Product Description

Marlon Brando gives one of the screen's most electrifying performances as Best Actor in this 1954 Academy Award® winner for Best Film. Ex-fighter Terry Malloy (Brando) could have been a contender but now toils for boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) on the gang-ridden waterfront. Terry is guilt-stricken however when he lures a rebellious worker to his death. But it takes the love of Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint) the dead man's sister to show Terry how low he has fallen. When his crooked brother Charley the Gent (Rod Steiger) is brutally murdered for refusing to kill him Terry battles to crush Friendly's underworld empire. Directed by Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire) and written by Budd Schulberg (What Makes Sammy Run?) this unforgettable drama about Terry's redemption is among the most acclaimed of all films.System Requirements: Running Time 107 Min Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 043396784093 Manufacturer No: 78409

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1043 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2001-10-23
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Special Edition, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Marlon Brando's famous "I coulda been a contenda" speech is such a warhorse by now that a lot of people probably feel they've seen this picture already, even if they haven't. And many of those who have seen it may have forgotten how flat-out thrilling it is. For all its great dramatic and cinematic qualities, and its fiery social criticism, Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront is also one of the most gripping melodramas of political corruption and individual heroism ever made in the United States, a five-star gut-grabber. Shot on location around the docks of Hoboken, New Jersey, in the mid-1950s, it tells the fact-based story of a longshoreman (Brando's Terry Malloy) who is blackballed and savagely beaten for informing against the mobsters who have taken over his union and sold it out to the bosses. (Karl Malden has a more conventional stalwart-hero role, as an idealistic priest who nurtures Terry's pangs of conscience.) Lee J. Cobb, who created the role of Willy Loman in Death of Salesman under Kazan's direction on Broadway, makes a formidable foe as a greedy union leader. --David Chute

Customer Reviews

Among the greats
Probably the only good thing produced by "McCarthyism"; in the end it is the story of "ratting out" by Kazan, who testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming his friends.

But it is also the story of standing up to evil. It is a post-WWII commentary on that achievement. And, in this regard Brando creates a hero for the ages in a remarkable picture in which I see something new every time I watch it.

Look, for example, for the New Testament parables, The "cloak" in the form of the Jacket that ends up with Terry Malloy, and Dugan's "ascension" from the cargo hold after the sermon, as it is slowly raised. Not to mention Terry's struggle to get up and walk in the end, bearing the cross of his truth-telling.

Brando at his best
I hate to admit it, but I never really got the whole Brando thing. Then again, I really only had The Godfather to base that on-and I'm not really a mafia-movie chick. This is film making at its finest. Brando shines-and was clearly a pretty boy in his time. Strong script and great performances by both Brando and Steiger. While I like the "contender" scene, I think it paled to the scene when Terry is trying to connect with Edie in the bar/cafe scene. Overall-great film. If you haven't had a chance to see it-do yourself a favor.

one of the best ever
This is absolutely a must see film. It has history (created by Kazan to be an answer to Miller's The Crucible), reality (was shot on the docks with many of actual long shoremen as actors), and great acting. There are four acting oscar nominations for this film. (Brando, Saint, Malden, Cobb)It is one of those films that make you stand and cheer. Even my students who are seniors in high school broke into applause when I showed it to them.