Having a gun pulled on you by your brother... Just so low. The way Brando says "Wow..." epitomizes it exactly as it is. Just wow. Worst feeling ever, it's officially hitting rock bottom.
This still moves me, no matter how many times I see it. I saw this first in college in 1978 and I was awestruck by the acting. What a fantastic scene and the dialogue is so realistic.
Ugh the gentle way Brando pushes down the gun and the pure look of disappointment rather than fear. It's heartbreaking. And Steiger is so wonderful here too. This is a heart-breaker scene, every movement.
This is a scene that you just cannot take your eyes off. The two of them are mesmerizing and there is so much emotion in their eyes, I don't know if there is a better scene then this in film history.
MBs been a tremendous inspiration to me, I had lost myself, but after watching him in streetcar and waterfront, I found myself in him. I owe a big 'thank you' to him. NO matter his weight issues, his embarrassments, or his promiscuity, to me he would forever remain an inspiration.
Art is about the viewer experiencing an emotion that is unexpected. Awe at the Statue of David, elation at the Blue Danube, anticipation during Swan Lake. This piece of art brings lumps to the throats of anyone who views it because of the pain that the characters are experiencing. This is ART. And art is everything. Beautiful.
Im a 25 year old Marlon Brando fan an this is easily one of my favourite scenes from any movie. Simply amazing acting on both their parts. When Rod Steiger sits back after Brando says "Charlie",while pushing the gun away and procedes to tell Charlie that it was him that pretty much ruined his boxing career,its jst heartbreaking. Sublime acting.
Grew up hearing these lines all my life. Finally got down to watch the movie and like all great movies it was nothing like I expected and was fantastic.
These summer vacations i've been seeing all classic movies, non-stop. And, as it had to be, I watched this one, and it was an amazing experience. Great. Movie.
this is one of the best ever movie scenes. it is the best acted ever scene in the history of movies. it resonates perhaps now more than ever. every generation since can relate to this scene.
Heard they're doing a remake with Will Ferrell. I'm really looking forward to it. Now that I have you scared....this has to be one of the greatest scenes in movie history.
This is amazing! I have read so much about this scene so many times, but I never imagined it was actually as good as this. Now I understand why it has capture the imagination of so many people, I understand why it is referred to again and again in culture.
The music really adds so much to this scene and it really makes you feel bad for Charlie in the end. His faces in this scene and knowing he was about to die with the music, is truly heartbreaking. As great as Brando was in this scene, Steiger was just as good.
Sheer brilliance. These two titans in one of the most devastatingly awesome scene continues to astound me. This scene was actually improvised too...just another testament to the their genius. Brando is incredible here but Rod matches Brando beat for beat. They are elevated one another to other worldly levels and they'll forever be studied for this scene alone. A salute to Boris Kaufman for this gorgeous cinematography too. And Elia's THE man for his work. Thanks for posting!
Oh my goodness gracious! my sincerest apologies oh GREAT purveyor of the Schulberg Intellectual Property Integrity Project. I applaud your discourteous reprimands of the anonymous and I hope they are not merely relegated to youtube. I hope TCM and the Marlon Brando estate have been made aware of their erroneous claims too. I had no idea improvisation only applied to dialogue either. #StanislavskyWeeps
GatorGirl04 I love morons like you. Have no idea of what you're talking about, write a total falsehood ,get corrected and get bent out of shape. Try to check your facts before writing.
GatorGirl04 Wow...do you read what you write? You wrote the ENTIRE scene was improvised, now you change your tune. In the dozen Brando bios I have read (also books by and about Kazan and Schulberg)only one says these scene was a combination of what Schulberg wrote and what Brando and Steiger allegedly improvised .
LOL...I wave my white flag in complete and utter defeat and stand corrected. The script was complete. Why so uncouth though? Name calling really? You choose to respond directly, rather peremptory, and I responded in kind. All I was stating is that I hope you employ the same vigor and dictaorialness with every being or outlet that perpetuated this egregious falsehood you felt so compelled to lambast some anonymous "moron" on youtube about it. #TuneNotChanged This scene is still brilliant and the ENTIRE cast and crew deserve credit for it. Mr. Schulberg won an Oscar for it...what more do you want?
