Sweeping the Oscars with 8 awards, On the Waterfront is a classic film which tells the story of corruption, misplaced loyalty and lost opportunities. This superbly acted story has all the elements of any crime drama filmed today. Marlon Brando plays the lead, a retired prize fighter, who works the docks in New Jersey. The longshoremen face corruption in their union, and mob extortion and racketeering. Those who resist end up dead, while everyone else remains tight-lipped to stay alive.
Elia Kazan directs and all star cast including Brando as Terry Malloy. Eva Marie Saint in her motion picture debut plays Edie Doyle, who becomes Terry’s love interest after her brother is killed. Karl Malden plays Father Pete Barry, who tries to get the longshoremen to stand together against the tyranny. (A long lived actor in both film and television, you’ll remember him best as the face for American Express traveler’s cheques…”Don’t leave home without them”). Playing the antagonist Johnny Friendly, is Lee J. Cobb (Death of a Salesman). Fred Gwynne (Car 54, where are you? & Munsters) plays a cop named Mladen “Slim” Sekulovich (Karl Malden’s real name). Unaccredited actors who went on to be stars in their own right include Katherine MacGregor (Little House on the Prairie) and Martin Balsam (Psycho).
This movie has be rated in the top ten of best American movies of all time. Worth the watch.
