Get Your Reps In: Nearly 70 Years After Its Release, “On the Waterfront” Is Still a Contender

On the Waterfront (1954)

“I coulda been a contender!” protested the man who was about to become champion of every conversation about acting for the next half-century.

On the Waterfront is a crown jewel in the legend of Marlon Brando, who won his first Oscar for playing washed-out prizefighter Terry Malloy. When we meet him in Elia Kazan’s classic drama, Malloy is entering the actual fight of his life. Having accidentally helped a murderous union boss (Lee J. Cobb) silence a rebellious longshoreman, Malloy ends up caught between two moral compasses—a pro-labor priest (Karl Malden) and the murdered man’s sister (Eva Marie Saint)—and the inertial forces of corruption, bolstered by Terry’s own enforcer brother (Rod Steiger).

Brando’s performance remains magnificent nearly 70 years on. The iconic “contender” monologue is pitched with a softer, aching nuance than many might remember, and Terry’s constant eye-contact avoidance, beneath lumps of scar tissue, suggests a man who cannot bear to confront what he’s done and still may have to do.

Saint, in her first acting role, is Brando’s on-screen equal in every way, emanating all the curiosity and focus that terrifies the ex-fighter. And the rest of the ensemble? In short, they’re all bona fide contenders.

Enjoy one of Hollywood’s all-time acting showcases at Cinema 21 on April 1, part of programmer Elliot Lavine’s “5 From the 5ifties” series.

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Academy: Porco Rosso (1992), Spider Baby (1967), March 31-April 6. Clinton: Lingua Franca (2019), March 31. Detour (1945), April 1. Drive (2011), April 2. Bad Girls Go to Hell (1965), April 3. Black Boots, Leather Whip (1983), April 4. Hollywood: Slumber Party Massacre II (1987), March 31. The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), April 1-2. A Clockwork Orange (1971), April 1-2. Alien Private Eye (1989), April 4.