On the Waterfront...

Admiral Dewey Promenade; the Statue of Liberty far in the distance.

Battery Park

Although the film On the Waterfront was filmed in New Jersey, it is set in the New York dockyards. The story is based on a series of articles by reporter Malcolm Johnson, published in the New York Sun in 1948, that exposed mob corruption and racketeering on the waterfront. It stands alone as a brilliant film, but what's truly fascinating is the background story of Elia Kazan, the film's director, in relation to the film. In 1952, at the height of McCarthyism, Kazan, who had been a member of the Communist party for a short time in the mid 1930's, testified in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee and ratted out several of his friends and colleagues as Communists or Commie sympathizers. They were placed on the infamous Hollywood blacklist, thus ending their careers. Had Kazan been an ordinary director, he would have been shunned and forgotten. But Kazan is one of the greatest and most influential directors of stage and screen ever. He co-founded the Actors Studio, perhaps the most esteemed acting institution in the world, famous for popularizing Method- the style of acting that revolutionized the industry. It gave us Marlon Brando, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, and Joanne Woodward just to name a few. He is part of the reason why James Lipton has gone through hundreds of stacks of blue cards interviewing contemporary actors on Inside the Actors Studio. Kazan is ridiculously significant. He didn't disappear; he just remained surrounded in controversy for the rest of his life, losing the respect of a lot of the typically liberal Hollywood crowd when he 'named names.' I remember vividly watching the Oscars in 1999, when he was given an honorary award. When the camera panned over the audience, half of the people were giving a standing ovation, while the other half sat stoically in their seats in protest. Awkward! On the Waterfront is considered to be Kazan's attempt at absolving himself for his actions as the somewhat autobiographical plot is a sympathetic portrayal of Marlon Brando's character, Terry Malloy, a dockworker who chooses to testify against his own corrupt crew.

One of the most famous scenes in cinematic history

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