On the Waterfront [Criterion Collection]

Director: Elia Kazan

Overview

Winner of eight Academy Awards including "Best Picture," this film deals with labor union racketeering on the New York docks in the 1950s. After an ex-prizefighter dockworker becomes involved in a murder ordered by a corrupt union official, he falls in love with the victim's sister, leading to violent consequences.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/19/2013
UPC:	0715515101615
Original Release:	1954
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:48:00
Sales rank:	15,182

Special Features

Disc one: ; New 4K digital restoration; Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack; Audio commentary by authors Richard Schickel and Jeff Young; New conversation between filmmaker Martin Scorsese and critic Kent Jones; Elia Kazan: an outsider (1982), an hour-long documentary; Visual essay on the aspect ratio; Trailer; ; Disc two: ; Alternate presentation of the restoration in the aspect ration of 1.85: 1 (widescreen); New documentary on the making of the film, featuing interviews with scholar Leo Braudy, critic David Thomson, and others; New interview with Eva Marie Saint; Interview with director Elia Kazan from 2001; New interview with longshoreman Thomas Hanley, an actor in the film; ; Disc three: ; Alternate presentation of the restoration in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (full-screen); New interview with author James T. Fisher about the real-life people and places behind the film; Contender: mastering the method, a 2001 documentary of the film's most famous scene; Visual essay on Leonard Bernstein's score; ; Plus: ; A booklet featuring an essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda, Kazan's 1952 defense of his House Un-American Activities Committee testimony, one of the 1948 Malcolm Johnson articles that inspired the film, and a 1953 piece by screenwriter Budd Schulberg

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Marlon Brando	Terry Malloy
Eva Marie Saint	Edie Doyle
Karl Malden	Father Barry
Lee J. Cobb	Johnny Friendly
Rod Steiger	Charley Malloy
Pat Henning	`Kayo' Dugan
Leif Erickson	Glover
James Westerfield	Big Mac
Tony Galento	Truck
Tami Mauriello	Tillio
John Heldabrand	Mott
Rudy Bond	Moose
Don Blackman	Luke
Arthur Keegan	Jimmy
Abe Simon	Barney
Barry Macollum	J.P.
Mike O'Dowd	Specs
Martin Balsam	Gillette
Fred Gwynne	Slim
Thomas Handley	Tommy
Ann Hegira	Mrs. Collins,madame Collins
Pat Hingle	Bartender
Nehemiah Persoff	Cab Driver
John F. Hamilton	Doyle,"Pop" Doyle
Dan Bergin	Sidney
Zachary Charles	Actor
Jere Delaney	Actor
Michael V. Gazzo	Actor
Katherine MacGregor	Actor
Rebecca Sands	Police Stenographer
Tiger Joe Marsh	Actor
Leonard Bernstein	Composer

Technical Credits

Budd Schulberg

Malcolm Johnson

Robert Siodmak

Budd Schulberg	Screenwriter
Sam Spiegel	Producer
Malcolm Johnson	Screenwriter
Richard Olson	Sound Effects
Robert Siodmak	Screenwriter
James Shields	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- On the Waterfront
1. Opening Credits [1:37]
2. Joey Doyle [4:25]
3. Johnny Friendly's Bar [5:10]
4. Terry's Pigeons [1:04]
5. The Shape-Up [9:06]
6. Meeting in the Church [4:51]
7. Edie and Terry [4:51]
8. Pop Doyle [2:21]
9. "They Get Married Just Like People" [4:16]
10. "Oh, What a Fruitcake You Are" [5:30]
11. A Rowdy Wedding [4:54]
12. "Wise Up!" [2:30]
13. Christ in the Shape-Up [6:55]
14. Edie and Terry on the Roof [1:29]
15. Terry and Father Barry [2:48]
16. Terry Tells Edie [1:52]
17. "Why Don't You Finish Him Off?" [3:51]
18. Longshoreman's Local 374 [2:53]
19. Charley and Terry Take a Taxi [5:49]
20. "Terry, Your Brother's Down Here!" [5:53]
21. "You Go to Hell" [4:33]
22. The Crime Commission Hearing [3:54]
23. "What'd He Hafta Do That For?" [4:34]
24. "I'm Glad What I Done to You" [8:17]
25. "Can You Walk?" [4:11]
1. Color Bars [:20]
Disc #2 -- On the Waterfront
1. Opening Credits [1:37]
2. Joey Doyle [4:26]
3. Johnny Friendly's Bar [5:10]
4. Terry's Pigeons [1:04]
5. The Shape-Up [9:05]
6. Meeting in the Church [4:52]
7. Edie and Terry [4:50]
8. Pop Doyle [2:21]
9. "They Get Married Just Like People" [4:16]
10. "Oh, What a Fruitcake You Are" [5:31]
11. A Rowdy Wedding [4:53]
12. "Wise Up!" [2:30]
13. Christ in the Shape-Up [6:55]
14. Edie and Terry on the Roof [1:29]
15. Terry and Father Barry [2:48]
16. Terry Tells Edie [1:52]
17. "Why Don't You Finish Him Off?" [3:51]
18. Longshoreman's Local 374 [2:53]
19. Charley and Terry Take a Taxi [5:49]
20. "Terry, Your Brother's Down Here!" [5:53]
21. "You Go To Hell" [4:33]
22. The Crime Commission Hearing [3:54]
23. "What'd He Hafta Do That For?" [4:34]
24. "I'm Glad What I Done To You" [8:18]
25. "Can You Walk?" [4:10]
1. Color Bars [:20]
Disc #3 -- On the Waterfront
1. Opening Credits [1:37]
2. Joey Doyle [4:25]
3. Johnny Friendly's Bar [5:10]
4. Terry's Pigeons [1:04]
5. The Shape-Up [9:06]
6. Meeting in the Church [4:51]
7. Edie and Terry [4:51]
8. Pop Doyle [2:21]
9. "They Get Married Just Like People" [4:16]
10. "Oh, What a Fruitcake You Are" [5:30]
11. A Rowdy Wedding [4:54]
12. "Wise Up!" [2:30]
13. Christ in the Shape-Up [6:55]
14. Edie and Terry On the Roof [1:29]
15. Terry and Father Barry [2:48]
16. Terry Tells Edie [1:52]
17. "Why Didn't You Finish Him Off?" [3:51]
18. Longshoreman's Local 374 [2:53]
19. Charley and Terry Take a Taxi [5:49]
20. "Terry, Your Brother's Down Here" [5:53]
21. "You Go To Hell" [4:33]
22. The Crime Commission Hearing [3:54]
23. "What'd He Hafta Do That For?" [4:34]
24. "I'm Glad What I Done To You" [8:17]
25. "Can You Walk?" [4:11]
1. Color Bars [:20]

