FilmJudge - On the Waterfront

REVIEW

On the Waterfront
1954
Certificate: PG | Runtime: 103 | Director: Elia Kazan
Starring: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint

Terry Malloy (Brando) is a former boxer who now works at the docks, and runs errands for the corrupt leader of the Dockers' Union, Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). However, after Terry is partially involved in the murder of Joey, another docker, he begins to have doubts about his relationship with Friendly. Matters are complicated when he starts a relationship with Joey's sister Edie (Saint). Meanwhile, a local priest Father Barry (Malden) tries to convince Terry to give evidence against Friendly and the other mobsters controlling the Union.

On the Waterfront is one of those iconic films which I certainly admire, but which I'm not overly fond of. It has some fine performances to offer, and in many respects it has aged incredibly well. But it has always struggled to involve me on an emotional level, and when you take into account the multiple subplots and its obvious political slant, it strikes me as lacking an element of focus.

The film was of course made years before Marlon Brando became that fat guy who did cameo roles while making up dialogue and collecting huge paycheques. There is probably an entire generation of people who have never seen his Terry; a performance of such energy and complexity that it still stuns today. What he brought to the character was a suppressed fire, a passion that only escapes at certain key points in the film. Terry is a tortured and trapped victim of circumstance, and Brando perfectly captured all facets of the character.

But I have never warmed to some of the other performances. While Eva Marie Saint is generally good, her performance is inconsistent. Sometimes she allows us to glimpse Edie's pain and inner turmoil, but on other occasions she looks as dumbstruck as a rabbit in the headlights. The same charge of inconsistency could also be levelled at Malden, who never seems sure whether he's in a film or on the stage. It's partially due to the rather preachy dialogue he has to deliver, but on occasion he hollers as though he's actually speaking from a pulpit. Rod Steiger is very good though (as Terry's brother Charley), and Cobb is delightfully menacing.

On the Waterfront also has a frustrating habit of deviating at inopportune moments. The relationship between Terry and Edie crops up occasionally, and while there's a chemistry between the actors it also manages to seem forced. Then there's the business of Terry being a former boxer. While this subplot gives us the immortal (and beautifully acted) 'contenda' conversation, I see no reason why it needs to be there. Terry is already racked with guilt over Joey's death, and next to this the fact that the mob forced him to throw fights rather pales into insignificance.

Cosmetically the film withstands the test of time well. The cinematography is still handsome to look at, and it's certainly one of the best edited films of the 1950s. Kazan's politically motived resurrection of Terry near the end of the film now seems more hackneyed than it does offensive, but in general On the Waterfront represents some of the director's most visually striking work. However, it's not all perfect in this department either, because there's Leonard Bernstein's horrible musical score to contend with. It's the only score he ever wrote for a film that wasn't a musical, and it shows. It's not just that it's noisy, brash and repetitive, it's also so badly mixed into the film that it makes the dialogue in some scenes close to inaudible.

So while there's no doubting On the Waterfront's place in the pantheon of American cinema, I confess it certainly isn't a personal favourite. It has its charms and strengths, and I understand why people still study Brando's performance in film schools, but for me the film as a whole has always been rather underwhelming.

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