1. Marlon Brando's portrayal of Terry Malloy is simply spectacular: tough city kid, but tender with Edie and the teens and the pigeons (calls to mind Mike Tyson) and tormented in conscience.
2. The iconic car conversation with big brother, Charlie the Gent, the famous "...Charlie, you were my brother..."you shooda taken care of me a little...I coulda had class, I coulda been a somebody, I coulda been a contender"...is the most poignant dialogue in cinematic history.
3. The dialogue is all crisp, simple, piercing, perfect.
4. The flirtation and romance between Terry and Edie is heart-piercingly innocent, tender, passionate, erotic yet restrained and respectful. Eva Marie Saint is exquisite as the virginal, protected girl from a convent school who is smitten with Terry. The atmosphere of violence, danger, menace, guilt and regret serve to heighten the sexual tension.
5. Karl Malden's Father Barry (based on real-life Jesuit John Corridan) is among the very best priest portrayals in the movies. He is real, credible, like many an urban Irish priest of the 1950s. His raging, prophetic harangue in the pit of the ship over the body of just-murdered Dugan is a classic!
6. The drab, cloudy, black-and-white urban visuals and audibles drape the narrative in menace and threat. The music is very evocative of the mood. The pivotal scene in which Terry confesses to Edie is overwhelming: a loud fog horn drowns out the words so we can only observe the horrified expression of Edie and the tormented look of Terry and his words repeated; "...I swear to God, Edie...I swear to God!"
7, Lee J. Cobb as angry, violent, vicious mob boss Johnny Friendly is overwhelming as antagonist. His cronies have a comedic aspect but are an entertaining bunch. There is no glamorizing of the Mob as in many classic movies of this type. Everything is gritty, tough, urban, harsh.
I may favor this movie because I come from a family of union men, was myself a teamster before I became a supervisor of truck drivers, recall my youthful experiences on beer trucks and of "shaping" in the caddy yard like the dock workers, and lived my adult life in Jersey City a few miles from the Hoboken docks. The entire movie felt real.
8. The finale. Among the best movie endings ever! Having struck a blow against Johnny in the criminal hearing, Terry is now despised in his community as a "canary." He confronts and fights Johnny on the dock and is beaten brutally by the goons. With a little assist from Fr. Barry and Edie he pulls himself up and walks up the dock, hook in hand, barely able to keep his balance, his face beaten and bloody, now leading the dock workers to the ship. It is a stunning visual of the masculine mission and identity: to fight, to sacrifice, to spill blood. And to walk triumphantly, wounds bleeding, like Christ in his passion!
No comments:
Post a Comment