On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront is an American 1954 film about mob violence and corruption among longshoremen, and became a standard of its kind. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and stars Marlon Brando. The film deals with social issues which paralleled the emerging organization of labor.

Related Topics:
American - 1954 - Longshoremen - Elia Kazan - Marlon Brando - Labor

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It is seen by many as a jab by Kazan at his former close friend, Arthur Miller, who along with Lillian Hellman was bitterly and openly resentful of Kazan's "betrayal" of film artists to the HUAC as "communists". On the Waterfront, being about a heroic mob informer, is widely considered to be Kazan's answer to his critics. Miller's The Crucible, about a heroic New England Puritan who chooses to die rather than make false accusations of witchcraft, is considered a response to Kazan.

Related Topics:
Arthur Miller - Lillian Hellman - HUAC - The Crucible - Puritan - Witchcraft

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The irony of On the Waterfront is that its protagonist's (Terry Malloy's) fight against corruption was an inspired echo of Arthur Miller's own famed fight against the McCarthyist-era Senate, perhaps in an attempt at healing their torn friendship. Both the Senate of the time, and the fictional mob in the movie being incarnations of an equivalent kind of mob mentality. Its labor theme had echoes of socialist sympathies, and though well enough disguised was a controversial and resonant work of art, at a time when the "red scare" was a prominent aspect in American life.

Related Topics:
McCarthyist - Senate - Mob mentality - Socialist - Red scare

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The film later was called "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Terry Malloy's line in the film, "You don't understand. I could've had class. I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody instead of a bum, which is what I am", was voted in a 2005 poll by the American Film Institute as the third most memorable line in cinema history http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1398449.htm.

Related Topics:
Library of Congress - National Film Registry - 2005 - American Film Institute

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It was the winner of eight Oscars:

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• Best Actor - Marlon Brando
• Best Picture - Sam Spiegel, producer
• Best Supporting Actress - Eva Marie Saint
• Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Black-and-White - Richard Day
• Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Boris Kaufman
• Directing - Elia Kazan
• Film Editing - Gene Milford
• Writing, Story and Screenplay - Budd Schulberg

The film also received an additional four Oscar nominations:

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• Best Supporting Actor - Lee J. Cobb
• Best Supporting Actor - Karl Malden
• Best Supporting Actor - Rod Steiger
• Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Leonard Bernstein

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