Literary Review: On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront Reels in the Audience

The film On the Waterfront was directed by Elia Kazan and released in 1954. The black and white scenes allow the audience to concentrate on the characters and their dilemmas, rather than the flashy and over the top movie effects used in today’s Hollywood. The plot is truly enjoyable and is enhanced by the special characteristics brought to the film by each actor. Excellent cinematography allows each scene to flow into the next and creates a cohesiveness throughout the film.
This film is set in an anonymous port city in the eastern United States during the early 1950s. Terry, the protagonist and a member of the long shore men, is faced with the dilemma of staying true to his union or following his conscience. The majority of the set pieces consist of actual buildings which allow the audience to feel that they are side-by-side with the characters, because they are so life-like. There is a fence that separates the city from the docks, which is a minor part of the set, but it distinguishes the two worlds that Terry lives in, his love life and work life. In addition, there is an extensive amount of symbolism set forth in this film. For instance, a shipment of boxes falls on and kills one of Terry’s fellow workers, Timothy Dugan, who was working in the hold of a ship. Dugan’s body is placed upon a stretcher in the dark deck and is slowly raised by a crane until it reaches the top deck that is filled with sunlight. The action of raising Dugan’s body from the ship could be seen as his soul being accepted into Heaven, or the resurrection of Christ. Elia Kazan’s point of view on Terry’s dilemma is that a person’s conscience is more important than the pressure of peers. He shows this by having Terry stand up to the boss, alone, while the long shore men watch. The other men were too afraid to stand up, even as a group. Though Terry broke the code of being deaf and dumb, which is refusing to talk or giving minimal information about a situation, he ultimately made the right choice. Together the setting, symbols, and point of view greatly enhanced the effect of the film.
The dramatic aspects allowed the film to be conveyed on a deeper level. Each of the actors did a wonderful job portraying their roles. Marlon Brando is a renowned actor and lives up to it in this film. His interpretation and creation of the character Terry allow the audience to perceive Terry as a believable character. He assumes the role of a bum, but in the end beats down this stereotype. From his slow physical movements, due to one to many knocks in the head from fighting, to his sluggish thoughts and speech, Brando hits the nail dead on.. A new actress to the film world, Eva Marie Saint, makes her debut in the role of Edie Doyle. Since she is a fresh face, the audience views her as a commoner who is easy to relate to. The pureness and innocence of her character is intensified by her blonde hair. Another well known actor is Lee J. Cobb who tackles the role of Johnny Friendly, the union boss. His presence and gruffness on screen make him seem intimidating and powerful. There is no mistaking that it’s either Friendly’s way or no way. The costuming in this film is minimal, yet extremely effective. There is a drastic difference between the shabby coats of the long shore men and the freshly pressed suits and overcoats worn by the union men. These subtle hints allows the audience to understand the large gap between these two classes of men. At times it was difficult to make out the exact lighting due to the black and white film, yet it was still outstanding when it needed to be. For instance, the dark haunting alley Terry and Edie run down while nearly being run over by a truck is sharply contrasted with the bright beam of light surrounding Charley’s dead hanging body. The dramatics aspects of this film support the strong roles each actor played.
It is evident that a great deal of time was spent on the cinematography of this film, due to the particular choices of camera shots and sounds throughout it. The scene where Dugan is about to be killed due to the falling boxes is a prime example of this. The low camera angle shot straight up at the swaying boxes hints at Dugan’s impending death. Also, this scene has multiple short clips switching between Dugan and the boxes, which create a sense of nervousness and anticipation within the audience. Another important camera angle was the high angle shot down on Father Barry as he spoke over Dugan’s body in the hold of the ship. The high angle came from the same level that the workers were standing on and produced a feeling of Father Barry’s lack of power against that of the union. In addition to the camera shots, the sound was extremely important in this film. For example, when Terry attempts to tell Edie of his role in her brother Joey’s death, a foghorn blares each time Terry speaks. The foghorn drowns out Terry’s words because Edie doesn’t want to believe that her lover could have done such a terrible thing. Together, these cinematic aspects perfect the fine details and create an outstanding film.
Though the protagonists of On the Waterfront and the novel “All My Sons,” by Arthur Miller, have differences between them, they also share several traits. The actions of Terry in On the Waterfront and Joe Keller from “All My Sons” hurt the people they love most in their lives. Terry doesn’t realize the impact of his role in Joey Doyle’s death will have on his relationship with Edie, who is obviously mortified that he could commit such a terrible crime. Joe Keller’s decision to ship the faulty aviation parts to the war effort was intended to keep the business running and provide a source of income for his family, regardless of who it hurt. However, because of his decision, one of his sons committed suicide and the other son highly disapproved of Joe. Both of these men made these decisions in order to keep up their reputation within their community. Terry wanted to continue to be accepted by the union and Joe wanted to carry on his business. However, a major difference between these two men was the way in which they handled the consequences of their choices. Terry confronted his problem directly, by standing up to the union boss. He could only think of one way to get his point across, which was to fight, although it may not have been the most effective means of doing so. On the other hand, Joe Keller became a coward and hid from his problem. He blamed the cracked cylinder heads on his business partner and denied his role in the scandal for years. In the end, he committed suicide because he could no longer deal with the accusations and the pain his actions had caused him. Even though there were multiple similarities between these two characters, there also had their differences.
This film is extremely appealing due to its intriguing plot, characters and cinematography. The main audience for this film is teenagers to adults. The plot and dilemma Terry faces are somewhat complex and the knowledge of these two things are needed to fully understand the film. Recognizing the symbolism is another major element that is needed to enhance the viewers perception of the film. It’s also important that the viewer understands the era that this film takes place in and the history of struggles between labor and organized crime. This film is intriguing due to the skills of the highly acclaimed film veterans involved with each aspect of it.