Rod Steiger's performances as Charley is overlooked. He was just as good as Brando. Brando had more screen time to develop but what Steiger did in his few scenes was perfect. A model for modern actors. Every scene with him i was as convinced as the scenes with Brando. Love them both, incredible actors.
Just watching this scene makes me want to watch the movie yet another time. Movies become art so rarely that each moment is pure pleasure. Many actors today think it's all about realism, but by looking at this sample of acting it seems to be taking the expression of emotions to the edge where it hangs in the balance between reality and fiction. Reality is too rough and fiction too light; Brando was truly unbeatable at finding the perect tone. Just look at the pause and look before "it was you"
Man i love this movie. It's good to know that once upon a time movies actually told a story and weren't all caught up in special effects and product placement
Agree with everyone that this is not Brando's scene alone: there truly is awesome acting by both men. I would even day that the greater subtle form was needed and expressed by Steiger. The fumbling for words and justification... It was pure and classic acting at its very best.
I have memorized this scene since I was a 12 year old girl, it is simply astonishing, to respond to the viewer, another beautiful piece of Brando acting at his best is an obscure film called One Eyed Jacks, it also will blow you away, his acting takes my breath away. Sheer perfection, the two of them.
I totally agree. I think he's SO underrated when people talk about this film, because they're so busy focusing on Brando. What a great actor he was. He's the only other actor in this film that doesn't look like he's acting.
Recently I saw this movie at MOMA on large screen (so lucky). Its' power has not diminished considering it was made in 1950s. A classic. Brando's performance remains true.
Rod Stieger is so good at setting people up to be cool. With Poitier in "In the Heat of the Night", with Coburn in a "Fistful of Dynamite," and here, he sets it up just right so that the pretty boy with the punch line is so memorable.
For drama class I have to act this scene with another gent who is in my class. After doing some research on this, I am truly amazed at the whole movie. This is such a fantastic scene and I am honoured to play the role of Terry.
Steiger and Brando, two of the master craftsman of the acting profession, in a masterpiece performance. If you haven't seen this movie, do yourself a big favor. Borrow it, rent it, steal it, but see it.
Brando is amazing and this may have been the greatest performance of all time. With that said this scene is an example of how much actors need other actors. Rod steiger is there beat for beat matching him and they raise each others games in such a beautifully poetic fashion. If you wanna see brandos greatness matched in more of a modern time I suggest you see "Before the devil knows your dead" and pay attention to phillip seymour hoffman.
Regardless of the origin or purpose or message of "On the Waterfront", this scene captures something that few films do: a sense of regret. Terry had a shot and trusted the people around him and lost it and has lost something in himself and knew that given the chance he might have been great.
Still riveting a half century later. Heartbreaking.. This film should be required viewing for anyone who thinks they can act. .. And then, most of them should walk away.
I grew up in Hoboken NJ,where most if not all of this movie was made,off river street,big longshoreman town those days,we use to climb in and open a REAL wood barrel of pickles,olives,guys use to chase us out,they couldnt catch sly fast 10 yr olds,runnin,jumpin over skids,pallets.
in a movie, it is only a true masterpiece if the actors make chemistry in a scene, This is probably the best example of two actors that had perfect chemistry, Rod Steiger should have won the Oscar just for this scene alone
Steiger was very good, but Brando is surely why this scene and film is so fondly remembered and deemed culturally important, inspiring generations of actors to come. Al pacino saw it back-to-back twice in the cinema because of his amazement at Brando.
My favorite part of this scene is from when he says "Before we get to where Charlie?" to when he pushes the gun away and leans back- just the disappointment and realization that takes place in that couple seconds is just heartbreaking
I was just about to put the times that Brando had some amazing acting in this scene...then I realized I was just writing down every time that Brando spoke. Legend.
Marlon Brando is a genious! The director, Kazan, told him to grab the gun and hit the brother. Brando.."felt" the scene to be different...instead he looks at his brother with disbelief and pulled the gun to the side. Absolutely wonderful. Look at his eyes and body language....that is natural acting.
