On the Waterfront (1954)

Written by Budd Schulberg

Directed by Elia Kazan

My exposure to On The Waterfront began about 15 years ago or so, when my high school drama teacher showed us the famous “I coulda been a contender” scene. Outstanding as the scene is (more on that in a moment), I recall that I wasn’t all that interested in seeing the rest of the film, and I’ll admit there was a groan of annoyance when I saw the film on this list.

Having now watched the full film, I’m not ashamed to say that, while I’m still not ranking it incredibly high on the list, I enjoyed the film more than I thought I would. It’s not perfect, but that actually works to the film’s benefit, I believe.

Marlon Brando

To begin with something constructive, the first thing that struck me about this film was the music, and how much I really didn’t like it. The score is by Leonard Bernstein, whose work I’ve never really enjoyed (I feel like all my classical-music-inclined friends just gasped in horror that I dare speak ill of him). It’s very bombastic, and what I would describe as dissonant (although, again, those musically-educated among you would probably disagree). The music did become more bearable as the film went on, particularly as the tension began to ratchet in the later scenes. I haven’t talked much about music in this marathon, but this film highlights to me how unimpressive a lot of it has been.

Karl Malden

The performances in the film are adequate, buoyed by the leads of the film, who pick up the slack of the ensemble. There’s a few actors here who I’ve been exposed to in prior Hitchcock films, like Martin Balsam (Psycho), and more importantly, Karl Malden (I Confess) and Eva Marie Saint (North by Northwest). Balsam is barely in the film, but Malden gives a powerful performance as an area priest. His speech to the longshoremen was impassioned, and it was a great performance by this respected actor. Saint was also excellent in her role as the sister of a deceased longshoreman. There’s a crucial scene as the film launches into its third act where she’s overacting a bit, but it IS her feature film debut, so I’ll give her a pass.

Lee J. Cobb

One of the film’s strongest performances is from Lee J. Cobb, who I’ve seen before in an equally-powerful performance in 12 Angry Men. Cobb here plays a Union boss with mob connections, and he plays it excellently. This film leaves me wanting to see more films with him in it, especially if I can see him stretch his range.

“I coulda been a contender!"

Of course, no discussion of performances in this film can be complete without discussing Marlon Brando. I’ve seen Brando in two other films, A Streetcar Named Desire and Guys and Dolls (the last of which features Brando singing, which...is a thing). With this film, I finally understand the allure of Brando, as he is utterly captivating on screen. He has an electric look about him, so much that it’s hard to tear your eyes away while he’s there. The scene in the taxi with his brother (the “Contender” scene) is a masterclass, as Brando swings for the emotional fences, and clears them. Confusion, pain, disbelief...Brando moves through them seemingly effortlessly, although a nuanced performance like his is anything but.

Overall, while I liked a lot of aspects of the film, especially when compared against the film preceding it, it still wasn’t a GREAT film. Strong performances and a tension-filled second half don’t quite make up for the more sluggish first half (despite a fast intro), but it’s a good film, imperfections and all. It’s a precursor to the more gritty films that will begin popping up in about 20 years, in the films of the 1970’s.

FINAL GRADE: B-