Menu

Disc #1 -- On the Waterfront
Play the Movie
Chapters
Commentary
Commentary: On
Commentary: Off
Supplements
Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones
Play
Elia Kazan: An Outsider
Play
On the Aspect Ratio
Trailer
Audio Options
Monaural
5.1 Surround
Commentary
Disc #2 -- On the Waterfront
Play the Movie (1.85:1 Widescreen)
Chapters
Supplements
"I'm Standin' Over Here Now"
Play
Eva Marie Saint
Play
Elia Kazan
Play
Thomas Hanley
Play
Audio Options
Monaural
5.1 Surround
Disc #3 -- On the Waterfront
Play the Movie (1.33:1, Full-Frame)
Chapters
Supplements
Who Is Mr. Big?
Play
Contender: Mastering the Method
Play
Leonard Bernstein's Score
Play
Audio Options
Monaural
5.1 Surround

Editorial Reviews

Arguably the best movie ever released by Columbia Pictures and among the finest movies ever made in America, On the Waterfront's reputation has only grown across the half-century since its release. Based on a series of articles about corruption on the New York/New Jersey docks, with a story and screenplay by Budd Schulberg (who also wrote a novel, Waterfront, to tell the story without the compromises necessary for the screenplay), the movie -- directed by Elia Kazan -- retains the feel of truth from the first frame to the last, down to the smallest nuances of the supporting players. Longshoreman Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) is a washed-up ex-boxer who is a part-time stooge for corrupt union president Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb), who also employs Terry's older, college educated brother Charley (Rod Steiger). As a favor to Johnny, Terry lures a fellow dockworker, Joey Doyle, to the roof of his building -- and Joey is thrown off the roof. All of the men who knew him plead "D & D" (deaf-and-dumb) about who killed him or why, but they all know that Joey was going to answer questions before the Waterfront Crime Commission investigating racketeering on the docks, and that it was Johnny Friendly who had him killed. But Terry can't walk away from Joey's death that easily -- he genuinely thought they were just going to lean on him a little, not kill him, and he can't forget that he set Joey up. Terry's conscience bothers him just enough so that when he meets Joey's grieving sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint), and sees Father Barry (Karl Malden), the local priest, trying to find out who killed Joey, they stir some long-buried streak of decency in him. At the same time, although he's not the brightest bead on the rosary (and this is a very Catholic movie, in its imagery and sensibilities), Terry slowly becomes aware that he can tie Johnny Friendly directly to the killing. Johnny starts to doubt Terry and his willingness to keep quiet; Terry and Edie are seen together too often, and they are falling in love with each other, albeit very reluctantly -- even Terry's brother Charley can't reach him anymore. When another longshoreman, Kayo Dugan (Pat Henning), agrees to testify and is murdered, Terry is the next in line for the investigators (Leif Erickson, Martin Balsam). Terry turns out not only to have a conscience but some dignity and self-worth. In the renowned taxi-ride scene with his brother (considered possibly the best dramatic scene between two actors in the whole history of movies), he recounts how Charley never looked out for him when Charley and Johnny handled him as a boxer and made him throw his most important fights -- he's not dead, but he's barely a shadow of who and what he might've been. By this time, the middle ground Terry is standing on is shrinking down to a point -- with a piercing edge -- and he (who is worrying only about himself) has to decide which way he's going to jump off. When Charley is murdered, he makes his decision, precipitating an explosion of pent-up fury on the docks that threatens to destroy both Terry and Johnny. The acting in On the Waterfront has the aura of truth, and the decision to shoot on location in northern New Jersey gave the film the immediacy and realism of a documentary. Into that mix goes Leonard Bernstein's music (his only film score), which anticipates elements of West Side Story and, in its editing and mixing into the audio track, imparts a very subtle operatic quality to the otherwise hyper-realistic film. Just check out the interaction of the visuals and the music in the scene depicting the fight at the morning shape-up, especially the build up to the horn flourish at the moment when Terry's friend points out that he's fighting with Joey Doyle's sister. The film is an extraordinary mix of elements both coarse and refined -- harsh realism and art at its most quietly elegant -- in a coherent and compelling whole that still holds up a half century later. On the Waterfront won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Brando, Best Supporting Actress for Saint, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Editing.