The unusual thing about ╥On the Waterfront╙ (Gaumont), which is certain to be one of the year╒s outstanding films, is that Marlon Brando╒s performance is only one of many striking bits of acting; and for this the chief credit seems to go to its brilliant director, Elia Kazan, who has fanned this murky dockside jungle into life (or as it used to be, we are told) down to the last docker and bar-tender. Brando himself shambles, rambles and mumbles together (few can have so nicely under-played the sotto voce) a masterly portrait of the diffident but tough ex-pugilist who finally scotches the tyranny of the trade union bosses. But behind him always, essential background, is a wonderful collection of craggy, life-worn faces whose acting is just as subtly relevant to the strong, measured tread of this picture.