This is a sad scene with a little brother looking up to his bigger brother and feeling lost. You can tell he wants his brother to help him and be someone to lean on because he wants to do the right thing.
Notice the blinds in the rear window of the cab. This was put in because the whole scene was shot in the studio in half a car with excellent lighting and sound effects. Kazan was Brilliant !
The Method at its best by two of its masters. Brandos genius-decades ahead of its time- was his ability to channel his feminine side without compromising his brutish strength. Look how he converts his anger at Steiger into a hurt that forgives without saying the word.
@FrankieWoodside he WAS! He was the perfect foil to Brando's performance here, it's just perfect and flawless from both of them, a perfect scene and you can't ask for more from a movie scene really.
Marlon improvised as often as possible in films. Even the legendary speeches in Apocalypse Now were improvised, he'd talk for hours in character and Francis Ford chose the best bits in the edit.
Rod Steiger is so underrated in this film, IMO. A really great actor overlooked by the Brando hype. He's the other reason why this scene is so effective.
What is so great and ironic about this scene is that Terry is talking about Charlie looking out for him in the past when he didn't do it, and now the fact that he is about to do just that. Charlie knows he is going to be killed but he accepts that fact to finally look out for Terry and protect him. There is so much at work in this scene, it just truly is a masterpiece!
You are entitled to think it is overrated. But majority of the people are moved by the scene because of the honest, real and subtle depiction by the actors. For us, it is a memorable scene.
Brando's signature scene. But Steiger was freakin awesome here. Great job by 2 masters.Even Anthony Hopkins has said how awe he was of Marlon in this scene.
The "actor" who played Charlie was Rod Stieger, who is one of the finest American actors of all time, and an Academy Award winner (In the Heat of the Night)..
"It wasn't him Charlie, it was you" That line is DEVASTATING. These two titans made acting history with this scene.
Having a gun pulled on you by your brother... Just so low. The way Brando says "Wow..." epitomizes it exactly as it is. Just wow. Worst feeling ever, it's officially hitting rock bottom.
This still moves me, no matter how many times I see it. I saw this first in college in 1978 and I was awestruck by the acting. What a fantastic scene and the dialogue is so realistic.
the best scene in all cinema. i've watched it over a hundred times. never fails to give me chills, so layered and sublime.
Ugh the gentle way Brando pushes down the gun and the pure look of disappointment rather than fear. It's heartbreaking. And Steiger is so wonderful here too. This is a heart-breaker scene, every movement.
Sttll the best. Often imitated, often parodied, but never equaled!
This is a scene that you just cannot take your eyes off. The two of them are mesmerizing and there is so much emotion in their eyes, I don't know if there is a better scene then this in film history.
MBs been a tremendous inspiration to me, I had lost myself, but after watching him in streetcar and waterfront, I found myself in him. I owe a big 'thank you' to him. NO matter his weight issues, his embarrassments, or his promiscuity, to me he would forever remain an inspiration.
Art is about the viewer experiencing an emotion that is unexpected. Awe at the Statue of David, elation at the Blue Danube, anticipation during Swan Lake.
This piece of art brings lumps to the throats of anyone who views it because of the pain that the characters are experiencing. This is ART. And art is everything.
Beautiful.
Im a 25 year old Marlon Brando fan an this is easily one of my favourite scenes from any movie. Simply amazing acting on both their parts. When Rod Steiger sits back after Brando says "Charlie",while pushing the gun away and procedes to tell Charlie that it was him that pretty much ruined his boxing career,its jst heartbreaking. Sublime acting.
My vote is the cab driver. Awesome performance. Really tastefully laid out like a true pro and gave Steiger and Brando space to do their thing.
Classic. Absolutely brilliant. The world has turned on him and left him where he is. He accepts it, but he isn't really okay with it. Superb.
acting... real, beautiful acting
Grew up hearing these lines all my life. Finally got down to watch the movie and like all great movies it was nothing like I expected and was fantastic.
