect with me. Actually, while I believe I’m expected to yearn for Terry Malloy’s pain and regret where he declares he “…coulda been a contender…,” I felt sorrier for his brother Charley.
In that well-known scene between the two brothers in the back of the cab, it is Charley who is really torn. Charley is tied to his mob boss, Johnny Friendly, but he has to convince his brother to do what is best to protect the mob he’s committed to, or it could get both of them killed. That famous scene is owned more by Steiger than Brando. An interesting fact is that Rod Steiger had to perform most of that scene without Marlon Brando there. The lead actor would leave the set at 4pm sharp each day, leaving Steiger to do his half of the scene with a stand in reading Brando’s lines. It caused a bitter rift between the two actors. Yet, the next time you catch the film, have a look at who is really doing the heavy lifting.
I might have gotten trapped trying to understand the way the union operates and how the mob manipulates everything to their advantage. I’m lost in some of the early dialogue and how people go about doing what they do. Maybe what I should have done is relax my train of thought and take in how the protagonist is pulled in many different ways, none of which seem like a winning solution.
Out of context there is a selection of great scenes on display. Karl Malden is magnificent when he urges the longshoremen to stand up to the brutality and intimidation they are under. His concentration is amazing as he is pelted with trash while holding his composure. This scene won him his Oscar nomination.
Lee J Cobb is a memorable antagonist. The concluding scene between his Johnny Friendly and Terry stands as a final battle between hero and villain and the residual effects of what was shot of that bout have been honorably repeated in many films thereafter.
There’s an obvious influence that stemmed from On The Waterfront. Clearly, much of the material had an enormous influence on future filmmakers like Lumet, Scorsese and Coppola. Perhaps that’s the reason it did not grab me. Those future directors turned the motifs that Kazan provided into flashier segments of color and trick camera work. Even the inclusion of harsh language in those grittier, later films left me with a more convincing authenticity. Then again, I was shocked to see Terry Malloy tell Father Barry to go to hell. Pretty bold for 1954, and still somewhat shocking within the context of the piece.
On The Waterfront is actually based on fact from happenings at the docks off of Hoboken, NJ where most of the film was shot. To watch it today is to look back at what high stakes dramatization and dilemmas of ethics surrounded by death and crime must have looked like. It does feel outdated to me, showing a period that is long past, but it paints its truth very, very well.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 