One of Scorsese's favorite flicks .....

Dear Martin Scorsese,

I watched your interview on the special features section of the On The Waterfront DVD. You did make some good points about how On the Waterfront was a pioneer in the way the streets of New York was filmed and looked on screen. You also stated that Brando's performance was unique and you had not seen anything like it before except for John Garfield in Force of Evil. But I was thinking about Sterling Hayden in The Asphalt Jungle. I am not comparing Sterling to Brando. But I was thinking about how both the characters were conflicted by the corruption around them, seemingly unable to escape their terrible circumstances.

Brando exuded the lonesomeness and melancholy of the failed boxer trying to save his soul by standing up to the union boss who controls the livelihood of the longshoremen. I see parallels between Brando's performance in On the Waterfront and De Niro's in The Raging Bull. I also think Lee.J.Cobb's performance is seriously underrated. He upstaged Brando in some of their scenes together. Cobb's menacing certainty about his evil manipulative ways was a perfect foil for Brando's confusion. Their interactions were the best part of the film. I wish the writer had written more scenes with the two of them squaring off. I was not too impressed by the weepy Eva Marie Saint or the saintly Karl Malden.

On the Waterfront tells a universal story. It is a very depressing film when you think about it. I can never forget the final scenes when Brando is being beaten up by the thugs and all the longshoremen simply crowd around and look on. The shots of them passively crowding around the brawling men like sheep was clearly used by Kazan to convey their impotence.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(8/10)