It’s one of my favorite films, despite the somewhat shaky moral of the film. Great music, acting, directing, really just everything. As the film that introduced America to Method acting; Brando, Cobb, and Steiger were all taught the Method, Elia Kazan was one of the founders of the Group Theater, I think anyone wanting to be an actor must watch this film. As for the message, it is a bit controversial. Kazan was targeted by HUAC, but he did name names. Part of it was a disillusionment with left wing politics, but a lot of it was personal grievances with people he worked with in the past. Kazan said he did not think the people he named would have their careers hurt and that the committee already knew who they were, but there are conflicting accounts. If we put the people that Kazan threw under the bus as stand ins for the mobsters and Kazan as Malloy, things get a little dicey and sanctimonious. Still, it is an excellent film. More on reddit.com

One of my favorite movies. Brando gives one of the greatest acting performances in all of cinema. The cab scene is absolutely brilliant. The supporting cast is excellent too. Karl Malden’s crucifixion speech blows me away every time. Lee J Cobb nails Johnny Friendly, Eva Marie Saint is great. The guy who plays her father is amazing. Rod Steiger does an amazing job in the cab scene, especially considering Brando wouldn’t even stick around to shoot his sides.

All in all just a great film.

More on reddit.com

Elia Kazan's "On the Waterfront" is the most beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, critically acclaimed vanity project ever made. "Separate the art from the artist." Fuck the artist! In this case, though, there is no separation. Kazan had the sheer audacity, the unmitigated gall, the appalling arrogance to shamelessly equate his own situation with the one depicted in the film. Kazan infamously "named names" during the "Red Scare" of the 1940s and '50s by identifying his colleagues as "Communists" - even though they weren't - when a junior senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, led a witch hunt to "expose" the "Reds" in America he felt were "hiding in plain sight." In the movie, a similar situation plays out. A washed-up "bum" ex-boxer, Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), is subpoenaed to testify against a crooked union run by murderous mobsters - including his older brother (Rod Steiger) and the decidedly unfriendly Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). Going against them against all odds would indeed be heroic. What Kazan did was cowardly. The two are not the same. The fact that he thinks so displays a staggering level of hubris. In a perfect world, Elia Kazan would have been blacklisted from Hollywood, along with anyone else bearing the scarlet letter of his name. However, if that had happened, we would never have gotten "On the Waterfront." (Lanie Kazan, whose performances I adore, is surprisingly unrelated. She inexplicably picked "Kazan" as a stage name.) Much has been made of Brando's performance here. It is natural and magnetic - for the most part. Ironically, the best line in the film contains probably his worst acting. "You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am - let's face it." His line delivery is hammy and over-the-top as he mugs for the screen. Rod Steiger deserves an Academy Award for somehow keeping a straight face during Brando's ridiculous theatrics. (According to IMDb, Brando wasn't actually present when Steiger's close-up shots were filmed.) To make matters worse, a subsequent scene features Brando absurdly being punched into a door by another character. I've seen pro wrestlers take less exaggerated bumps. Otherwise, Brando lives up to his reputation as an actor's actor. He's as good as you've heard. Better, probably. One of my favorite moments: As Malloy (Brando's character) struggles with whether to do the right thing and blow the whistle on the corrupt union, he "seeks advice" from a fresh-faced little 14-year-old (Thomas Handley). The kid is a "gang member" who was taught never to "rat." (Pigeons are used in their scenes on the roof to symbolize "stool pigeons" - squealers - which feels a bit on the nose, but I kind of like it.) Malloy knows this impressionable small child will give him the answer he wants to hear. At this point in the movie, he's desperate to do what's easy instead of what's right. As memorable as Brando is, my two favorite characters and performances come from other actors. Eva Marie Saint (in her feature film debut) radiates innocence, purity, and hopeful naivety as Malloy's love interest, Edie Doyle, whose brother is murdered by Friendly's goons at the beginning of the movie. Karl Malden plays a hardscrabble, streetwise, no-nonsense priest who answers to a higher power instead of the lower power Friendly represents. This is my second viewing of "On the Waterfront." I didn't love it many years ago. I still don't love it now. All of the pieces are there - superb acting, dialogue, direction, and cinematography - but something about it feels fraudulent. Kazan's contradictory and hypocritical subtext is a clear irritant, but I knew none of that the first time I saw it, and I was still somewhat underwhelmed by the experience. More on reddit.com

One of my favorite Brando performances and a prescient tale of bloodthirsty capitalism and the insidious nature of corporate/upper class society’s oppressive view of blue collar and working class people. “They’re dustin’ off the hot seat for me!” Words words words words words words words words words words words words More on reddit.com