2020 Blind Spot Series: On the Waterfront

-

What I knew going in: All the Oscars it won and that famous line.

 Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) is an ex-fighter working odd jobs on the docks for some shady people. After her brother is murdered, Edie Doyle (Eva Marie Saint) starts asking questions around the docks and catches Terry's eye.

 I've heard a lot of people say this is one of Brando's best performances, so that's the main reason I added it to my Blind Spot list. He's great in this (The Godfather is still my #1 of his though) and Eva Marie Saint was as well. They had wonderful chemistry which I sometimes feel is lacking in older dramas that I watch. I found them both compelling and even though parts of the story felt slow, I was always interested in seeing where they went.

 This is the second film I've seen from director Elia Kazan, the other being A Streetcar Named Desire, while I think I prefer that to On The Waterfront, I've still been thinking about this film quite a bit, even weeks after I've watched it. 

 Recommended: Yes

 Grade: B

 Memorable Quote: "Conscience, that stuff can drive you nuts." - Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando)

Comments

  1. thevoid99June 13, 2020 at 2:34 PM

    I do love this film as it is a true American classic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. joel65913June 13, 2020 at 8:09 PM

    It's not that I don't like Marlon Brando, he can at times be very fine but he could be equally self indulgent and hammy which is why I put off watching this fully for decades. Of course I knew the "I coulda been a contender" scene but outside of that and a few snippets which never drew me in I didn't sit down and give it a beginning to end viewing until just a few years ago.

    I was happy to find this was one of those instances where Brando fully committed and was very good indeed. The story was complex and involving but needed to be seen from the start which is why happening upon it in progress had never engaged me before.

    I was also a bit wary of Eva Marie Saint as Edie. It's not that I haven't always liked her and thought she was a very good actress but I knew that the casting decision had come down between she and Elizabeth Montgomery and since I've always been a huge fan of hers I felt she had been robbed. Silly but there you are. Anyway Eva Marie was pitch perfect and while I could still see EM in the part I can't imagine she could have brought any more to it.

    I don't revisit the film but wouldn't rule out a repeat viewing and I was glad to have seen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 14, 2020 at 11:09 PM

      Brando's backstage antics sound awful lol. I haven't seen a lot of his films but aside from Island of Doctor Moreau, I haven't ran across too many bad performances of his.

      Delete
  3. JayJune 13, 2020 at 11:29 PM

    I like this one, and I liked springing it on Sean even better!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sonia CercaJune 16, 2020 at 9:10 AM

    I’m glad you like this! Brando is so good and so is the film. I actually prefer this to A Streetcar Named Desire.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 16, 2020 at 2:22 PM

      He was! Streetcar has the edge to me, but I can understand preferring this.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more