Brattle Theatre Film Notes: ON THE WATERFRONT corrupt union boss Johnny Friendly pictures of the 1950s, Kazan wrote in his USA, 1954. PG. 108 min (Cobb). As brother to Friendly's right-hand 1988 memoir, "We'd both started as actors Cast: Marlon Brandon, Karl Malden, Lee man, Charley (Steiger), Terry is largely shel- and become directors. But he went 'all the J. Cobb, Rod Steiger; Writers: Malcolm tered from, and ignorant of, the harsher way,' and I did not. I was more disci- Johnson, Budd Schulberg; Music: realities of life under the mob boss - those plined, more in control, more cautious, Leonard Bernstein; Cinematographer: who displease Friendly are soon unable to more bourgeois. Perhaps, I thought, he's Boris Kaufman; Producer: Sam Spiegel; Director: Elia Kazan find work; those who betray him by coop- been more of an artist, more of a gambler.” erating with investigators may find them- () hough hardly radical, On the selves flung from a rooftop. It is the demise Waterfront is certainly Kazan's most n 1952, two years before the release of of one such potential informer, Joey, that impassioned film. Where even the leads Terry to a truer understanding of the T On the Waterfront, director Elia Kazan most emotional subject matter can, in had finally agreed - after initially refusing - nature of Friendly's brand of violent manip- I Kazan's hands, at times feel like a cold to cooperate with the House Un-American ulation. Eventually, Terry comes to under- exercise in Freudian intellectualizing (like Activities Committee. He identified eight stand that his silence is tantamount to com- his adaptation of East of Eden, for exam- fellow members of a communist organiza- plicity, and he asks himself what should ple), or an overwrought contrivance (like tion to which he had briefly belonged in command more loyalty: one's personal the self-conscious Baby Doll). On the the 1930s, and relegated them to the sense of goodness and decency, or a cor- Waterfront is the ultimate convergence of Hollywood blacklist. In doing so he rupt organization that demands silence in all the director's most closely held personal accomplished at least two things: he sal- the face of its crimes? and artistic principles. His artistic trade- vaged his own film and theater career, and marks -gritty location work, intense method he effectively ended theirs; one of those acting, tightly written characters, and narra- identified, actress Phoebe Brand, would tive economy - are here in service to the not have a film role for 40 years. To most of very themes and issues that changed the Hollywood community, Kazan's deci- Kazan's life and career forever, and they are sion was inexcusable. But what has done all the more powerful for it. the most lasting damage to his reputation is not necessarily the ruin he brought to the t’s been more than 50 years since Kazan careers of playwright Clifford Odets (a gave his testimony, but he remains a con- longtime friend of his) or Paula Strasberg Itroversial figure. When in 1999 it was (wife of acting guru Lee Strasberg, another announced he would receive an Oscar for azan, like Terry, chose the former. friend), though such personal betrayals are lifetime achievement, many in the industry Unlike Terry, Kazan has never been galling to many. Rather, Kazan's detractors were outraged, and a large portion of the transformed in the eyes of many of his have been most incensed by his persistent K audience refused to stand or applaud colleagues from rat to hero. But being lack of regret. Where many who testified when the presentation was made. Brand ostracized from a large portion of the before the committee later expressed dis- herself spoke out, saying, "I forgive. I for- Hollywood community, though undoubt- gust with themselves at having named give a lot. But I don't think I can forgive edly painful, was nonetheless the conflict names, Kazan has always stood by his Kazan." Indeed, one can argue with his that spurred Kazan to create his best and in decision, characterizing it not as a calculat- politics, one can question his motives, but some ways most atypical film. Though ed act of self-preservation, but as a coura- On the Waterfront, his best and most per- revered as an actors' director and a master geous stand against a dangerous political sonal picture, is unassailable. craftsman, his work has sometimes been ideology he had come to despise. dismissed as artistically timid, and for all iven Kazan's claims of a political the consistent quality of his films, he took - Written by Lawrence Fahey change of heart, he could scarcely few chances with style, technique or sub- Ghave failed to realize how perfectly ject matter. Indeed, even Kazan makes this On the Waterfront functions as an allegory point. Drawing a comparison between for his own struggles. The film's hero, Terry himself and his friend director Nicholas Ray, Malloy (Brando), is a washed-up boxer whose tumultuous career produced some working on the New York docks, run by of the more lurid and subtextual studio