These summer vacations i've been seeing all classic movies, non-stop. And, as it had to be, I watched this one, and it was an amazing experience. Great. Movie.
this is one of the best ever movie scenes. it is the best acted ever scene in the history of movies. it resonates perhaps now more than ever. every generation since can relate to this scene.
Two masters onscreen at once, and BOY do they both deliver.
It just doesn't get much better.
Heard they're doing a remake with Will Ferrell. I'm really looking forward to it.
Now that I have you scared....this has to be one of the greatest scenes in movie history.
bromixsr please don't do that, I actually googled "on the waterfront remake" just to make sure!
This is amazing! I have read so much about this scene so many times, but I never imagined it was actually as good as this. Now I understand why it has capture the imagination of so many people, I understand why it is referred to again and again in culture.
The music really adds so much to this scene and it really makes you feel bad for Charlie in the end. His faces in this scene and knowing he was about to die with the music, is truly heartbreaking. As great as Brando was in this scene, Steiger was just as good.
Certainly, Brando is a legend and an icon of the twenty century. He should never die. RIP, the great Marlon Brando!
Sheer brilliance. These two titans in one of the most devastatingly awesome scene continues to astound me. This scene was actually improvised too...just another testament to the their genius.
Brando is incredible here but Rod matches Brando beat for beat. They are elevated one another to other worldly levels and they'll forever be studied for this scene alone.
A salute to Boris Kaufman for this gorgeous cinematography too. And Elia's THE man for his work.
Thanks for posting!
This scene was NOT improvised. Check your facts before making ignorant statements. I have a copy of the original Schulberg screenplay, it's all there.
Oh my goodness gracious! my sincerest apologies oh GREAT purveyor of the Schulberg Intellectual Property Integrity Project.
I applaud your discourteous reprimands of the anonymous and I hope they are not merely relegated to youtube. I hope TCM and the Marlon Brando estate have been made aware of their erroneous claims too.
I had no idea improvisation only applied to dialogue either. #StanislavskyWeeps
GatorGirl04 I love morons like you. Have no idea of what you're talking about, write a total falsehood ,get corrected and get bent out of shape. Try to check your facts before writing.
GatorGirl04 Wow...do you read what you write? You wrote the ENTIRE scene was improvised, now you change your tune. In the dozen Brando bios I have read (also books by and about Kazan and Schulberg)only one says these scene was a combination of what Schulberg wrote and what Brando and Steiger allegedly improvised .
LOL...I wave my white flag in complete and utter defeat and stand corrected. The script was complete.
Why so uncouth though? Name calling really?
You choose to respond directly, rather peremptory, and I responded in kind.
All I was stating is that I hope you employ the same vigor and dictaorialness with every being or outlet that perpetuated this egregious falsehood you felt so compelled to lambast some anonymous "moron" on youtube about it. #TuneNotChanged
This scene is still brilliant and the ENTIRE cast and crew deserve credit for it. Mr. Schulberg won an Oscar for it...what more do you want?
You guys have got to chill with the negative comments.
when the music swells at the end there, man that part always gets me. one of the best scenes in film history without a doubt.
First saw this film two days ago and have watched this scene repeatedly since. The best scene ever!
Rod Steiger's performances as Charley is overlooked. He was just as good as Brando. Brando had more screen time to develop but what Steiger did in his few scenes was perfect. A model for modern actors. Every scene with him i was as convinced as the scenes with Brando. Love them both, incredible actors.
Just watching this scene makes me want to watch the movie yet another time.
Movies become art so rarely that each moment is pure pleasure. Many actors today think it's all about realism, but by looking at this sample of acting it seems to be taking the expression of emotions to the edge where it hangs in the balance between reality and fiction.
Reality is too rough and fiction too light; Brando was truly unbeatable at finding the perect tone.
Just look at the pause and look before "it was you"
Absolutely..The fugitive kind and reflections in a golden eye are also great movies, in case you haven't seen them. He was one of a kind.
I love the horn that effectively bleeps out Charlie's 'what the hell'.
