ABSTRACT
The tendentious Paul Buhle-Dave Wagner review concludes with a denunciation of On the Waterfront as an "unapologetically anti-union" film. On the Waterfront is one of the most honoured films in Hollywood history. The 1954 release reaped eight Oscars for best film, best actor, best director, best screenplay, best supporting actress, best cinematography, best art director, and best editing. Although On the Waterfront was commonly interpreted as Elia Kazan's justification for his decision, some critics have insisted that informing on Communists and informing on mobsters are not comparable, and thus Kazan's rationale for his actions is unpersuasive. Kazan "named names" of associates who had belonged to the Communist Party with him in the 1930s. In reality the national and local leadership of the International Longshoreman's Association was overwhelmingly and stridently anti-Communist. Kazan's decision to name names, his subsequent defense of his actions and his refusal over the years to apologize has provoked intense controversy.
