On the Waterfront marks its 70th anniversary on July 28 but TCM is celebrating early with an Independence Day airing on July 4.

Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) delivers the film’s most iconic line:

“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.”

The film focuses on union violence and corruption that exist among the longshoreman in Hoboken, New Jersey. The corruption is widespread and includes both extortion and racketeering. In terms of the film, the plot is pretty self-explanatory but the film does more than just give us a hell of a performance from Marlon Brando. Brando’s Malloy is working for mob boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) while older brother Charley (Rod Steiger) is his right-hand man. On the Waterfront also introduces audiences to Eva Marie Saint in her first prominent role on the big screen as Edie Doyle. Prior to her Oscar-winning performance, the actress had worked in television and on stage for the previous decade.

Visually speaking, there are few different styles in the movie. At the core of the film is certainly the melodrama with the gangsters and Leonard Bernstein’s score. This is the only Bernstein score in a movie to not come from a stage production.

There’s a layer to the film when it comes to the Communist witch hunt taking place in the 1940s and 1950s. Eliza Kazan testified before HUAC, naming 8 Communists in his testimony. Much like High Noon, this was Kazan’s response to McCarthyism. Arthur Miller had written the first draft of the script, titled The Hook. Cohn’s preference was that the corrupt union officials be changed to Communists. Miller decided to pull out after Cohn’s decision that the film be pro-American. As a result, Budd Schulberg stepped in as screenwriter. Kazan and Schulberg have their differences over the film’s interpretation but Kazan views Terry Malloy’s testimony as representing his beliefs–being glad that he testified as he had. Back in April 1952, Kazan took out ad in the New York Times to defend his actions.

It’s no surprise that Columbia Pictures is releasing the film in its upcoming fifth volume of the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection. After all, it is one of the greatest films ever made, winning eight Oscars in twelve nominations. It certainly would not be the film that it is without producer Sam Spiegel’s insistence to film on location in New Jersey. If Columbia chief Harry Cohn had his way, they would have produced the film entirely on soundstages and backlots. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed. Because of this, we’re also able to witness the performance that would redefine what it means to be an actor in cinema. In portraying prize fighter Terry Malloy, Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando brings a Stanislavski-based approach to his performance. Method acting would never again be the same. Interestingly enough, Brando first turned down the role.

On the Waterfront is a film that would change cinema for years to come.

DIRECTOR: Elia Kazan
SCREENWRITER: Budd Schulberg
CAST: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, with Rod Steiger, Pat Henning, Leif Erickson, James Westerfield, Tony Galento, Tami Mauriello, John Hamilton, John Heldabrand, Rudy Bond, Don Blackman, Arthur Keegan, Abe Simon, and introducing Eva Marie Saint

Columbia Pictures released On the Waterfront on theaters on July 28, 1954. Grade: 5/5

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