CinemaLit - On the Waterfront (1954)

November 22 - On the Waterfront (1954), 108 minutes, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, and Karl Malden.

Brando finally won an Oscar for his fantastic turn as Terry Malloy in Elia Kazan’s trenchant study of corruption and M**der among New Jersey longshoremen. Kazan’s 1952 friendly testimony at the House Un-American Activities Committee complicates On the Waterfront’s legacy, but there’s no denying its brilliance as filmmaking. Brando was never more compelling, playing Malloy’s conflicts with urgent emotionality. Waterfront is further enhanced by Boris Kaufman’s crisp and chilly black-and-white cinematography, Leonard Bernstein’s achingly beautiful score, and uniformly fine supporting performances from Eva Marie Saint (an Oscar winner here), Karl Malden, Rod Steiger, and Lee J. Cobb.

November 2024 CinemaLit - The Marlon Brando Centennial

Amazing but true - Marlon Brando (1924-2004) was born 100 years ago. Amazing because his performances, particularly the early ones, continue to appear fresh, alive, and spontaneous. And deeply influential. The aspiration among actors to be “the next Marlon Brando” is so widespread it’s become cliché. And it hasn’t happened. There will never be another Marlon Brando.

Brando was born on April 3, 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a traveling salesman; his mother was a stage actress. Brando attended a military academy, but his ambitions were with acting. He moved to New York, where he studied with famed drama coach Stella Adler. Under her guidance, Brando thrived. He could aggravate his fellow actors with mumbling and unpredictability, but he honed a performance style that was volatile, idiosyncratic, and absolutely spellbinding.

Brando created the indelible Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway in 1947; a few years later came Streetcar on film, catapulting him to the top ranks of major new movie stars. Streetcar brought him his first Best Actor Academy Award nomination, and he followed that with three more in as many years. He finally won the award on his fourth nomination, for 1954’s On the Waterfront.

For our Brando tribute, we’re screening three of those first performances that captured the Academy’s attention and admiration. (His other nomination in this period was for Viva Zapata! (1952), a film worthy of attention.) Come see what all the fuss was about with A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Julius Caesar (1953), and On the Waterfront (1954).

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Institute