On the Waterfront: Columbia Classics – Volume 5 (4K UHD Review)

• Reviewed by: Stephen Bjork
• Review Date: Nov 14, 2024
• Format: 4K Ultra HD
• 

Director

Elia Kazan

Release Date(s)

1954 (October 22, 2024)

Studio(s)

Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

• Film/Program Grade: A
• Video Grade: A
• Audio Grade: A-
• Extras Grade: B+

Review

[Editor’s Note: Though we’re reviewing the films in the set one by one, On the Waterfront is currently only available on physical 4K disc in Sony’s Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 5 box set. It’s available on Amazon by clicking here, or on any of the artwork pictured in this review.]

On April 10, 1952, Elia Kazan sat down before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in order to provide amended testimony. He had first appeared before the Committee back in January, but while he admitted that he had been a member of the American Communist Party from 1934-1936, he refused to name any other members. His resolve broke quickly, and just three months later, he returned to deliver a sworn affidavit that named eight other former members of the Group Theatre collective (including Clifford Odets and Paula Miller). He also implicated several party officials and a few members of other groups like the League of Workers Theaters and the Theater of Action. He didn’t stop there, either; two days later, he took out a defiant ad in the New York Times that offered the following justification: “I believe that any American who is in possession of such facts (about communism) has the obligation to make them known, either to the public or to the appropriate Government agency.”

Two years later, Kazan took that justification to the next level with the release of his ultimate statement on the subject, On the Waterfront. While the original scenario for the film was written by Arthur Miller, he had a falling out with Kazan over the director’s HUAC testimony, so fellow cooperative witness Bud Schulberg took over to shape the story more to Kazan’s liking. Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) is a longshoreman and former prize fighter who now works on the New York docks. The local union is controlled by the mob boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb), and Terry ends up a not quite unwitting participant in Friendly’s violent approach to squelching the testimony of an informer against the union. Terry’s conscience over his own actions is piqued by his attraction to the informer’s sister Edie (Eva Marie Saint), as well as by the influence of the activist priest Father Barry (Karl Malden). Still, he’s torn between them and his brother Charley (Rod Steiger), who remains a loyal union man and does his best to keep Terry in line. Yet once Terry’s conscience finally gets the better of him and he considers testifying against the union, the threat of violence turns towards his own family.

Marlon Brando gave a towering performance as Terry Malloy, earning his first Academy Award for Best Actor and securing his legacy as one of the great actors of his generation. That’s thanks in no small part to Kazan, who had already guided Brando through his unforgettable turns as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata! Kazan was building a legacy of his own as the consummate actor’s director due to his influence in having founded the Actor’s Studio, which developed the Method under the tutelage of Lee Strasberg. When Kazan turned to Hollywood, his heavy use of Strasberg graduates like Brando and Malden played an important role in bringing Method acting out of the New York Theatre scene and before the public at large. On the Waterfront legitimately earned its place in cinematic history purely due to the incomparable performances of its stellar cast, let alone due to other significant factors like Boris Kaufman’s stark cinematography, Leonard Bernstein’s music, and the use of authentically gritty New York locations.

Still, there’s no getting around the fact that On the Waterfront is also a pretty naked apologia for Kazan’s having named names before the Committee. It’s not particularly subtle about that fact, either. Schulberg’s script even puts Kazan’s own words from his New York Times advertisement into the mouth of Father Barry:

“Taking Joey Doyle’s life to stop him from testifying is a crucifixion. And dropping a sling on Kayo Dugan because he was ready to spill his guts tomorrow, that’s a crucifixion! And every time that the Mob puts the pressure on a good man, tries to stop him from doing his duty as a citizen, it’s a crucifixion! And anybody who sits around and lets it happen, keeps silent about something he knows has happened, shares the guilt of it just as much as the Roman soldier who pierced the flesh of our Lord to see if he was dead.”

Yet however grandiose that sentiment may seem, Kazan wasn’t crucified for “doing his duty as a citizen.” In the first place, the disapprobation of one’s peers hardly qualifies as a crucifixion, but more importantly, betraying those peers meant that he also betrayed the freedoms of speech and association that are founding principles of the country where he held his citizenship. The maddeningly perverse genius of On the Waterfront is that it inverts the reality of McCarthyism in order to help assuage Kazan’s conscience over that betrayal. For Kazan, the angry mob that crucified our Lord wasn’t McCarthyism, it wasn’t HUAC, and it wasn’t even the Blacklist that put his friends and coworkers like Arthur Miller out of work. No, it was anyone who snubbed him for the harm that he did to others while being a willing participant in the Red Scare.

