Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/309120
19 MAY-JUN 14 / CINEMONTAGE What held up the release until 1954 was the refusal of Fox's Zanuck and Columbia's Cohn in the early 1950s to produce the movie. Zanuck wanted no part of the film, even though Kazan was his contract director at Fox. Cohn, as noted earlier, killed both the Miller script and the Monticello production at the demand of Ryan and Brewer. It was British producer Sam Spiegel of Horizon Pictures who eventually produced the project, which was released through Columbia. By that time, the Waterfront Commission had spilled the beans on the mob's connection to the ILA. The film, which was shot in black-and-white, cost $820,000 with the participation of Hollywood's hottest star, Brando. Frank Sinatra was originally to be the star and was furious when he was replaced by Brando. There were more headaches for Columbia and Spiegel. Anthony DiVincenzo, the longshoreman who was the actual whistleblower before the Waterfront Commission, sued and won a settlement from Columbia because he was neither credited with being the real-life model for Malloy, nor compensated. Schulberg not only interviewed him, but took down his testimony at the Waterfront Commission hearing. Siodmak, the director who originally optioned Johnson's writings, sued Spiegel for copyright infringement and won a reputed $100,000 as a settlement. Interestingly, Father Corridan, the real-life model for Father Barry, became a close friend of Schulberg, who wrote the foreword to Allen Raymond's biography of Corridan, called Waterfront Priest, in 1955. On the Waterfront is significant because it was the first New York-based movie (the whole movie was shot in Hoboken, New Jersey) to win the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. Milford, who had previously won his first Oscar for co-editing Lost Horizon (1937) with Gene Havlick at Columbia, moved to New York after World War II to pursue his career. Kazan wanted a gritty, Italian Neorealist look to the film, which was realized by the editing and cinematography. After years of creating seamless, Hollywood editing, Milford adapted perfectly to the documentary-style editing, which added realism to the Method acting. His editing captures the action but does not interrupt the acting. The scene where Malloy walks with Edie along the slummy neighborhood and takes her glove — which he plays with while talking to her — is not interrupted by inter-cutting. It is often cited in acting classes as one of the most inventive improvisational sequences in film, and Milford had the dramatic and emotional sense not to interfere with the playfulness of the moment. f ALL YOUR PRODUCTION NEEDS ON ONE LOT WWW.SONYPICTURESSTUDIOS.COM S O N Y P I C T U R E S STUDIOS OFFICE SPACE STAGES PROPS WARDROBE LIGHTING TRANSPORTATION DAILIES DAILIES VFX AVIDS EDITORIAL STOCK FOOTAGE SOUND COLOR MASTERING MASTERING CineMontage_May-Jun_14-3a.indd 19 4/15/14 3:16 PM