Elia Kazan

On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront

Marlon Brando gives the performance of his career as the tough prizefighter-turned-longshoreman Terry Malloy in this masterpiece of urban poetry. A raggedly emotional tale of individual failure and social corruption, On the Waterfront follows Terry’s deepening moral crisis as he must decide whether to remain loyal to the mob-connected union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) and Johnny’s right-hand man, Terry’s brother, Charley (Rod Steiger), as the authorities close in on them. Driven by the vivid, naturalistic direction of Elia Kazan and savory, streetwise dialogue by Budd Schulberg, On the Waterfront was an instant sensation, winning eight Oscars®, including for best picture, director, actor, supporting actress (Eva Marie Saint), and screenplay.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1954
  • 108 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.66:1
  • English
  • Spine #647

TWO BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Alternate presentations of the restoration in two additional aspect ratios: 1.85:1 (widescreen) and 1.33:1 (full-screen)
  • Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Audio commentary by authors Richard Schickel and Jeff Young
  • New conversation between filmmaker Martin Scorsese and critic Kent Jones
  • Elia Kazan: Outsider (1982), an hour-long documentary
  • New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with scholar Leo Braudy, critic David Thomson, and others
  • New interview with actor Eva Marie Saint
  • Interview with director Elia Kazan from 2001
  • Contender: Mastering the Method, a 2001 documentary on the film’s most famous scene
  • New interview with longshoreman Thomas Hanley, an actor in the film
  • New interview with author James T. Fisher about the real-life people and places behind the film
  • Visual essay on Leonard Bernstein’s score
  • Visual essay on the aspect ratio
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda, Kazan’s 1952 defense of his House Un-American Activities Committee testimony, one of the 1948 Malcolm Johnson articles that inspired the film, and a 1953 piece by screenwriter Budd Schulberg

    New cover illustration by Sean Phillips, design by Eric Skillman

Purchase Options

TWO BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Alternate presentations of the restoration in two additional aspect ratios: 1.85:1 (widescreen) and 1.33:1 (full-screen)
  • Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Audio commentary by authors Richard Schickel and Jeff Young
  • New conversation between filmmaker Martin Scorsese and critic Kent Jones
  • Elia Kazan: Outsider (1982), an hour-long documentary
  • New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with scholar Leo Braudy, critic David Thomson, and others
  • New interview with actor Eva Marie Saint
  • Interview with director Elia Kazan from 2001
  • Contender: Mastering the Method, a 2001 documentary on the film’s most famous scene
  • New interview with longshoreman Thomas Hanley, an actor in the film
  • New interview with author James T. Fisher about the real-life people and places behind the film
  • Visual essay on Leonard Bernstein’s score
  • Visual essay on the aspect ratio
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda, Kazan’s 1952 defense of his House Un-American Activities Committee testimony, one of the 1948 Malcolm Johnson articles that inspired the film, and a 1953 piece by screenwriter Budd Schulberg

    New cover illustration by Sean Phillips, design by Eric Skillman
On the Waterfront
Cast
Marlon Brando
Terry Malloy
Karl Malden
Father Pete Barry
Lee J. Cobb
Johnny Friendly
Rod Steiger
Charley Malloy
Pat Henning
Kayo Dugan
Eva Marie Saint
Edie Doyle
Leif Erickson
Glover
James Westerfield
Big Mac
John Hamilton
”Pop“ Doyle
Credits
Director
Elia Kazan
Produced by
Sam Spiegel
Screenplay
Budd Schulberg
Based upon an original story by
Budd Schulberg
Suggested by articles by
Malcolm Johnson
Director of photography
Boris Kaufman
Art director
Richard Day
Editor
Gene Milford
Music
Leonard Bernstein

Current

On the Waterfront: Everybody Part of Everybody Else
On the Waterfront: Everybody Part of Everybody Else

Elia Kazan’s masterwork is a vivid, tough look at a time and place, and a transcendent human drama.

By Michael Almereyda

A Tale of Three Aspect Ratios
A Tale of Three Aspect Ratios
In our release of On the Waterfront, out today on Blu-ray and DVD, we offer Elia Kazan’s film in a trio of aspect ratios. Our official presentation of the movie is in 1.66:1, but you can also watch it in its entirety in both 1.33:1 and 1.85:1 frame…
Scorsese Talks On the Waterfront
Scorsese Talks On the Waterfront
In this clip from a new interview on our release of On the Waterfront, the Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese talks to critic and programmer Kent Jones about how much Elia Kazan’s masterpiece meant to him as a young moviegoer.
Iconic Brando in Berkeley

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Iconic Brando in Berkeley

As part of a Marlon Brando series, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive screens the film that won the actor his first Oscar, Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront.

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Atom Egoyan’s Top 10

Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan has directed fourteen features.

Dick Cavett’s Top 10
Dick Cavett’s Top 10

One of the United States’ most beloved talk-show hosts of all time, Dick Cavett has been a presence on television since his first interview program, This Morning, debuted in 1968.