My Super On the Waterfront Review

On the Waterfront: A Review
Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront is a film released in the fifties expressing the importance of “whistle blowing” for the improvement of one’s community. It effectively shows the control which gangs had over various businesses at the turn of the century. Although the internet movie database interprets it as a movie of “an ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses,” it is also one man’s conviction as he chooses between supporting the mob and his brother, or helping the community and the girl he loves by putting Johnny Friendly and his entourage behind bars.
Kazan used many literary aspects in his movie to portray the overall theme and the importance of the mob. The characters he uses help exemplify the actions they made. He portrays Johnny Friendly as a tough, very unfriendly and serious man with considerable aspiration. Johnny seldom smiles and has a physical build, gait and clothing reminding the observer of Al Capone. Oppositely, Edie Doyle walks around with an almost angelical feeling, and is put separate from the rest of the cast by her blond hair. Father Barry, much like Edie holds himself with spiritual importance, and is distinguished from others in the scene by his collar. All of these characters help the viewer to identify the characters with figures of greater importance. The setting in Along the Waterfront grabs the attention of the viewer. The observer can identify the time period based on the cars driven in the film and the type of work Terry does. His work, and what most blue collar workers did at this time (loading and unloading goods off the docks) also tells the viewer that the movie takes place in an American port city like one in New Jersey.
These literary aspects based on characters, setting, and many others lead to symbols in Kazan’s film. All of the symbols relate to Biblical figures in both the Old and New Testaments. The most obvious symbolism relates Father Barry to a Jesus figure. The scene in which various gangsters throw food at him during his speech refers to when Jesus was laughed at and then crucified. Later in the scene, Father Barry is brought out of the ship on a cargo lift, where the camera looks up at him, comparing him to when Jesus ascended into heaven. Terry Malloy is also compared to as a Jesus figure when he must make the long walk to the cargo ship at the end of the movie. After being beat up by Friendly’s gang, Terry, in his sad state, must still lead the other men to work. It reminds the viewer of Jesus carrying the cross: Terry stumbles several times and is helped by Father Barry like the man who helped Jesus carry the cross. Instead of carrying the weight of the cross, Terry carries the weight of the society of workers who follow him. The final symbol which exists in On the Waterfront relates Terry to a Moses figure. Terry is portrayed as an inarticulate man with few social graces, relating to Moses’ fear of public speaking as written in the Old Testament. Like Moses questioning the burning bush as to why God chose him, Terry is confused as to why Father Barry chose him to testify against Johnny Friendly. He does not understand why he must confront his brother and someone who took him to baseball games when he was a boy. These relationships are the most important literary aspects of Along the Waterfront, and depict the overall mood of Kazan as a film writer.
The dramatic aspects of the film grab the attention of the viewer and support the themes and mood set out by the literary aspects. The actors in the movie give clear dispositions to the characters and various elements, such as set design helping the observer understand the setting of the film. By selecting Marlon Brando in the fifties, Kazan gave the audience someone they did not yet know well as an actor. This made the audience view him as a character, and not as a type-cast star. Although Marlon Brando later starred in Superman, The Godfather series, Apocalypse Now, and many other popular films, he was much less known before On the Waterfront. On the Waterfront probably solidified his place in Hollywood. Like Terry, Elia Kazan selected Eva Marie Saint, another young actor to play Edie Doyle. Because she was also a lesser known actor at this time, the audience may have felt more sympathy towards her character. Unlike the two previous actors, Kazan picked a well-established, middle-aged man to depict Johnny Friendly. Lee J. Cobb was definitely better known by the society at the release of On the Waterfront. He had already been seen in other performances as an ill-tempered and belligerent man, giving him a sense of meanness to viewers who had never seen Johnny Friendly before, but had seen Cobb. While the proper use of actors helped Kazan identify roles in his film, the set design enables the audience to identify the setting without directly stating it. The use of bulbous shaped cars with thin wheels and manual windows tells the observer that the time period looms between the early nineteen tens to the twenties, right before or during the Great depression. The popularity of tending to pigeons and non-automated trade also directs the viewer to this time period. The use of lesser known actors to play younger roles and better known ones to play older roles helps Kazan depict characters the way he wants to, while the use of time definitive fads and devices can direct the audience to a certain setting and time period.
The final and most popular of film devices are cinematic aspects. Including photography, camera movement, and sound, they are much more technical than their dramatic and literary counterparts, and can add immediate suspense to the movie. The use of a low angled photographic shot gives certain importance to the subject centered in it. For example, as Father Barry is lifted out of the cargo hold of the ship, he is viewed from a low angle at medium distance. This and being raised above the crowd relates him to a Jesus figure, and one of great importance as the instigator of the cessation of Johnny Friendly’s gang. Oppositely, low angle shots show the subject in lesser importance as the audience looks down on Terry Maloy standing on his roof. Not only does it look upon him as lowly, but it also gives a great view of the city around him, assisting in setting determination. Camera movement usually adds certain feelings in the observer such as fear or mischief. During the scene of Terry and Edie fleeing the truck down an alley, an essence of fear and suspense exists because the camera closely follows the two. This use of camera movement makes the audience fear for the protagonist’s life. The use of music and sound adds certain feelings much like those caused by camera movement. It is an auditory method to achieve the same results as camera movement, and can therefore have greater effect when the two are used simultaneously. The music at the introduction of On the Waterfront adds a mysterious feeling to the audience, and then the tempo immediately hastens and the music becomes more jumpy to add a sense of action. This grabs the attention of the viewer considerably. Overall, the use of cinematic appeals can change the mood of the movie, grab the attention of the audience, and instill various senses such as fear.
The choices made by Terry Maloy to turn in Johnny Friendly and his comrades relates considerably to the decision made by Joe Keller in All My Sons. While Terry is confronted by the ability to turn in a gang that commits malicious activity to the community, Keller has the decision of whether or not to sell faulty airplane parts. Both of their decisions have an affect on the community in which they live, although Terry’s decision affects the income of his one city, and Keller causes the death of Americans from multiple cities. Terry Maloy is barely involved with the gang while Joe has complete control over his business. The main difference in these two protagonists is that one made the ethically correct decision (Terry), and Keller made the morally incorrect decision. While making his decision, Terry felt empathy for his whole community and the deaths of people he knew, and Keller considered solely on the effect his decision would have on his family. Although neither of these characters is a truly bad person, one clearly was more affected by corruption.
The writer recommends On the Waterfront to any moviegoer. It can be used in the classroom as a good example of a literary film, a specimen for critiquing, and an old black and white movie a teacher can use to explain ethical dilemmas. Whether one desires to watch a classic fight scene, or even see a priest throw a punch and then ask for a beer, On the Waterfront can subdue their many cinematic desires.