On the Waterfront - Part I

This episode features a couple firsts. Not only is it part one of a two part episode (the conversation lasted about 2 hours, so we'll split it up), but this features our first guest on the podcast. Chris joins Bob (you might know him as @4thClassOfficer on the Twitter Dot Com) to discuss the best films of 1954. Perhaps a bit of disagreement? Certainly an in-depth conversation, given the duration. Bob was fighting a cold, which makes his voice deteriorate over the course of the podcast, and there are a couple places with small audio difficulties (very slight echo), but on the whole it's an episode we think you'll enjoy.

SPOILERS ABOUND! But of course.

00:10 Intro of podcast and guest host (the slight echo largely goes away after about 7 minutes)
06:11 On the Waterfront synopsis
06:45 Where does it take place?
08:21 The Score and other Brando films
08:55 Bob is not impressed; because it was over-hyped before he saw it?
09:32 Brando the method actor
11:15 Terry Malloy's lack of intelligence
11:35 Final spoiler warning for the podcast; beyond this point be spoilers for all kinds of things
12:21 I coulda been a contender
16:13 Pops and a lack of moral courage
17:28 Stock characters surround the leads
18:45 8 Oscars
20:09 Split vote for Best Supporting Actor?
21:18 Bernstein's score (where Bob fails in the moment to recognize the REM reference)
22:17 The High and the Mighty ruined by Airplane!
22:34 Boxing and boxers in On the Waterfront
23:18 Tony Galento
23:58 Abe Simon
25:05 Appropriate appearance for supporting cast
26:25 Personal allegory for Elia Kazan
27:22 The High and the Mighty (Airplane!)
27:56 Airplane! a parody (but of Zero Hour, not Terminal Countdown)
28:25 Crazylegs played football, not basketball
29:10 Parallels between the films...
29:55 AMC and mocking Mark's youth
30:50 The uselessness (from the audience perspective) of the Coast Guard
33:31 Further oddities (Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez)
34:43 Ploy synopsis
36:25 Not a best picture
36:45 What did each of us watch for this episode?
37:30 Rear Window
37:46 Hitchcock and confined spaces
38:25 Rear Window synopsis
39:33 Chris' first Hitchcock film *ever*
41:12 Does the cop believe the photographer or no?
43:20 Jimmy Stewart and Hitchcock
45:09 Hitchcock and his well-realized bit-part supporting actors
46:39 The 39 Steps
48:10 The finale of Rear Window
50:58 Bob compares Rear Window to On the Waterfront
54:03 Three Coins in the Fountain (which Chris hated)
54:49 Chris recommends Mark visiting Trevi Fountain if he visits Rome
55:25 The low population of Rome relative to today
56:01 Three Coins synopsis
56:33 The length of the film and what that means for the movie
58:20 Clifton Webb's character's compressed timeline
59:24 Can't be Two Coins in the Fountain
1:00:14 Poor widescreen transfer to DVD

Note: Oscar® and Academy Awards® are the trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This podcast is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Music:

Note: Oscar® and Academy Awards® are the trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This podcast is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Music:
Intro and Outro music excerpted without alteration other than length and volume from AcidJazz by Kevin McLeod under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode