Movie Review: "On the Waterfront"
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Zachary Mandell
Apr 17, 2013, 1:10:02 PM4/17/13
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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Zachary Mandell
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Article Title: Movie Review: "On the Waterfront"
Author: Zachary Mandell
Word Count: 793
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=1833165&ca=Entertainment
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1833165
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=1833165
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Rating: Approved
Length: 108 minutes
Release Date: June 24, 1954
Directed by: Elia Kazan
Genre: Crime/Drama
Stars: 4 out of 5
Marlon Brando gives the performance of his career in "On the Waterfront" as Terry Malloy, a failed boxer who now does errands for a corrupt union boss named Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). He spends his days and nights doing exactly as he is told by Johnny and his brother Charley (Rod Steiger), both of whom convinced him to lose the high-profile boxing match that effectively ended his career. He trusts them, even though they have never had his best interests at heart, so he continues to run menial errands for them, barely scraping by and leading a largely lonely existence.
One day, he unwittingly lures a man to what would be his eventual death at the behest of Johnny and Charley. When he finds out that he was duped into doing something so sinister, he finally begins to see just how toxic and dangerous his brother and boss are. Unfortunately, the realization comes at a time when Johnny and the union are being investigated for corruption. Terry is questioned by the cops but steadfastly refuses to say anything for fear that Johnny will order his goons to kill him. It is around this time that he meets Edie Doyle (Eve Marie Saint), the sister of the man whom Terry unwittingly helped murder.
His guilt increases as he begins to fall in love with Edie, which forces him to make some big decisions about his life. He doesn't want to confess his accidental role in her brother's murder for fear of losing her, and he's afraid she would likely tell the police. This would lead to his having to testify against the union, if he isn't murdered before the trial begins. He is also scared to do so because his testimony would lead to his brother's incarceration. He begins to question everything he once knew, including his love and loyalty to Charley. He is an emotional mess and a psychological time bomb of sorts, but he finally has a goal in life after years of drifting and aimlessness. In putting his life into so much danger with his decisions, Terry has never looked so alive.
"On the Waterfront" is loosely based on a true story of real waterfront corruption that journalist Malcolm Johnson wrote about in 1949 in an epic twenty-four-part series in the "New York Sun." He won a Pulitzer for his work, while screenwriter Bud Schulberg won the Oscar that year for the script, which many critics deemed as the most perfect screenplay ever written outside of the ending. Due to expectations in filmmaking in the era, the ending for "On the Waterfront" had to be changed from the grittier real-life ending in Johnson's series to a decidedly more triumphant ending for the film. A more realistic or unhappy ending simply would not have been acceptable in 1954. Had the film been made a decade or two later, it likely would have had a much different result.
The small controversy over the changed ending was actually not a big deal in comparison to the much larger issue over one particular scene. The scene in question has Malloy giving an impassioned speech in front of a government committee about why he tattled on his friends in order to assuage his conscience. It hearkens back to just a few years earlier, when Kazan handed over names of colleagues he thought had ties to the Communist party when McCarthyism was at its peak. In doing so, he destroyed several lives and careers, while he was allowed to carry one with his own career unsullied. This didn't go down well with some in Hollywood, so the scene in "On the Waterfront" was seen as Kazan's way of explaining why he did what he did. No matter whether viewers support or got offended by Kazan's actions, the scene does not take away from the greatness of the film one bit.
The fact that the film is seen as controversial actually adds a bit of mystique to what is already a fabled film. Add the nearly flawless screenplay, Brando's best acting ever, and a series of supporting performances for the ages, and the result is one of the best movies of all time. Even half a century after its initial release, "On the Waterfront" still stands as a powerful, moving film that might have been one of the earliest films to have a true catchphrase: "I coulda been a contender." The film was a definite contender, walking away with eight Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Brando, Best Picture, and Best Director for Kazan.
