# SDMB Movie Club - week 8 - On The Waterfront **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2001, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844 "2001-09-05T12:52:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/1 "2001-09-05T12:52:39Z")
(link to [week 1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=78322) for newcomers, and continuing [The Graduate from week 7](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=84286)) Sorry about being a day late in starting this, but I took yesterday off from work to have a four-day weekend, and I don’t have internet access from home. (Shocking, I know.) We get to watch Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront this week. You know, the Brando before he bought an island and ate five hundred Big Macs. The ‘young Brando’, if you will. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been a contender. Have truer words ever been spoken? I’ll start things off after I find some breakfast and make a pretense of work, unless someone beats me to it. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/2 "2001-09-06T14:13:08Z")
Ok, so it took me over a day to find some breakfast. There’s a famine in Minnesota, that’s why. On The Waterfront didn’t seem like that great of a movie. It won eight Oscars - and had three nominations for Best Supporting Actor - and it’s ranked eighth on the list, so it’s clearly been well-received, but it made me wonder if I was missing something. I could see the morality tale about corruption and racketeering, and the moral redemption of Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando), but it didn’t seem to be a truly great movie, but rather just a pretty good one. What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/3 "2001-09-06T19:40:06Z")
Maybe you’re missing its simplicity. It’s a very nicely told story, the acting is, well, very dramatic, and the symbolism is obvious and not difficult to catch. Did Karl Malden ever show his face in that film without a cross somewhere in the frame? There’s not a lot of dross or diversion, but there is also an understated complexity to the film. A good story, simply told, is somewhat of a rarity in Hollywood or anywhere else. This film approaches perfection in the way it was shot, in the script, and in the story itself. In fact, I’m having trouble comparing _On the Waterfront_ to any other films except perhaps Ingemar Bergman’s _The Seventh Seal_, one of the best films ever. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/4 "2001-09-07T03:08:23Z")
I think _One The Waterfront_ is a wonderful movie. I agree with Sofa King about its simplicity; the story is straightforward and has always seemed extremely intimate to me. The chemistry between Eva Marie Saint and Marlon Brando was dazzling (classic good-girl/bad-boy) and I love the dimension Brando brings in his attempt to be a better man for her. The “contenda” scene where he attacks his brother - “It was _you_, Stanley” is gripping and beautiful. The whole thing is shot beautifully, from the scenes on the roof with the pigeons to Marie Saint dancing with Brando. The final fight sequence has a clarity, simplicity, depth, and suprising beauty that reminds me of the Odessa Steps sequence in _The Battleship Potemkin_ - it’s not over the top but still expresses the horror of life on the docks clearly. It’s one of my favorite “old” movies, but it never feels old when I watch it. Brando at his best, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/5 "2001-09-07T22:24:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara \* > **The “contenda” scene where he attacks his brother - “It was _you_, Stanley” is gripping and beautiful.** One of my favorite scenes in any films. I especially love Brando’s reaction when his brother pulls a gun on him. He doesn’t get angry or frightened about this, he’s disappointed that Charlie would stoop to that level. He never acts for a second as if he thinks Charlie would really shoot him, he’s just saddened that his brother would even suggest it. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/6 "2001-09-07T22:56:21Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. It was you, Charley. Reading it while imagining Brando deliver the lines just gives me shivers. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/7 "2001-09-07T23:24:28Z")
However, whenever I read “It was you, Charley” I hear “It was you, Fredo” even though Brando didn’t deliver the latter line. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/8 "2001-09-08T02:07:46Z")
Oops, Charley, not Stanley. All apologies. I haven’t seen the movie in about 6 months. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-movie-club-week-8-on-the-waterfront/79844/9 "2001-09-08T05:51:24Z")
I think it’s also interesting to note this film was made in 1954, which was post House on Un-American Activies, (1952) in which Kazan named names, and yet the whole concept of the film is about the noble little guy standing up to the Big Bad Authority structure. I’ve always thought of _Waterfront_ as Kazan’s apology to the Hollywood community. And oy…the contenda scene. I don’t cry at movies. Ever. But that scene makes me misty. Just the hopelessness of it. I was raised in the 80s. _Godfather_ era Brando is what I primarily knew. This movie taught me why he is a deserved legend. And if anyone wants to know what method acting is, that is the scene to point them to. The pain in Brando can only come from a place deep in his soul, I think. And the closing scene where he staggers to the dock boss…brilliant cinema. Kazan’s choice to use one long take doesn’t allow the viewer to break from Brando’s struggle for an instant.