Marlon Brando
Terry Malloy
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On the Waterfront was filmed over 36 days on location in various places in Hoboken, New Jersey, including the docks, workers' slum dwellings, bars, littered alleys, and rooftops. The church used for exterior scenes in the film was the historic Our Lady of Grace , built in 1874, while the interiors were shot at the Church of St. Peter and St ...
With Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger. An ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.
- (167K)
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Elia Kazan
- 1954-06-22
- Overview
- Production notes and credits
- Cast
- Academy Award nominations (* denotes win)
On the Waterfront, American dramatic film, released in 1954, that presented a powerful account of union corruption and was directed by Elia Kazan. The movie, which featured one of Marlon Brando’s most memorable performances, was a critical and popular success, winning eight Academy Awards, including that for best picture.
(Read Martin Scorsese’s Britannica essay on film preservation.)
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As the movie begins, Terry Malloy (played by Brando), a former boxer turned dockworker, leaves the waterfront office of union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) with instructions to lure another longshoreman, Joey Doyle (Ben Wagner), to the roof of Joey’s apartment building. Joey, who was planning to testify before the Waterfront Crime Commission, is later thrown from the roof by Friendly’s henchmen. A shocked Terry says that he thought that Joey would be talked to, not killed. A crowd gathers around Joey’s body. His father, Pop Doyle (John Hamilton), says that he told Joey not to talk. Joey’s distraught sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint), wants to know who killed him. Father Barry (Karl Malden) administers last rites.
The next morning, Terry attends to his pigeons at his rooftop dovecote before heading to the docks. At the waterfront, Pop Doyle gives Joey’s jacket to Kayo Dugan (Pat Henning). Terry is later approached by two men from the crime commission, Glover (Leif Erickson) and Gillette (Martin Balsam), who ask about Joey’s death. Terry claims not to know anything. Father Barry is also at the docks, and after observing the unfair distribution of work assignments, he suggests that those who dislike the system meet at his church. At the request of his brother, Charley (Rod Steiger), who is Friendly’s lawyer and right-hand man, Terry attends the gathering. There Father Barry urges the assembled dockworkers to stand up to Friendly, but the meeting ends when Friendly’s henchmen attack the church. Terry leads Edie to safety, and Kayo then promises Father Barry that he will testify.
•Studios: Columbia Pictures Corporation and Horizon Pictures
•Director: Elia Kazan
•Writer: Budd Schulberg
•Music: Leonard Bernstein
•Marlon Brando (Terry Malloy)
•Lee J. Cobb (Johnny Friendly)
•Karl Malden (Father Barry)
•Rod Steiger (Charley Malloy)
•Lead actor* (Marlon Brando)
•Supporting actor (Lee J. Cobb)
•Supporting actor (Karl Malden)
•Supporting actor (Rod Steiger)
•Supporting actress* (Eva Marie Saint)
•Art direction (black-and-white)*
- Pat Bauer
When a longshoreman is murdered before he can testify about Friendly's control of the Hoboken waterfront, Terry teams up with the dead man's sister Edie and the streetwise priest Father Barry to testify himself, against the advice of Friendly's lawyer, Terry's older brother Charley.
Mar 21, 1999 · A classic film about conscience and corruption in the dockyards, starring Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint. Read Ebert's analysis of Brando's performance, Kazan's motives, and the film's impact on American cinema.
Find out who starred in and worked on the classic film On the Waterfront, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. See the full list of actors, producers, composers, cinematographers and more on IMDb.
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When a longshoreman is murdered before he can testify about Friendly's control of the Hoboken waterfront, Terry teams up with the dead man's sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint) and the streetwise...
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- Drama
