00:03Thanks for joining me this Sunday afternoon on TCM.
00:07I'm Alicia Malone, and next in our line-up,
00:09we have a drama that won eight Academy Awards,
00:12including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay,
00:15and Best Actor for Marlon Brando.
00:18From 1954, directed by Ilya Kazan, it's On the Waterfront.
00:22This triumph came on the back of controversy for Ilya Kazan,
00:26who had been called in to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee
00:31and in 1952 had named names.
00:35Kazan gave the names of eight actors from the group theater
00:38who had been members of a Communist Party with him,
00:41and that action tarnished his reputation for the rest of his life.
00:45It also affected the making of this movie
00:47because Kazan had originally asked Arthur Miller to write the screenplay
00:51based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning articles of Malcolm Johnson.
00:55Miller said no on principle,
00:58so Kazan turned to another member of the film industry
01:01who had also named names, writer Bud Schulberg.
01:04The story is all about crime, corruption, unions, and informing,
01:09set among the unionized dock workers in New York and New Jersey.
01:14Marlon Brando plays former boxer Terry Malloy,
01:17who is now working as a longshoreman.
01:19He witnesses a murder by a union boss
01:22and agrees to testify before a crime commission.
01:26Kazan and Schulberg had shopped their script around Hollywood without any luck
01:29until the independent producer Sam Spiegel stepped up.
01:33He became heavily involved,
01:35pushing Schulberg to rework the screenplay until it was perfect
01:38and convincing Kazan to cast Marlon Brando.
01:42Kazan's choice had been Frank Sinatra,
01:44and when Sinatra learned that Brando was hired instead,
01:47he sued Spiegel for breach of contract.
01:50But with the screen debut of Eva-Marie Saint
01:53and also starring Karl Malden, Lee Jacob, and Rod Steiger,
01:57here is Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront.
02:09We'll see you next time.
02:10We'll see you next time.
