He outshone Marlon Brando, which is not a easy thing to do. Brando was spot on as always, but Malden had this kind of energy that made everyone disappear when he spoke. What a great scene-stealer !! Anyone know any great Karl Malden performance ? I can't say I'm familiar with this actor.
Tell your brother he's on my to-do list, right after 'inserting needles into my cock'.
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Wow. Thanks for the clever, well-argued answer.
Tell your brother he's on my to-do list, right after 'inserting needles into my cock'.
I do believe he was great. And Eva Marie Saint too, and Rod Steiger and Lee J. Cobb. Great acting all around in this movie.
shareI agree.
shareAnyone know any great Karl Malden performance ?
Everyone was great in this movie, but Malden stole every scene he was in.
shareAnd that's exactly what the role called for him to do, to stand out in the crowd and be seen and heard. I think any of the big 4 actors in this movie could have done the same but it was Karl Malden's role to steal the show!
shareAnyone know any great Karl Malden performance ? I can't say I'm familiar with this actor.
Everyone is familiar with the "I coulda been a contenda" scene. For me, the scene that makes the movie is Malden's "Sermon on the Dock". The turning point of the whole film. Father Barry is not only trying to inspire the "D&D" (deaf and dumb) longshoremen to find the courage to stand up to the mob, he is obviously trying to find the courage to live up to what he's preaching himself. Watching him become empowered with each line of this homily, as he is being verbally harassed and pelted with garbage by the surly mobsters was pure brilliance on Malden's part. How he didn't get the Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor is beyond me. I guess his nomination along that of fellow cast members Steiger and Cobb (both giving stellar performances as well) might have cancelled each other out, as none of them made it to the podium that year.
shareHe seems to drift in and out of his Irish accent. But his character was very inspiring.
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A dope trailer is no place for a kitty.
Karl Malden is great and certainly deserved the Academy Award for best supporting actor. "Boys, this is my church!"
The reason he tends to get overlooked, in my opinion, is that both the character and his approach were already somewhat old-fashioned by 1954. It's very easy to see that the priest's role in this film is exactly the same as the roles Pat O'Brien always had in the old Jimmy Cagney films. Karl Malden gives a great old-fashioned performance in a great old-fashioned role, but Marlon Brando breaks all the rules and gives masculinity a completely new image with the sensitive, almost feminine range of emotion he displays as Terry, who is far more than a conventional Cagney-esque tough guy.
ON THE WATERFRONT blends the familiar and the innovative like no other film.
"Your next challenge is always your biggest." Joe Namath
His best performance I've ever seen in his career.
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