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May-June 2014

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16 CINEMONTAGE / MAY-JUN 14 Separating the Bums from the Contenders THIS MONTH IN FILM HISTORY by Kevin Lewis S ixty years after its premiere in June 1954 in Japan, of all places (New York and Los Angeles followed in July), On the Waterfront is still regarded as a seminal film because of its immense influence on acting. In fact, director Elia Kazan created an American acting style in both theatre and film based on the Method Acting pioneered by Constantin Stanislavski. Kazan was a primary influence on director Martin Scorsese. Marlon Brando — in both On the Waterfront and the earlier A Streetcar Named Desire (stage, 1947; film 1951) — was a touchstone for generations of stars from the late 1940s to the present day. To name a few: James Dean, John Cassavetes, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Paul Newman, Rod Steiger, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Al Pacino. Today, On the Waterfront is most famous for the scene between Marlon Brando as disgraced prizefighter-turned-mob-stooge Terry Malloy and Rod Steiger as his brother and corrupt waterfront official to Johnny Friendly, played by Lee J. Cobb. Brando's plea — "I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am" — is instantly recognizable as a classic line, one of the most famous in movie history. The film earned eight well-deserved Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director (Kazan), Best Writing, Story and Screenplay (Budd Schulberg), Best Actor (Brando), Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint), Best Editing (Gene Milford), Best Cinematography (Boris Kaufman) and Best Black-and-White Art Direction/Set Decoration (Richard Day). Steiger, Cobb and Karl Malden were also nominated as Best Supporting Actors for their unforgettable performances, as was Leonard Bernstein for Best Original Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. However, the film itself, though beautifully made, is a simplistic melodrama of a tragic theme, especially when compared to the original Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Sun articles from 1948- 49 by Malcolm Johnson, and the politics of New York and New Jersey, both of which inspired the screenplay. It was a miracle the film was even produced, considering the tortured history of the film script and the actual waterfront scandal, which may ultimately have been responsible for the film becoming a box-office hit. Johnson's articles "Crime and the Waterfront" and his book Crime on the Labor Front (1950) On the Waterfront (1954). Columbia Pictures/ Photofest • Plug into epic processing power with the all new Avid ® audio engine. • Turbocharge sessions with 64-bit performance. • Deliver mixes 150x faster with offline bounce. Welcome to the new standard. The audio workstation that redefined the industry just got more powerful. © 2013 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, the Avid logo, and Pro Tools are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. Introducing See what's new: www.avid.com/protools11 Avid_ProTools11_ad_9x10.875in_MixMag.indd 1 10/3/13 7:13 AM CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 CineMontage_May-Jun_14-3a.indd 16 4/15/14 3:15 PM

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