In On the Waterfront, Terry Malloy ends up struggling to find work after he testifies before the Waterfront Crime Commission, with the union shutting its doors to him and even literally trying to beat him into submission. Yet ironically enough, Kazan’s own testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities is what allowed him to keep working in Hollywood, while those that he testified against ended up out of work instead. In reality, Kazan testified to the mob, not against it, and that’s what kept him working. Yet it’s also what allowed him to keep making great films like On the Waterfront. Life is complicated sometimes, but the resentments for that fact can run deep.

On March 21, 1999, Elia Kazan sat down before the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences in order to accept their Honorary Award. He had received the Oscar for Best Director back in 1948 for Gentleman’s Agreement an again in 1955 for On the Waterfront, but this would be his first time on stage since that time. The decision to honor him was a controversial one, and that was reflected by the reactions in the audience. Some Academy members like Warren Beatty offered him an enthusiastic standing ovation, and others remained seated while applauding politely. Still others like Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, and Nick Nolte sat in stony silence. It was an awkward moment, but Kazan remained defiant, telling everyone that “I really liked to hear (the applause), and I want to thank the Academy for its generosity.” Yet however anyone may have felt about his testimony before HUAC, there’s no getting around the fact that Kazan’s legacy was indeed secure thanks to classics like A Streetcar Named Desire, East of Eden, A Face in the Crowd, Splendor in the Grass, and yes, On the Waterfront.

In the end, we all leave a complicated legacy behind us. Some of us just have a more complicated legacy than others.

Cinematographer Boris Kaufman shot On the Waterfront on 35mm film using Mitchell BNC cameras with spherical lenses, framed at... well, let’s get back to that in a moment. As Grover Crisp explains in his detailed restoration notes, the film was restored photochemically back in early Nineties at YCM Laboratory in Burbank. There was significant damage to the negative that couldn’t be repaired, including some poor-quality dupe negative material that was cut into it. Ten years later, that restoration was scanned at 2K by Digital Filmworks in Hollywood and additional digital cleanup work was performed. It wasn’t until 2014 that the negative was scanned again in 4K, with scanning and digital restoration performed at Cineric in New York, plus additional grading by Colorworks in Culver City. Those 4K files have been the basis for all subsequent versions. In 2024, Motion Picture Imaging in Burbank created new HDR grades in both Dolby Vision and HDR10, and that’s the master on display here.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say “masters.” Just like Criterion’s Blu-ray release of the 2014 restoration, On the Waterfront is presented in 4K with three different aspect ratios on three separate discs. It was originally produced during a transitional period from the open-matte Academy Aperture to modern widescreen, and while Kaufman did expose (and protect) the full 1.37:1 negative area, it was always intended to be shown matted. During that period, some films were exhibited at 1.66:1, and others at 1.85:1—in some cases both, with different theatres matting to different ratios depending on the screen that they had. On the Waterfront originally premiered at 1.85:1, so it can be considered the “correct” aspect ratio because of that fact. Yet Columbia still hedged for any situation listed the film as being projectable at 1.37:1, 1.66:1, or 1.85:1. They all work, too. So rather than picking one ratio and sticking with it, Criterion and Sony have both offered all three ratios. There’s a strong argument to be made in favor of the fact that 1.66:1 splits the difference between the other two and offers the most natural-looking compositions, without ever seeming too open or too tight. It’s the ratio that I prefer, but your mileage may vary.

Regardless of aspect ratio, Sony’s digital restoration work here is up to their usual high standards. They’ve worked wonders with any of the remaining damage from the old photochemical restoration, and the image is as clean and natural-looking as possible. The dupe sections for the opening credits and any optical transitions throughout the film are still softer, of course, but everything else is crisp and clear, with the original grain structure shining through—and On the Waterfront has always been a grainy film, so you should know what to expect. Grayscale, contrast, and black levels are all spot-on. There’s nothing to criticize here.

Primary audio is offered in English Dolby Atmos, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, and 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. On the Waterfront was originally recorded, mixed, and released in mono, and this 2.0 track is the original theatrical mix. Chace Audio created the older 5.1 remix, while this new Atmos track is the work of Deluxe Audio. Digital tools have continued to improve, and they were able to take the mono stems and rework them into a credible multichannel mix that still retains all the character of the original mix. Leonard Bernstein’s score has been given more presence thanks to a simulated stereo spread and some reverberations in the rear, and a few sound effects have been steered to various channels around the soundstage. Most of that is the ambient sounds of the docks, but there are some occasional panning effects like when a forklift drives off one side of the screen. Sony is arguably the best in the business when it comes to Atmos remixes that don’t lose the character of the original mix, and this one is no exception. Yet never fear, the mono is still here for anyone who doesn’t consider remixes to be acceptable.

Additional audio options include French, German, Italian, Spanish (Spain), and Spanish (Latin America) 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. Subtitle options include English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, Thai, and Turkish.

