Sunday Matinée at Market Chess Cinemas

On the Waterfront (1954) features an ex-prizefighter who struggles with his connections to union bosses and longshoremen violence in 1950’s Hoboken, New Jersey.

Terry Malloy (Marlon Brandon) had a chance to be a contender in the boxing world, until a mob-connected union boss (Johnny Friendly, played by Lee J. Cobb) instructed Malloy’s brother (Charley, played by Rod Steiger) to tell Terry to intentionally lose a fight versus a weaker opponent, so that Friendly could beat the odds against other gamblers.

The following famous scene features Terry giving an impassioned speech to Charley about his shattered past. In order to salvage any honor that he has left, Terry decides that he will snitch on Friendly before the Crime Commission regarding a murder. While it is the right thing to do, there will be tough consequences to be paid for this decision.

This is one of Brando's best roles, and one the best films of the 1950s.