On+the+Waterfront+final





Terry Malloy: If I spill, my life ain't worth a nickel. Father Barry: And how much is your soul worth if you don't?

I feel that the most important movie that we watched in class was, __On the Waterfront__, directed by Elia Kazan, and written by Budd Schulberg from Malcolm Johnson’s articles. It is a story of the dock workers of New York back in the time when the world was black in white and lacked color; when they were too scared of mobsters who kept them down to even defend themselves or their fellow workers. The story follows Terry Malone the brother of Charley the Gent, Johnny Friendly’s “accountant” and right hand man. Terry loses his friend who spoke out against Johnny Friendly’s corrupt business one night through partially his own fault and is stricken with guilt. Terry isn’t helped by his friend’s beautiful sister Edie who came to New York to find out what and why killed her brother. He is constantly pressured to speak out against Johnny Friendly’s operation and is torn between what he knows is right with Edie and Father Barry or staying deaf and dumb with the other dock workers to keep his brother out of jail and keep himself alive. After Terry starts to lean towards speaking out Friendly gives Charlie and ultimatum, either convince Terry to keep his mouth shut, or kill him and be done with it. When Charlie fails to convince Terry to take a comfy job their past is revealed, the brothers are unable to hurt each other no matter what Friendly says. Charlie tells Terry to run and says that he will tell Friendly that he never found him. Unfortunately for Charlie Friendly had a spy listening in and has Charlie killed to bait Terry. His older brothers dead being the last straw Terry wants revenge against Friendly, but is convinced by Father Barry to deal with Friendly where it would hurt him most, in court. After Terry speaks against Friendly the dock workers shunned him because of their fear of the mob, until the climactic confrontation between Friendly and Terry which shifts the dynamic of the waterfront forever. 

The movie has two amazing actors, Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy protagonist who is struggling against what is right and what he’s always know and Karl Malden as Father Barry the brave priest who was inspired to go against Friendly’s organization and leave the sidelines.

 The camera angles like to work with the film as the movie progresses. In the beginning it has a wide shot of the docks and then slowly zooms in when the mobsters are moving out of their hideout. Later on when the mobsters kill the man who was going to speak out they show from Terry’s view and we can see the suspended crates when no one else in group sees.

The purpose of the film is to show the mob in a gritty way instead of putting them as heroic anti-heroes and expose them as the truly vicious monsters that they are. The film also emphasizes doing the right thing no matter what the consequences. This may seem like a heroic ideal, but there was an underlining motive apparently, as Kazan was one of the people who named names in front of the house Un-American Activities Committee, and the Terry the hero of the story names the names of the mob in front of a judge may be Kazan’s way of defending himself against his critics.