On the Waterfront

< Previous Trailer  |   Add to My Scrapbook  |   Next Trailer >
On the Waterfront

94% Liked It
liked it

On the Waterfront

Eva Marie Saint, James Westerfield, Karl Malden, Lee J Cobb, Leif Erickson

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

Id: 10903535

Do you want to see this movie?

My Friends Said...

On the Waterfront Recent Reviews

Register or sign-in to see your friends' reviews !

Recent Reviews

On the Waterfront Recent Reviews
  • organgrinder136
    December 29, 2009
    organgrinder136
    marlon brando plays the central character who's stuck between a rock and a hard place. there's a big difference between wanting to do something that could get you killed and actually doing it. the inner turmoil he conveys is nigh on perfect for the part, fighting with his conscie...( read more)nce, with his fear and all the while confronted by police and corrupt trade unionists. smart stuff
  • garyX
    June 18, 2009
    garyX
    A longshoreman and ex-boxer has a crisis of conscience when the gangsters who control the union murder a fellow dock worker. On The Waterfront is one of those films that is almost famous for being famous. Nearly everyone can recite Brando's most quoted line, but this infamy means...( read more) its reputation precedes it which can obscure just how good a film is. And this is not just a good film, it's an incredible one. Brando's powerhouse performance has also overshadowed those of the other members of the cast, but Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger and Eva Marie Saint are all worth far more than just an honourable mention, and the classic "I coulda been a contender"scene is just one amongst many memorable and powerful moments; Karl Malden's speech that provokes Terry's change of heart, the discovery of his brother, the confession to Edie in the boatyard...the list goes on. Examinig many themes in a multi-layered story of corruption, redemption and one man standing up for what is right, On The Waterfront is one of the true greats of American cinema.
  • ohagankieran
    May 3, 2009
    ohagankieran
    A Streetcar named desire wrote Brando?s name on the Oscar ? but it went to Humphrey Bogart for The African Queen. Brando was nominated again for Viva Zapata and Julius Caesar, but again went home empty handed. Brando?s craft was finally honoured for this brutal tale of New York D...( read more)ockers.

    His Terry Malloy, a failed boxer wrestling with his conscience having bumped off a workmate for union boss Johnny Friendly (the magnificent Cobb), is a subtle mess of half-formed emotions. The film is a bleak look at corruption and the indignity of labour, but Brando humanises the industrial tribunal.

    His awkward love scenes with Eva Marie Saint (playing the dead man?s sister Edie Doyle) show the new-fangled Method acting at its most controlled and poetic. His speech in the taxi with his brother Charlie (Rod Steiger) remains a classic: ?I could been a contender, I coulda been somebody, instead of just a bum, which is what I am.?
    For this, we must salute screenwriter Budd Schulberg (his speech for priest Karl Malden in the loading bay is still stirring).

    Add the acting/writing heroics a restrained score by Leonard Bernstein and a striking, charcoal look by cinematographer Boris Kaufman, and you have an elegiac portrait of labour relations that feels like a kick in the slats. And that?s just 30 years later.

    It's hard to like it that much, however, when you realise director Elia Kazan and writer Budd Schulberg made it after they ratted on their pals to the McCarthy commission and needed to do a picture about how informers were noble, brave souls facing up to oppression rather than sneaky squealers saving their careers.
  • DerekA101
    March 3, 2009
    DerekA101
    "I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley."

    Classic film on the AFI top 100 list (#19).

    Released in 1954, On the Waterfront is just as powerful today. Brilliant...( read more)ly crafted by Elia Kazan, this film tells the story of an ex-Prize Fighter (Terry Malloy played by the great Marlon Brando) who works for a corrupt gang leader named Johnny Friendly. When a dock worker speaks out against Friendly, Terry and some other thugs are sent out to silence the snitch. By chance, Terry meets the guy's sister, and a forbidden relationship ensues that will change life on the waterfront forever.

    Marlon Brando gives a breakout performance here in what is probably his greatest performance of all time.

    Even if you haven't seen this film, you have probably heard the "I could been a contenda" speech which speaks volumes about it's everlasting impact through time.

    On the Waterfront justifiably dominated the Oscars in 1955 winning 8 Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Brando), and Best Actress.

    A gritty tale of revenge and relevance... the little guy sticking it to the big guy. Often brutal to watch, but On the Waterfront is a film that everyone should see.

    "Hey, you wanna hear my philosophy of life? Do it to him before he does it to you."
  • binky013
    January 7, 2009
    binky013
    Shouldn't everybody care about everybody else?

    When that philosophy comes up against the "I only care about me" philosophy, and especially if love's involved, you know something has gotta give. Not my all-time favorite Brando, but it's hard to knock the greatness of this mo

    ...( read more)vie.

    Possibly Lee J. Cobb's most memorable role. Rod Steiger is excellent in this.
  • oaxacamatt1
    December 29, 2009
    oaxacamatt1
    'I could have been a contender'
  • mcintyre157
    December 24, 2009
    mcintyre157
    "It was you, Chollie!...it was you"
  • biggato1
    December 1, 2009
    biggato1
    There's nothing to say ! But it perfect !!
  • MightySparks
    November 28, 2009
    MightySparks
    Yeah I hate it when I don't enjoy movies considered classics, but I was so bored that I can't even really find anything good to say about it. Brando was fine, but everyone else was pretty lame. I kinda spaced out for most of it coz I was so bored, so I'm not even really sure what...( read more) happened =P
  • MarcLazar
    November 10, 2009
    MarcLazar
    Knowing Kazan's cooperation with McCarthy's Hollywood blacklistings shouldn't make me like this movie less, but for a movie with such political subtexts, it has to.
View All Reviews

Opening This Week

Top Box Office

Upcoming Movies

New on DVD