On the Waterfront | Elia Kazan, 1954
New Jersey has always been a famed location for movies and literature involving mob activity. From Elia Kazan’s 1954 film On the Waterfront to HBO’s long-running television series The Sopranos, many have attempted to capture the overhanging greyness that forever blights New Jersey’s bleak landscape. Conditions that echo the city’s lingering history of Mafia influence. On the Waterfront is based on a number of true stories from this period and stars Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy, an ex-boxer whose promising career was thrown by mob ties and who now finds himself in the middle of a power-struggle. The villain of the piece is Johnny Friendly (played by Lee J. Cobb), a particularly vindictive boss character whose name some say was inspired by Kazan’s own participation as a “friendly” witness in 1952 when identifying alleged film industry Communists. Malloy’s love interest is introduced in the form of Eva Marie Saint who plays Edie Doyle, a local girl who becomes involved after her brother dies at the hands of the mob. Edie provides that soft touch that calms Terry and sends him in the right direction, also helped in no small part by an embattled priest named Father Barry (Karl Malden). Terry’s honesty allows him to stand up against the mob that has ruined his life, but still an internal struggle rages within him. For becoming an informant would also put his own brother in danger.
Marlon Brando is undoubtedly one of the more iconic of all method actors ever to grace the silver screen, and his Oscar-winning (one of eight that On the Waterfront picked up) performance here surely helped build upon this impressive reputation. While Brando’s Terry character may stand out physically – as beauty in a dockland world of brutes – his personality blends easily into the littered streets upon which Elia Kazan places him. His mannerisms, physical traits and drawling Jersey tongue are truly a delight to behold. He has an ungainly air, perhaps as a result of one too many blows to the head in his boxing days. Yet he’s sociable enough to snag the passing interest of young Edie, charming and passionate enough keep her around despite his romantic ineptitude. On the Waterfront represents one man’s will to stand up and be counted. To stand up for what’s right, drawing upon the love of those around him to strike a fatal blow upon the oppressive ties that bind. It is also, of course, an insightful look at street-level corruption in big American cities back then. How a tyrannical reign threatened an entire neighborhood by controlling mens’ rights to work. And how those it affected were forced into silence as a result, unable to seek justice for fear of their own families’ safety. Above all On the Waterfront is an effective drama that shows us the power of one man’s will, and that anybody can change everything if strong of heart.
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