Hooks On the Waterfront

 EDGE OF THE CITY (1957)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Gritty New York City dramas shot in black-and-white always made me ecstatic. "Edge of the City" also fits the bill with strong, empathetic performances by John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier in a story told simply and without much flash yet with ample enough verve to keep us riveted. Considering this is director Martin Ritt's astonishing debut, it is nothing short of a miracle in cinematic debuts - it is a bona fide treat.

Cassavetes is Axel Nordmann who wallows in a stupor as he jumps on board a boat headed somewhere, though we don't know where. He is visibly torn, unsure and uncertain of himself and his surroundings as he is looking for work as a longshoreman and is told to wait around till the following day. He tries opening a truck door and a freight container and we don't know what he's up to - are we following the story of a man who becomes helpless and homeless? The following day he is woken, sleeping between two containers, by Tommy Tyler (Sidney Poitier) a jokey, hard-working supervisor who works the waterfront hauling boxes with cargo hooks (he loves to actually break the monotony of the work with some tomfoolery and so do the workers when they throw his lunchbox around). Axel doesn't have the essential hook needed to haul these heavy boxes and is eventually given one. However, a rough supervisor named Malick (fantastic Jack Warden), "the blackest heart in town," who got Axel a job wants Axel working under his command - Malick hates Tommy and calls him and Axel "wise guys." The tension between Malick and Tommy is especially jolting and you feel it in every shared moment they have. Watch out for those hooks, I say.

Axel comes from Gary, Indiana and wishes not to reveal much of his past to Tommy or anyone, including a potential love interest introduced by Tommy named Ellen Wilson (Kathleen Maguire). Axel is nervous about talking to his mother or father back home, feeling shame and guilt over the loss of his brother. When he is unable to talk to his parents, he feels free talking to Tommy and they become fast friends. When it comes to Ellen who is attracted to Axel, the Indiana man freezes up and is reserved and has to be cajoled by Tommy into walking Ellen to her apartment after a night of dancing.

"Edge of the City" is riveting entertainment, always keeping us on the edge to the point where one feels they would lose their balance while watching it. Cassavetes was a gifted actor and plays this role perfectly with razor sharp often unblinking eyes that keep zoning in on others when they already have turned their backs or move away. I would say Cassavetes was as great an actor as Brando was during this 50's period (our sympathy for him grows when he tells the tragic story of his older brother and you can't help but gravitate towards him). Sidney Poitier cuts through with blazing energy and enough humor to make us see a man we would all want to befriend. Jack Warden exudes a rough demeanor, an imploding, bigoted man with no real values other than hard work. And it is a delight to see Ruby Dee as Tommy's wife - her final emotional wreck of a scene is as honest as movies get. For the 1950's, "Edge of the City" is tough but never cynical and just as shrewdly involving as the similarly themed "On the Waterfront."