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On the Waterfront

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

On the Waterfront

1954

Elia Kazan

Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb ...

8.1

30,104

Drama Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) is an ex-prize fighter struggling against union corruption along the New York waterfront. Malloy's battle takes him all the way to the witness stand, where he finds himself testifying against union leaders.

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"A powerful and influential movie, one that continued Brando's immeasurable influence on the general change of tone in American movie acting in the 1950s (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	A.H. Weiler The New York Times	"An uncommonly powerful, exciting and imaginative use of the screen by gifted professionals (...) Moviemaking of a rare and high order."	POS
United States	Variety	"Schulberg greatly enhanced the basic story line with expertly-turned, colorful and incisive dialog (...) Camera work (Boris Kaufman) and editing (Gene Milford) rate special mentions for some unusally effective pictorial effects."	POS
United Kingdom	Tom Coates BBC	"'On the Waterfront' retains the freshness of an original - exploring the difficulties and corruptions of working stiffs with a realism, sensitivity and intelligence that has seldom been matched since (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Tony Sloman Radio Times	"Marlon Brando is unforgettable as Terry Malloy (...) The movie works on several levels (...) It's fascinating, then, to discover the superb direction is by Elia Kazan (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Noel Murray AV Club	"There’s so much going on with the multi-Oscar-winning 1954 classic 'On The Waterfront'—both onscreen and behind the scenes—that it’s tough to know where to begin discussing it."	POS
United Kingdom	Geoff Andrew Time Out	"Superb performances (...) a memorably colourful script by Budd Schulberg, and a sure control of atmosphere (...) Pretty electrifying (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"Brando's performance (...) is pretty terrific. Budd Schulberg's script has flavor and bite. The main problem is that Kazan and Schulberg use waterfront corruption partially as a pretext for a more personal story"	NEU
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"The performances in the film have a magnificent intelligence and strength, shaped and guided incomparably by Kazan, a master of Broadway and Hollywood (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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