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'On The Waterfront' Is Coming To 600 Screens Across The U.S.
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 20, 2016
Modified Apr 20, 2016
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 20, 2016
Modified Apr 20, 2016
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The classic film On The Waterfront, which at the very least you should know for delivering one of the most famous lines in Hollywood history ("I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody..."), is coming back to the big screen. It hasn't been there for nearly 60 years.
Director Elia Kazan’s classic tale of crime and corruption among unionized dock workers in New York and New Jersey, returns to movie theaters as part of the Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies TCM Big Screen Classics series. For just four screenings only — two each day — in more than 600 theaters, [this] gives movie buffs nationwide the chance to experience the second collaboration of Marlon Brando and Kazan, following A Streetcar Named Desire, along with the acclaimed performances of Eva Marie Saint and Karl Malden, and a still-searing, Academy Award-winning screenplay by Budd Schulberg.
Here are some Cocktail Party Facts regarding the film, should you be at a cocktail party one evening and find yourself discussing Brando's finest works.
- The film was shot over 36 days in Hoboken, NJ.
- For the classic scene between Rod Steiger and Brando in the back of the cab, all of Steiger's close-ups were filmed after Brando had left for the day—a crew member sat-in and read his lines for him. Steiger was not pleased with this! And he expressed his feelings in interviews that followed.
- After the film's debut in 1954, "the AFL-CIO expelled the East Coast longshoremen's union because it was still run by the mob," according to IMDB.
- "Terry Malloy's fight against corruption was modeled after whistle-blowing longshoreman Anthony DeVincenzo, who testified before a real-life Waterfront Commission about activities on the Hoboken Docks and suffered a degree of ostracism for his deed," according to Wikipedia. He actually sued Columbia Pictures "over the appropriation of what he considered his story," and the two parties settled.
- Arthur Miller worked on an earlier version of the script, originally entitled The Hook.
The movie will screen on Sunday April 24th, and Wednesday April 27th, you can buy tickets here. In NYC, you'll be able to see it at the Empire 25 in Times Square and Union Square 14 (the former has the better seats).
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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