Criterion Bringing On The Waterfront (1954) To Blu-ray
On February 19, 2013, The Criterion Collection released On The Waterfront on Blu-ray. Elia Kazan directed the film starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Lee J. Cobb.
‘On The Waterfront’ Movie Synopsis
Marlon Brando gives the performance of his career as the tough prizefighter-turned-longshoreman Terry Malloy in this masterpiece of urban poetry. A raggedly emotional tale of individual failure and social corruption, On the Waterfront follows Terry’s deepening moral crisis as he must decide whether to remain loyal to the mob-connected union boss Johnny Friendly and Johnny’s right-hand man, Terry’s brother, Charley, as the authorities close in on them. Driven by the vivid, naturalistic direction of Elia Kazan and savory, streetwise dialogue by Budd Schulberg, On the Waterfront was an instant sensation, winning eight Oscars®, including for best picture, director, actor, supporting actress, and screenplay.
Read the full summary, and listen to our film review.
Also available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.
Special Features
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Alternate presentations of the restoration in two additional aspect ratios: 1.85:1 (widescreen) and 1.33:1 (full-screen)
- Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition
- Audio commentary by authors Richard Schickel and Jeff Young
- New conversation between filmmaker Martin Scorsese and critic Kent Jones
- Elia Kazan: Outsider (1982), an hour-long documentary
- New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with scholar Leo Braudy, critic David Thomson, and others
- New interview with actor Eva Marie Saint
- Interview with director Elia Kazan from 2001
- Contender: Mastering the Method, a 2001 documentary on the film’s most famous scene
- New interview with longshoreman Thomas Hanley, an actor in the film
- New interview with author James T. Fisher about the real-life people and places behind the film
- Visual essay on Leonard Bernstein’s score
- Visual essay on the aspect ratio
- Trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda, Kazan’s 1952 defense of his House Un-American Activities Committee testimony, one of the 1948 Malcolm Johnson articles that inspired the film, and a 1953 piece by screenwriter Budd Schulberg.
New cover illustration by Sean Phillips, design by Eric Skillman
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On February 19, 2013, The Criterion Collection released On The Waterfront on Blu-ray. Elia Kazan directed the film starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Lee J. Cobb.