Sarah Coopersmith
“Do it to him before he does it to you,” is Terry Malloy’s philosophy of life in the 1954 iconic film, On the Waterfront. Played by Marlon Brando, Terry is an ex-boxer turned longshoreman working under a corrupt boss. The docks are run by Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobbs), who will do everything in his power to make an extra buck, no matter what it takes. Johnny even goes to the extent to teach his workers to “plead D and D,” deaf and dumb, when called upon the witness chair to testify against him for murder. On the Waterfront is the story of an underdog, along with the help of his supportive friends, a priest and a girlfriend, who gains the courage to stand up to his ruthless and malicious boss.
The film opens with Joey Doyle (Ben Wagner), one of Johnny’s employee, planning to tell the cops about Johnny’s exploits. When Johnny hears of this, he quickly comes up with a plan to kill Joey. Unbeknownst to Terry at the time, he is a vital factor in this murder. Upon learning of her brother’s death, Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint) enlists the support of the Waterfront priest, Father Barry (Karl Malden), to get the workers to rally up against Johnny and his corrupt team. Father Barry organizes a meeting at the church, in which Terry unwillingly attends. At the church, Terry meets Edie and walks her home afterwards. Pushed by Edie and Father Barry, Terry reluctantly follows his conscious and change of heart. He is determined to make a difference on the docks and how Johnny operates his business.
This film was an outstanding success when it hit the theaters. It was awarded five Oscars – Best Actor for Brando, Best Supporting Actress for Saint, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. It has a very high aesthetic quality; the black and white really makes the scenes pop. Also, the film’s music is superb in that it causes the audience to feel exactly what the character is feeling, whether it be fear or excitement. This film also has powerful lines that the audience will remember long after they’ve seen watched it, such as “I coulda been a contendah.”
In addition, the actors played their roles with a style known as method acting. This type of acting is when the actor or actress becomes their character, making the film more realistic to its viewers. Specifically, there is one scene in which Saint accidently drops her glove. Brando, in tune with his character, simply picks up the glove, puts it on his hand and continues with the scene. The director, Elia Kazan, decided to keep it this in the film, appreciative to Brando for knowing his character well enough to act as he did. Brando also adopted a Brooklyn accent for this role so the audience can feel as though he really is working on the docks as a longshoreman.Through this way of acting, the film conveys an extreme sense of authenticity, a quality which isn’t seen in most movies. Especially today, where all movies have CGI graphics and nothing is real anymore. With the method acting approach, these characters made a mark on people’s heart and had them rooting for Terry from the beginning.
While Kazan might have just produced the film to get good reviews, most people believe that it’s because he wanted to be justified for his actions. The year 1954 was right in the middle of the Cold War and the fear of communism was overwhelming in America. During the McCarthy era, Kazan, before a government committee, reported people he believed to be communists. He was one of the few directors to name names; most directors refused. As a result, these disobedient directors were blacklisted and some even were sent to jail. Kazan was looked upon very negatively for complying and handing over a list of names. On the Waterfront lauds Terry for not playing along with the “D and D” idea, for saying that Friendly was responsible. Through his film, Kazan is telling his audience that he is just like Terry. Although he is reporting supposed communists, he should be seen as a hero who is saving his country from the terrifying threat of communism. Kazan sees himself as Terry, the underdog standing up for what he believes in.
I really enjoyed watching this film. Although the pace of the movie might be a bit slow for this faced paced generation, it certainly should be a must watch on everyone’s movie list. The film really captures authenticity and the struggle of one’s conscious – to do the right thing or to simply go with the flow. This struggle is still prevalent today and can still reach the hearts of its audience, just like it did over 60 years ago.