About The Author: As a long time fan of Hollywood I was able to carve out the perfect career in the entertainment industry by writing initially for celebrity news sites and am now the owner of http://MovieRoomReviews.com
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=1833165
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
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- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
Message delivered directly to members of the group:
publish-the...@googlegroups.com
*****************************************************************
Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Zachary Mandell
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1833165
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1833165
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: Movie Review: "On the Waterfront"
Author: Zachary Mandell
Word Count: 793
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=1833165&ca=Entertainment
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1833165
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=1833165
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
Rating: Approved
Length: 108 minutes
Release Date: June 24, 1954
Directed by: Elia Kazan
Genre: Crime/Drama
Stars: 4 out of 5
Marlon Brando gives the performance of his career in "On the Waterfront" as Terry Malloy, a failed boxer who now does errands for a corrupt union boss named Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). He spends his days and nights doing exactly as he is told by Johnny and his brother Charley (Rod Steiger), both of whom convinced him to lose the high-profile boxing match that effectively ended his career. He trusts them, even though they have never had his best interests at heart, so he continues to run menial errands for them, barely scraping by and leading a largely lonely existence.
One day, he unwittingly lures a man to what would be his eventual death at the behest of Johnny and Charley. When he finds out that he was duped into doing something so sinister, he finally begins to see just how toxic and dangerous his brother and boss are. Unfortunately, the realization comes at a time when Johnny and the union are being investigated for corruption. Terry is questioned by the cops but steadfastly refuses to say anything for fear that Johnny will order his goons to kill him. It is around this time that he meets Edie Doyle (Eve Marie Saint), the sister of the man whom Terry unwittingly helped murder.
His guilt increases as he begins to fall in love with Edie, which forces him to make some big decisions about his life. He doesn't want to confess his accidental role in her brother's murder for fear of losing her, and he's afraid she would likely tell the police. This would lead to his having to testify against the union, if he isn't murdered before the trial begins. He is also scared to do so because his testimony would lead to his brother's incarceration. He begins to question everything he once knew, including his love and loyalty to Charley. He is an emotional mess and a psychological time bomb of sorts, but he finally has a goal in life after years of drifting and aimlessness. In putting his life into so much danger with his decisions, Terry has never looked so alive.
"On the Waterfront" is loosely based on a true story of real waterfront corruption that journalist Malcolm Johnson wrote about in 1949 in an epic twenty-four-part series in the "New York Sun." He won a Pulitzer for his work, while screenwriter Bud Schulberg won the Oscar that year for the script, which many critics deemed as the most perfect screenplay ever written outside of the ending. Due to expectations in filmmaking in the era, the ending for "On the Waterfront" had to be changed from the grittier real-life ending in Johnson's series to a decidedly more triumphant ending for the film. A more realistic or unhappy ending simply would not have been acceptable in 1954. Had the film been made a decade or two later, it likely would have had a much different result.
The small controversy over the changed ending was actually not a big deal in comparison to the much larger issue over one particular scene. The scene in question has Malloy giving an impassioned speech in front of a government committee about why he tattled on his friends in order to assuage his conscience. It hearkens back to just a few years earlier, when Kazan handed over names of colleagues he thought had ties to the Communist party when McCarthyism was at its peak. In doing so, he destroyed several lives and careers, while he was allowed to carry one with his own career unsullied. This didn't go down well with some in Hollywood, so the scene in "On the Waterfront" was seen as Kazan's way of explaining why he did what he did. No matter whether viewers support or got offended by Kazan's actions, the scene does not take away from the greatness of the film one bit.
The fact that the film is seen as controversial actually adds a bit of mystique to what is already a fabled film. Add the nearly flawless screenplay, Brando's best acting ever, and a series of supporting performances for the ages, and the result is one of the best movies of all time. Even half a century after its initial release, "On the Waterfront" still stands as a powerful, moving film that might have been one of the earliest films to have a true catchphrase: "I coulda been a contender." The film was a definite contender, walking away with eight Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Brando, Best Picture, and Best Director for Kazan.
About The Author: As a long time fan of Hollywood I was able to carve out the perfect career in the entertainment industry by writing initially for celebrity news sites and am now the owner of http://MovieRoomReviews.com
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=1833165
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
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