Man i love this movie. It's good to know that once upon a time movies actually told a story and weren't all caught up in special effects and product placement
Agree with everyone that this is not Brando's scene alone: there truly is awesome acting by both men. I would even day that the greater subtle form was needed and expressed by Steiger. The fumbling for words and justification... It was pure and classic acting at its very best.
my 2 favorite actors of all time..they and only they could pull of a scene like this.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR...PERIOD
I have memorized this scene since I was a 12 year old girl, it is simply astonishing, to respond to the viewer, another beautiful piece of Brando acting at his best is an obscure film called One Eyed Jacks, it also will blow you away, his acting takes my breath away. Sheer perfection, the two of them.
Just listen how the music changes while getting closer to the climax... Let alone Brando's and Steiger's performances... immortal
I totally agree. I think he's SO underrated when people talk about this film, because they're so busy focusing on Brando. What a great actor he was.
He's the only other actor in this film that doesn't look like he's acting.
"You should have looked after me a little bit".. that line there in my opinion is amazing
Recently I saw this movie at MOMA on large screen (so lucky). Its' power has not diminished considering it was made in 1950s. A classic. Brando's performance remains true.
I'm 21 and I like Golden Age Cinema much more than today's movies. To me, the beginning of the end for movies was the 90s.
man what can i say about this scene has there ever come somebody close to this brilliant man i love brando~
2:36 that is what changed Hollywood, and acting as a whole. That reaction.
Classic Elia Kazan! Most of the realism in movies we see today is due to Kazan's brilliance.
Definitely one of the greatest acted scenes ever. Also, Rod Steiger's acting in this scene is very underrated.
Rod Stieger is so good at setting people up to be cool. With Poitier in "In the Heat of the Night", with Coburn in a "Fistful of Dynamite," and here, he sets it up just right so that the pretty boy with the punch line is so memorable.
Haha I like them both so much great acting from both of them.They played Napoleon)) Brando in Desiree and Rod in Watterloo.Rod is awesome!RIP
For drama class I have to act this scene with another gent who is in my class. After doing some research on this, I am truly amazed at the whole movie. This is such a fantastic scene and I am honoured to play the role of Terry.
Cant pull your eyes away from brando! He was hypnotic!
Steiger and Brando, two of the master craftsman of the acting profession, in a masterpiece performance.
If you haven't seen this movie, do yourself a big favor. Borrow it, rent it, steal it, but see it.
Brando is amazing and this may have been the greatest performance of all time. With that said this scene is an example of how much actors need other actors. Rod steiger is there beat for beat matching him and they raise each others games in such a beautifully poetic fashion.
If you wanna see brandos greatness matched in more of a modern time I suggest you see "Before the devil knows your dead" and pay attention to phillip seymour hoffman.
Regardless of the origin or purpose or message of "On the Waterfront", this scene captures something that few films do: a sense of regret. Terry had a shot and trusted the people around him and lost it and has lost something in himself and knew that given the chance he might have been great.
Still riveting a half century later. Heartbreaking.. This film should be required viewing for anyone who thinks they can act. .. And then, most of them should walk away.
I grew up in Hoboken NJ,where most if not all of this movie was made,off river street,big longshoreman town those days,we use to climb in and open a REAL wood barrel of pickles,olives,guys use to chase us out,they couldnt catch sly fast 10 yr olds,runnin,jumpin over skids,pallets.
The greatest. But Steiger's work here is always underplayed. His most magnificent moment as well in my humble opinion.
It doesn't get any better than this.
I coulda been a contender.
>>>One of the greatest lines ever. Beautiful scene.
"It was you, Cha'lie." Heartbreaking.
in a movie, it is only a true masterpiece if the actors make chemistry in a scene, This is probably the best example of two actors that had perfect chemistry, Rod Steiger should have won the Oscar just for this scene alone
Steiger was very good, but Brando is surely why this scene and film is so fondly remembered and deemed culturally important, inspiring generations of actors to come. Al pacino saw it back-to-back twice in the cinema because of his amazement at Brando.
My favorite part of this scene is from when he says "Before we get to where Charlie?" to when he pushes the gun away and leans back- just the disappointment and realization that takes place in that couple seconds is just heartbreaking
I absolutely LOVE Rod Steiger there. Actually he was amazing through the whole movie.
