On the Waterfront story
On the Waterfront is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning and Eva Marie Saint in her film debut. The musical score was composed by Leonard Bernstein. The black-and- white film was inspired by "Crime on the Waterfront" by Malcolm Johnson, a series of articles published in November–December 1948 in the New York Sun which won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, but the screenplay by Budd Schulberg is directly based on his own original story. The film focuses on union violence and corruption among longshoremen, while detailing widespread corruption, extortion, and racketeering on the waterfronts of Hoboken, New Jersey.
19 total · 4 choice · 8 major · 7 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| courage | choice | The mob boss Johnny Friendly had the waterfront area of Hoboken, New Jersey, under his thumb because he instilled fear in its residents. The story follows Terry Malloy, and to a lesser extent Father Barry, as they found the courage to stand up to him. The dockworker who was killed for testifying against Johnny knew well the mortal danger he had put himself in by standing up. |
| duty vs. conscience | choice | A central focus of the story is Terry's internal struggle over whether to follow his conscience and testify against his patron the mob boss Johnny Friendly, who had ordered for a good man to be shoved from a rooftop. He felt duty-bound to be loyal to Johnny Friendly. |
| organized crime | choice | The story concerns the mob boss Johnny Friendly, leader of the longshoremen's union on the waterfront of Hoboken, New Jersey. He maintained an iron grip on dock work, and those that displeased him could find themselves out of work, beaten up, and even killed. He met his downfall when some locals, Terry Malloy and Father Barry in the forefront, found the courage to stand up to him. |
| there is strength in unity | choice | The mob boss Johnny Friendly was a tyrant who dominated the waterfront of Hoboken, New Jersey. He met his downfall when some locals, Terry Malloy and Father Barry in the forefront, found the courage to stand up to him. Terry Malloy became a rallying point around which longshoremen united to stand up to Johnny Friendly. |
| corruption in society | major | The story explores widespread corruption, extortion, and racketeering on the waterfront of Hoboken, New Jersey. |
| law enforcement | major | Officials connected with the Waterfront Crime Commission were investigating a corrupt longshoreman's union that was being run by the mob boss Johnny Friendly. |
| murder | major | At the outset, Johnny Friendly's goons murdered Joey Doyle because he was going to testify against Johnny in court. Likewise, a dockworker who Father Barry convinced to testify was murdered in an orchestrated dockyard accident. |
| organized religion | major | The Catholic church was woven into the fabric of the Hoboken, New Jersey, waterfront neighborhood in which the story unfolded. In particular, Father Barry invoked the example of Jesus as he persuaded the longshoremen to stand up to the mob. |
| religious occupation | major | Father Barry tried to make people stand up to the mob boss Johnny Friendly and his goons. |
| romantic love | major | Terry Malloy and Edie Doyle courted and fell in love. |