Facts > Films > On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront (1954) Facts
| Director(s) | Elia Kazan |
| Producer(s) | Sam Spiegel |
| Featured Cast | Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint |
| Total Facts | 58 |
The script was originally turned down by Darryl F. Zanuck at Twentieth Century Fox on the grounds that the gritty drama didn't fit well with the policy at the time of creating lavish productions for the studio's Cinemascope format.
The shooting schedule occasionally had to be worked around Marlon Brando's appointments with his psychiatrist in Manhattan.
The taxicab scene between Terry and Charlie, one of the most famous scenes in the cinema, was not improvised, as Marlon Brando claimed in his autobiography. When Brando did initially improvise during the shooting of the scene, and Rod Steiger followed his lead, Elia Kazan yelled, "Stop the shit, Buddy!" to Brando, using his nickname. The two actors stuck to Budd Schulberg's script after that.
The Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) line, "You don't understand. I could've had class. I could've been a contender. I could've been somebody instead of a bum, which I am." was selected at No. 3 on American Film Institute's (AFI) 100 YEARS..100 QUOTES.
Was one of the first films named to the National Film Preservation Board's National Film Registry in 1989.
When Elia Kazan and his original screenwriter Arthur Miller originally showed the script to Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn, Columbia executives objected to the script as being "atni-union", as they feared union retaliation. Cohn recommended that union officials be changed to communists.
While filming the scene in the back of the cab Marlon Brando would leave every day for a psychiatrist appointment before Rod Steiger could film his lines with a double standing in for Brando. Steiger was very hurt by Brando's apparent disregard to a fellow colleague and was not able to forgive him until many years later.
While preparing for the role, Marlon Brando became friendly with a young Al Lettieri, who was an acquaintance of real-life Mafiosos. Brando based much of his performance on Lettieri, who became his co-star in The Night of the Following Day and The Godfather.