The music that comes in at 3:40 is so moving, fits the mood of the scene so well.
Great performances from both Brando and Steiger. I can only compare it to watching DeNiro and Pacino in Heat. Love this scene.
I was just about to put the times that Brando had some amazing acting in this scene...then I realized I was just writing down every time that Brando spoke. Legend.
Marlon Brando is a genious! The director, Kazan, told him to grab the gun and hit the brother. Brando.."felt" the scene to be different...instead he looks at his brother with disbelief and pulled the gun to the side. Absolutely wonderful. Look at his eyes and body language....that is natural acting.
Justifiably everyone referencing this scene concentrates on Brando. But it would not have worked as well without Steiger.
Yes. You read my mind. Steiger is SO good in it. So natural. When he looks for the words to say but fails after Terry puts the gun aside. Class.
This is a sad scene with a little brother looking up to his bigger brother and feeling lost. You can tell he wants his brother to help him and be someone to lean on because he wants to do the right thing.
Notice the blinds in the rear window of the cab. This was put in because the whole scene was shot in the studio in half a car with excellent lighting and sound effects. Kazan was Brilliant !
Great scene Great film Great acting
brings me to tears,this is something
What a genius Marlon Brando was:
"I could have been a contender, I could have class"
Just amazing...
Incredible scene for me. Every time that i see it.
Legendary scene. Classic !
Rod Steiger is actually one year younger than Brando but he looked older.
Me too. I miss Marlon. RIP, the great Marlon Brando.
The Method at its best by two of its masters. Brandos genius-decades ahead of its time- was his ability to channel his feminine side without compromising his brutish strength. Look how he converts his anger at Steiger into a hurt that forgives without saying the word.
The speech is so ICONIC that even its recitation by De Niro in Raging Bull is Iconic too
@FrankieWoodside he WAS! He was the perfect foil to Brando's performance here, it's just perfect and flawless from both of them, a perfect scene and you can't ask for more from a movie scene really.
Marlon improvised as often as possible in films. Even the legendary speeches in Apocalypse Now were improvised, he'd talk for hours in character and Francis Ford chose the best bits in the edit.
One of the best scenes ever. I recently did a blog on top ten scenes or moments in film and this easily made the cut!!
Rod Steiger is so underrated in this film, IMO.
A really great actor overlooked by the Brando hype. He's the other reason why this scene is so effective.
This is quite simply the greatest scene in cinematic history.
Awesome. Incredible acting.
Great stuff from two of the alltime greats !
Great that you included whole scene. It gives context and added meaning to the "could have been a contender" segue.
Marlon Brando was utterly fantastic in this film. Unforgettable.
rod steiger.. so severely underrated, brando's 100% legend, steiger's so good.
Brando definitely set the bar really high with this movie
One of the great scenes in movie history
That of course was such a great scene and I hadn't seen it in a long time. Great!
i saw this movie when it first came out... brando was terrific
I always cry at this part whenever I watch on the waterfront
What is so great and ironic about this scene is that Terry is talking about Charlie looking out for him in the past when he didn't do it, and now the fact that he is about to do just that. Charlie knows he is going to be killed but he accepts that fact to finally look out for Terry and protect him. There is so much at work in this scene, it just truly is a masterpiece!
This scene marks the beginning of the "redemption of Terry Malloy," which is the subtitle of the film. An unforgettable scene.
You are entitled to think it is overrated. But majority of the people are moved by the scene because of the honest, real and subtle depiction by the actors. For us, it is a memorable scene.
if you watch this whole movie youll fall in love with. this scene will mean more.
marlon was such a great actor!!
ok so this is a classic, who in their right mind would dislike this
Brando's signature scene. But Steiger was freakin awesome here. Great job by 2 masters.Even Anthony Hopkins has said how awe he was of Marlon in this scene.
"one way ticket to palooka-ville"... Brando fricking kills this.
I merely believe there will be actors like him in the future
The "actor" who played Charlie was Rod Stieger, who is one of the finest American actors of all time, and an Academy Award winner (In the Heat of the Night)..