On the Waterfront

This classic story of Mob informers was based on a number of true stories and filmed on location in and around the docks of New York and New Jersey. Mob-connected union boss Johnny Friendly ( Lee J. Cobb ) rules the waterfront with an iron fist. The police know that he's been responsible for a number of murders, but witnesses play deaf and dumb ("plead D &sD"). Washed-up boxer Terry Malloy ( Marlon Brando ) has had an errand-boy job because of the influence of his brother Charley, a crooked union lawyer ( Rod Steiger ). Witnessing one of Friendly's rub-outs, Terry is willing to keep his mouth shut until he meets the dead dockworker's sister Edie ( Eva Marie Saint ). "Waterfront priest" Father Barry ( Karl Malden ) tells Terry that Edie's brother was killed because he was going to testify against boss Friendly before the crime commission. Because he could have intervened, but didn't, Terry feels somewhat responsible for the death. When Father Barry receives a beating from Friendly's goons, Terry is persuaded to cooperate with the commission. Featuring Brando's famous "I coulda been a contendah" speech, On the Waterfront has often been seen as an allegory of "naming names" against suspected Communists during the anti-Communist investigations of the 1950s. Director Elia Kazan famously informed on suspected Communists before a government committee — unlike many of his colleagues, some of whom went to prison for refusing to "name names" and many more of whom were blacklisted from working in the film industry for many years to come — and Budd Schulberg 's screenplay has often been read as an elaborate defense of the informer's position. On the Waterfront won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Brando, and Best Supporting Actress for Saint. — Hal Erickson

DVD Savant Review of the dvd itself:
On the Waterfront (did I remember to emphasize that it is a very entertaining movie?) on DVD is a miss for Columbia Tristar, one studio that in Savant's eyes rarely even stumbles. The film looks fine but the chosen aspect ratio is 1:37 flat. I've seen the picture at festivals, at the very formal Academy and at UCLA, and it's always projected at 1:85 widescreen. The titles are composed in horizontal blocks of text. In 16mm flat prints, microphones frequently intruded into the upper frame, especially in the scene of the interrupted meeting in the church. Those shots must have been slightly blown up here. The movie looks much better when matted to widescreen, with tighter compositions. This is odd coming from the studio that recalled thousands of copies of Silverado for a much more minor formatting error.

The extras are a mixed bag. The commentary track by Richard Shickel and author Jeff Young is informative but comes off as analysis instead of testimony. These oral documents have tremendous historical value (even more so when they're done by principals), but sometimes they're better off read in print.

The featurette is the most frustrating extra. The famous taxicab scene between Rod Steiger and Brando is analyzed by the filmmakers and critics in an endless repetition of the same information. That fellow who interviews movie greats on the Bravo channel says the same thing at least three times, and the overkill is numbing. Much better is a rambling interview with Kazan himself, who comes off as both spry and sharp-mindedmind. Kazan talks about the wild relationships between the main creatives on the picture. Half the time, Kazan and Schulberg wanted to kill the exasperating wildcat producer Sam Spiegel!