On the Waterfront (1954)

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

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

Budd Schulberg (screenplay), Budd Schulberg (based upon an original story by),

Stars:

Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb

Top 250 #116 | Won 8 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marlon Brando	...	Terry Malloy
Karl Malden	...	Father Barry
Lee J. Cobb	...	Johnny Friendly
Rod Steiger	...	Charley Malloy
Pat Henning	...	Kayo Dugan
Leif Erickson	...	Glover
James Westerfield	...	Big Mac
Tony Galento	...	Truck
Tami Mauriello	...	Tillio
John F. Hamilton	...	'Pop' Doyle (as John Hamilton)
John Heldabrand	...	Mott
Rudy Bond	...	Moose
Don Blackman	...	Luke
Arthur Keegan	...	Jimmy
Abe Simon	...	Barney

Storyline

Terry Malloy dreams about being a prize fighter, while tending his pigeons and running errands at the docks for Johnny Friendly, the corrupt boss of the dockers union. Terry witnesses a murder by two of Johnny's thugs, and later meets the dead man's sister and feels responsible for his death. She introduces him to Father Barry, who tries to force him to provide information for the courts that will smash the dock racketeers.

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Plot Keywords:

Union | Murder | Dock | Longshoreman | Death | 

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Taglines:

The Man Lived by the Jungle Law of the Docks!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 June 1954 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Hook

Filming Locations:

Court Street, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$910,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$9,600,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Horizon Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many real longshoremen from Hoboken, New Jersey were used as extras.

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Goofs

Obvious dummy being thrown off the roof in the opening scene.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Johnny: [to Terry] You take it from here, Slugger.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits are shown over a bamboo-type mat background.

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Connections

Spoofed in Robots (2005)
"I want to be an inventor...I wanna be somebody"

User Reviews

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.