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On the Waterfront is a 1954 film about mob violence and corruption on the docks, and became a standard of its kind. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and stars Marlon Brando. The film deals with social issues which paralleled the emerging organization of labor.It is seen by many as a jab by Kazan at his former close friend, Arthur Miller, who along with Lillian Hellman was bitterly and openly resentful of Kazan's "betrayal" of film artists to the HUAC as "communists". On the Waterfront, being about a heroic mob informer, is widely considered to be Kazan's answer to his critics. Miller's The Crucible, about a heroic New England Puritan who chooses to die rather than make false accusations of witchcraft, is considered a response to Kazan.
The irony of On the Waterfront is that its protagonist's (Terry Malloy's) fight against corruption was an inspired echo of Arthur Miller's own famed fight against the McCarthyist-era Senate, perhaps in an attempt at healing their torn friendship. Both the Senate of the time, and the fictional mob in the movie being incarnations of an equivalent kind of mob mentality. Its labor theme had echoes of socialist sympathies, and though well enough disguised was a controversial and resonant work of art, at a time when the " red scare" was a prominent aspect in American life.
The film later was called "culturally significant" by the Library of CongressThe Library of Congress the unofficial national library of the United States, is one of the most important libraries in the world. Originally founded as a research library for the United States Congress April 24th 1800, its original collection were the bo and selected for preservation in the United States National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress. The board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized in 1992.
It was the winner of eight Oscars
- Academy Award for Best ActorThe Academy Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. The winners are chosen b - Marlon Brando
- Academy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the awards are voted on by other people within the industry. As is the customary practice in - Sam SpiegelSam Spiegel ( 11 November 1901 31 December 1985) was a successful independent producer of cinema. Born in Jaroslau, Austria (now Jaroslaw, Poland) and educated at the University of Vienna, Spiegel came briefly to Hollywood in 1927 following a stint servin, producer
- Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressThe Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. The winners - Eva Marie SaintEva Marie Saint (born July 4, 1924) is an American actress. She played the blond, graceful leading lady in many films, starting in the 1950s. Saint was born in Newark, New Jersey, USA. She studied acting at Bowling Green University, and did some work in r
- Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, black-and-white - Richard Day
- Academy Award for Best Cinematography, black-and-white - Boris Kaufman
- Academy Award for Directing - Elia Kazan
- Academy Award for Best Film Editing - Gene Milford
- Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Budd Schulberg
The film also received an additional four Oscar nominations:
1954 films
AFI 100 Movies
US National Film Registry
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