Sony’s 4K release of On the Waterfront is the second film in their Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 5. The set also includes All the King’s Men, A Man for All Seasons, Tootsie, The Age of Innocence, and Little Women, plus a bonus UHD with the following silent films: The Price She Paid, Ladies of Leisure, The Belle of Broadway, The Desert Bride, and The Scarlet Lady. The packaging is similar to the other four volumes, with two wings that open up, each of which houses three films in individual Amaray cases with slipcovers. (The inserts use the original theatrical poster artwork, while the slipcovers offer new artwork.) At the back of the box is a separate compartment that houses a hardbound book featuring essays on each film by different authors (Keith Phipps, in this case) as well as individual restoration notes by Grover Crisp, plus notes on the audio remixes where appropriate.

Each of the films in the collection includes a Blu-ray with a 1080p copy of the film, all of them based on the same 4K masters as the UHDs. There’s also a paper insert tucked inside with Digital codes for each film. On the Waterfront actually features three separate UHDs, one for each of the different aspect ratios, but none of them offer any extras. The following extras are included on the Blu-ray only:

• Audio Commentary with Richard Schickel and Jeff Young
• Budd Schulberg: A Righteous Indignation (HD – 15:26)
• Boris Kaufman: A Vision Beyond Borders (HD – 14:57)
• Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones (HD – 17:33)
• Contender: Mastering the Method (SD – 25:03)
• Interview with Elia Kazan (SD – 11:59)
• Eva Marie Saint Interview (HD – 11:10)
• Thomas Hanley Interview (HD – 11:47)
• On the Aspect Ratio (HD – 5:10)
• Photo Gallery (SD – 4:29)
• Theatrical Trailer (HD – 2:41)

The commentary track was originally recorded for the 2005 DVD release of On the Waterfront, pairing critic Richard Schickel with Jeff Young, author of Kazan: The Master Director Discusses His Films. They do spend some unnecessary time proclaiming the fact that On the Waterfront is a masterpiece (if you’re listening to the commentary track, you probably already agree), but they do discuss its themes and offer a few production anecdotes. They also address the fact that Kazan named names before the Committee, although in a somewhat middle-of-the-road fashion that may or may not be to everyone’s tastes. It’s a relaxed conversation between two fans of the film, and worth a listen for their fellow fans.

Sony has added two new featurettes for this release, both of them produced by Steven C. Smith. Budd Schulberg: A Righteous Indignation is a look at the life and career of the irrepressible writer, featuring new interviews with Eddie Muller, Stephen Rebello, Donna C. Myrow, and Benn Schulberg, as well as archival footage of Budd Schulberg. It also covers some of Schulberg’s research that inspired details in the film, including his meeting with the real-life activist priest John M. Corridan. Boris Kaufman: A Vision Beyond Borders examines the unmatchable style that Kaufman brought to all of his work, featuring interviews with fellow cinematographers Michael Goi and Michael Pessah. They discuss some of his innovative lighting techniques and how it’s not quite accurate to call his cinematography in On the Waterfront “gritty”—it’s far more consciously stylized than that, but in such a way that it’s feels naturalistic.

The rest of the extras include archival interviews with Elia Kazan and Eva Marie Saint, as well as one with Thomas Hanley, who is the son of a murdered longshoreman that ended up playing one of the kids on Terry’s rooftop in On the Waterfront. There’s also a conversation between Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones, both of whom co-directed the 2010 documentary A Letter to Elia. Criterion’s featurette On the Aspect Ratio is also included, which gives a cursory overview of the debate over the aspect ratio for On the Waterfront. Aside from a Photo Gallery and the theatrical trailer, the extras are rounded out by Contender: Mastering the Method. It’s an examination of the Method acting in On the Waterfront that focuses on the legendary taxi scene between Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger, featuring interviews with Steiger, Martin Landau, James Lipton, Richard Schickel, Jeff Young, and Patricia Bosworth.

That’s all of the extras from previous Sony/Columbia releases of On the Waterfront, although it is missing a few other featurettes from the Criterion Blu-ray: Elia Kazan: an Outsider, I’m Standin’ Over Here Now: Reconsidering On the Waterfront, Who is Mr. Big?, and Jon Burlingame on Leonard Bernstein’s Score. Taken together, that’s a pretty significant chunk of content, so you’ll want to hang onto that disc if it’s already in your collection. In all other respects, Sony’s stellar 4K presentation of On the Waterfront makes this the version to own. For now, it’s only available as a part of Sony’s Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 5, which may be a bone of contention for some people who are interested in some but not all of the titles that it includes. Everyone’s mileage will vary on that score, but Volume 5 offers a potent collection of classic films that’s hard to resist even if one or more of them may not be to your tastes. The first three alone are worth the price of admission for the whole set. As a result, it’s highly, highly recommended.

- Stephen Bjork

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