On the Waterfront (1954)

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

Malcolm Johnson (suggested by articles)
Budd Schulberg (story)

Release Date:

24 June 1954 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The Man Lived by the Jungle Law of the Docks!

Plot:

An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses.

Plot Keywords:

Union | Murder | Longshoreman | Dock | Waterfront

Awards:

Won 8 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Dec. 29

8:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Marlon Brando	...	Terry Malloy
Karl Malden	...	Father Barry
Lee J. Cobb	...	Johnny Friendly
Rod Steiger	...	Charley 'the Gent' Malloy
Pat Henning	...	Timothy J. 'Kayo' Dugan
Leif Erickson	...	Glover
James Westerfield	...	Big Mac
Tony Galento	...	Truck
Tami Mauriello	...	Tullio
John F. Hamilton	...	'Pop' Doyle (as John Hamilton)
John Heldabrand	...	Mutt
Rudy Bond	...	Moose
Don Blackman	...	Luke
Arthur Keegan	...	Jimmy
Abe Simon	...	Barney

Also Known As:

The Hook (USA) (working title)
Nido de ratas (Argentina) (Mexico) (Venezuela) [es]
Die Faust im Nacken (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Sur les quais (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Alaston satama (Finland) [fi]
Fronte del porto (Italy) [it]
Há Lodo no Cais (Portugal) [pt]
I storbyens havn (Denmark) [da]
La ley del silencio (Spain) [es]
La llei del silenci (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Na dokovima njujorka (Yugoslavia: Serbian title) [sr]
Na nabrzezach (Poland) [pl]
Op de kaaien (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Rihtimlar üstünde (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Sindicato de Ladrões (Brazil) [pt]
Storstadshamn (Sweden) [sv]
To limani tis agonias (Greece) [el]
V prístavu (Czechoslovakia) [cs]

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Mexico:A | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1954) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1985) | USA:Approved (certificate #16916) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Court Street, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Horizon Pictures

Trivia:

In the scene where Terry (Marlon Brando) and Edie (Eva Marie Saint) are talking on the rooftop of Terry's apartment building, after he finds his pigeons killed, Terry looks off to his left, with the next shot (showing what he's looking at) of the Hudson River and Manhattan in the distance. In that shot, a large ocean liner is seen moving down the Hudson on its way out to sea. The ship is the then new Italian liner Andrea Doria, a little more than two years before it was sunk in a collision with the Swedish liner Stockholm off Martha's Vineyard.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the church scene when the meeting is broken up by the thugs outside there is a long shot with the characters trying to decide which way to run and you can see a boom mic bouncing around for a few seconds at the top of the screen.

Quotes:

Edie: I want you to stay away from me.
Terry: Edie, you love me... I want you to say it to me.
Edie: I didn't say I didn't love you. I said, "Stay away from me."

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1 (1999) (TV)

More and more, the Rolled-out Dough will crook the Rolling Pin

Terry lives in the shadow of his smart brother Charley the Gent working for a double-handed businessman of the underworld. He had his best times of his life during his boxing career, and has brought his dimes in for his brother. Charley's boss named Johnny Friendly is the man who is behind Terry's fame, but he is also the same man who nibbled his dimes from boxing.

The curtain opens with Terry working for Johnny Friendly to be participated in a murder. He does his duty and the murder takes effect. The victim was a labor, whose labor leader also works for Johhny Friendly. Terry turns gloomy when he finds out that the victim has been only seeking his rights when he became a rebel. Especially when Terry meets with the victim's sister his suspects grew. She reasons with him that there are two opposite sides: Johnny Friendly's rich and still-growing syndicate versus the dependent and needy workers who are driven into Johnny Friendly's punitive sanctions. Provided that Terry finds a third side: His own.

A run of the mill plot of the mid-20th century. Everybody is pretty much familiar with labor union issues. Mainly the subject gives nothing more than workers seeking out their rights. However, consider that it's Elia Kazan who ushers a new era of actors who rage the whole scenes and turn out heroes out of bums. On the Waterfront has surely inspired millions. For instance, in Robert De Niro's "Raging Bull", a prize-fighter like Terry Malloy turns out to be a stage actor and affirms Terry's speech of reproach to his brother, where no other words could describe his situation he fell into.

Marlon Brando's can-do attitude created an inspirational movement, imprinting our memory, that "If Terry Malloy can do this, yes; I can do this, and yes; everybody can do this". Subsequently movie makers began to deliver efforts and accomplishments to the silver screen in order to catch viewers' appreciations. On The Waterfront, Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando are those to remember together in the motion picture history.