ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)

(Week 7: Marlon Brando)

ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)

Directed by Elia Kazan

ON THE WATERFRONT is the quintessence of Oscar winners. It was made with an original screenplay (based on a series of articles rather than a play or a published story) with a progressive message, staring great actors in powerful roles, and featuring a score by one of the best composers of its time. It was nominated for 12 oscars and won 8. If it were made this year it probably would still win the award.

Honestly, I didn't fall in love with the film. I thought it was heavy-handed and too melodramatic at times. That said, it is constructed with so many fantastic elements that I can't deny its virtue. Certain scenes revisited inspire greater appreciation. The writing is so great, as magnetic as a theater piece, and so perfectly matched with some of the best actors in films. It centers around Terry Malloy, a young man torn between doing the right thing and risking danger. Other characters face the same dilemma, too, but the stake is higher for Terry because the bad guys are his friends, and the good guys consist of a girl he's in love with, who is also the sister of one of the mob's recent victims.

Marlon Brando won the film one of its eight oscars. A theater-trained actor, Brando never lets his good look take a lead nor lets his craft show. He brings so much of himself to the role you can't imagine him as anything else but the character you see on the screen. The famous taxi cab scene really is as powerful as they say it is. Brando, as seen here, is capable of both subtlety and melodrama, and he knows just when to do which. 

Brando is supported by a great cast of actors who hold their own without upstaging him. Karl Madden plays Father Barry, a priest who tries to lead the witnesses to testify against the mobsters. He serves as the voice of reason and the one who leads Terry to the light. Madden's performance is perhaps the most multidimensional of the film. He portrays Father Terry as a man who wants to do good not just to serve God but because he is truly a good man who believes in justice. His role as the priest doesn't overshadow the man behind it. Rob Steiger as Terry's brother also gives a powerful performance. His character has two dimensions: the ruthless mobster and the caring brother, and he makes both believable. The chemistry between him and Brando makes the magic of the taxicab scene possible. The only performance I don't care for is Eva Marie Saint's, who also won an oscar for this film. She has one of the biggest roles as the girl who sees the goodness in Terry and encourages it. She is competent, but she doesn't bring a lot of creativity to the role and seems flat in comparison to everybody else's.

Overall, I think everybody should watch this film once. And regardless of how you feel about it, you should watch it again, then again a few years later. Having watched some of the scenes repeatedly, I find myself more and more impressed each time. Like all works of art, it can't speak to everybody, but ON THE WATERFRONT reaches such a high level of excellency that it deserves to be appreciated by all who care about films.