For a near-championship boxer to fall from the limelight after a defeat is fairly common, but to lose due to his own brother betting against him is unheard of. Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront portrays the role of this former fighter living his life as a bum under a local mob boss. This movie stands out from how movies are portrayed today. It didn’t have a lot of fast chase scenes, immense battles, or over-the-top special effects. This movie focused on its characters, by portraying their reactions
one of those targeted most viciously in the controversy was acclaimed film and theater director Elia Kazan. Despite an illustrious career in which he directed nearly two dozen films, among them such classics as A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and East of Eden, and collaborated with Pulitzer-prize winning playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams for both the stage and screen, Kazan is remembered by many only for his testimony in front of this committee. This point is illustrated
Williams in cementing his position as one of the most proficient and respected playwrights existing in contemporary theater (Kolin 1993). For Tennessee Williams this play proved to be his first work which was translated and produced as a movie by Elia Kazan. Owing to high intensity emotional plot and subtle yet powerful acting by its lead cast ensured that the movie became a blockbuster. Tennessee has woven a plot set in New Orleans around three characters Blanche, her brother-in-law Stanley and her
On the Waterfront directed by Elia Kazan about a man that once felt he owed something to the mob and now he wants to control his life. This film is a classic mobster movie that is well known for the filming techniques used whilst shooting. The method acting, the lighting, and the camera angles establish the plot. Stella Adler taught her student, Elia Kazan, the principles of method acting. The method created by a Russian director, Konstantin Stanislavsky, has actors become the character and have
with the play and this is because Williams and Elia Kazan also brought the stage production to life. The film is almost the play word for word. I found that for most of the film I could follow along with the script. I enjoyed the fact that the film did not deviate from the play and only added a few minor scenes, such as the confrontation between Stanley and Mitch, Blanche riding the streetcar and the bowling alley. An element that aided Williams and Kazan in achieving this feat was their choice of lighting
Exploring Pain in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," written by Tennessee Williams is a brilliant play about a dysfunctional family that is forces to deal with hidden deceptions and hypocrisy. The issues that this play revolves around transcend time and region. By 1955 Tennessee Williams was already a well known and respected playwright. Theatergoers, as well as critics, had enthusiastically anticipated the arrival of "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof." Many loved the play, but they
Interpersonal relationships are a potent entity that wildly flutter, like a liberated pigeon, through the miserable docks of Elia Kazan’s 1954 film ‘On the Waterfront,’ shaping the moral metamorphosis of protagonist Terry Malloy – from an analysts perspective, the ‘power’ source of the film. Terry’s voyage from an inarticulate and diminished “bum” to a gallant “contender,” is the pedestal that the film gyrates around, however, it is palpable that Terry – a man branded with his primitive mores - is
When considering what way Elia Kazan uses On the Waterfront to comment on his participation in the HUAC or the House Un-American Activities Committee hearing: what stands out most prominently is the films final scene. It is here that we see our main character of Terry Malloy return to docks were, once he is refused work, confronts union boss John Friendly and then before a vicious brawl ensues states, “I’m glad what I done,”. What this is erring is how he has ‘ratted’ on Friendly which can be seen
The Cold War in Relation to Film The Cold War brought fear to Americans, with communism and the Red Scare. This essay will cover how the Films relate to the Cold War. Films such as; the Front, On the Waterfront, Guilty by Suspicion, High Noon and the Crucible. Along with, The Fifties text book by David Halberstam. If Russia becomes communist, what will become of the United States of America? The Russian Revolution began in 1917, during WWI, Russia wants to overthrow their government and become communist
As the dust kicked up by the nationalistic yet fearful time in American history called the Second Red Scare began to settle, one of the most influential films in American, and international, film history hits Hollywood. Directed by the infamous Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront tells the story of a young Terry Malloy, ex-prize fighter and current dock worker who is suppressed by the corrupt boss of the docker’s union. Disgusted by the union’s manipulation of its workers and horrified by its murder of
Does the truth always set you free? On the Waterfront is a classic, award-winning and controversial film. The director, Elia Kazan, directed a film based on actual dockside events in New Jersey. On the Waterfront is a story of a dock worker, Terry Malloy, who tried to overthrow a corrupt union. Terry was a young ex-fighter, then a dock worker given simple jobs because his brother was the right-hand man of the union boss, Johnny Friendly. After Terry allowed himself to be used in setting up a man's
man who was very cold towards others. It was also noted the the character Tom, from Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie, was based on Tennessee Williams’s own experiences. Williams himself implied this through his writing (Sloan). A director named Elia Kazan stated "everything in [Williams '] life is in his plays, and everything in his plays is in his life” (Sloan). Other instances where Williams incorporates his own life in his plays is when he uses his sister as a motivation behind many characters
The peeling away of the honey-glazed aesthetic of Sirkian Melodrama to thoroughly examine the true core beneath is the task. Douglas Sirk’s films are expressive and suggestive in their examination of female sexual and emotional relationships. It must be considered what exactly a melodrama is and what type of audience the genre demands. Known worldwide to be part of a female cultural domain, the genre deals with the woman’s film from the early 30’s right up until the Sirkian territory of the 1950’s
“When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be because of enemies from without, but rather because of enemies from within.” During the late 1940s and early 1950s, these words of Abraham Lincoln were all on the minds of Americans (McCarthyism). After fighting against Communism for decades, the fear of it taking down the country terrorized people’s thoughts. Even more so, people were extremely frightened of the idea that there could be Communists within the spotlights of American influence
literary one. Years after his career took off his works were finally brought to the Silver Screen. Unlike many others, Williams got lucky and was able to work with some of the greatest directors and actors of all time, such as Joseph Mankiewicz, Elia Kazan, Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh and many others. In order to allow his works to be on screen certain parts of the films had to be censored; some more than others. “By the late '50s, public standards
Blending of Past, Present, and Future in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman The most significant and challenging aspect to Death of a Salesman is its structure. In reading and watching the play it may appear at first that Miller is relying on the tried but true "flashback" technique in dramatizing the events of the play. In reality, Miller is actually attempting something much different. He is actually trying to fuse the past, present, and future into, what David Biele has aptly termed, a "constant
as a program to help put people back to work. Arguably his most famous work, The Glass Menagerie, was written in 1944 in Chicago. The play started being performed in Chicago, but later moved to New York City and took off on the Broadway Circuit. Elia Kazan (who directed many of Williams’ greatest successes) said of Williams: “Everything in his life is in his plays, and everything in his plays is in his life” (Oakes 373). During 40s-60s, Williams career was booming and he had lots of
The Personal Strife of Tennessee Williams Tennessee Williams was a well renowned playwright, who highlighted his personal experiences in his plays and stories. He had a colorful life and he enjoyed writing about what was considered taboo subjects in the 1940's, 1950's and the 1960's. Williams explored homosexuality, alcoholism, violence, greed and sex. He also infused humor into his work. Williams dissected the traditional American family, and he penned many stories about dysfunctional
The American dream is the idea (often associated with the Protestant work ethic) held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. What the American dream has become is a question under constant discussion. THE AMERICAN DREAM TODAY In the 20th century, the American dream had its challenges. The Depression caused
On the Waterfront is a classic, award-winning and controversial film. It received eight academy-awards in 1954, including best-picture and director. The director, Eliza Kazan, in collaboration with Budd Schulberg wrote the film’s screenplay. Based on actual dockside events in Hoboken, New Jersey, On the Waterfront is a story of a dock worker who tried to overthrow a corrupt union. Marlon Brando superbly portrays the character of Terry Malloy. He is a young ex-prize fighter, now a dock worker