ON THE WATERFRONT

In 1955, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded the Oscar for Best Picture to On the Waterfront. The film is a bare-faced look inside a corrupt mob-infested union that rules over the local dock workers.

The local union boss is Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). Through discriminatory daily hiring, threats, intimidation, and outright murder, he maintains complete control over the local union workers. Friendly’s accountant and man Friday is Charley Malloy (Rod Steiger). Charley’s brother is local dock worker Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando). Terry had been a boxer of admitted skill and technique who, at his brother’s request, reluctantly lost fights so that Johnny Friendly could win on bets against him.

The movie begins as Terry is unwittingly duped into setting up the circumstances so that Friendly’s goons can murder local dock worker Joey Doyle. Unbeknownst to Terry, Joey was going to testify before the Waterfront Crime Commission against Friendly. After Joey is killed, Terry begins a relationship with Joey’s sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint). The relationship brings about a self-awakening for Terry as he begins to question the status quo, his own failings, and his potential to redeem himself from some of his previous choices in life. To help him along this journey is the local waterfront priest, Father Barry (Karl Malden).

Marlon Brando plays Terry’s simplicity and self-revelation to sheer perfection. His performance would deservedly win the Oscar for Best Actor. This movie contains the iconic speech Brando is well known for, as Terry ruminates over the life his brother forced on him. “I coulda’ had class. I coulda’ been a contender. I could've been somebody”. For himself, for Edie, and for all the dock workers he represents, he must now determine if indeed, if he could still “be somebody”.

The superb acting and gripping story are impeccably enhanced by the cinematography of the tri-state area docksides, rooftops, bars, and lower-income residential areas. Equally deserving of praise is Leonard Berstein’s amazing score. The movie opens not with a full orchestra ushering in the credits, but with a solitary brass instrument, setting the stage for Terry’s lone journey. Cleverly, the music is also often employed jarringly in contrast with what is playing out. Rather than accompany the scene, the music is setting up the transition about to occur. I found it brilliant.

This film is a classic for a reason. It’s a shame it’s taken me this long to see it, but now that I have, I’m better off for it.