On the Waterfront

Posted by Elliot

Strong dramatic fare about the mob-controlled union of dockworkers. Brando stars as Terry, the man who finally stands up to the crooked union boss (played brilliantly by Lee J. Cobb). Rod Steiger is Terry’s brother, a crony of Cobb to whom Brando utters one of the most famous lines of all time: I coulda been a contenda. Karl Malden plays a supportive priest, and Eva Marie Sainte his girlfriend. Like High Noon before it, the film carries added baggage as part of the McCarthy era; it became director Elia Kazan’s self-defense for naming names before HUAC.