Posted by CurtThis movie was Martin Ritt's film directing debut, and along with Hud, these were his two best and most powerful pictures that he ever did. Edge Of the City is a courageous and brave film that deals with interracial relationships, with Sidney Poitier emerging as the hero among the cruel city dwellers. John Cassavetes, still a handsome young man, fresh from making Crime in the Streets, is a.w.o.l. from the army, living in a small, crummy room and toiling on the New York docks as a longshoreman. He hooks up with Poitier while working on the docks and they become close friends. Poitier introduces him to his wife, played by Ruby Dee, and they listen to bop records and dance in the living room and swill down beer. A very cool 50's hip scene. But after awhile things go sour working at the docks, especially for Poitier who runs afoul with Jack Warden, who plays a mean, brutal foreman that baits and goads Poitier into a fight. The both of them go at it with grappling hooks in a savage showdown brawl, with Poitier being overpowered by the Irishman Warden and finally losing his life in the battle.
Axel (John Cassavetes) wants to avenge his best friend's death even though by doing this, he knows he could be caught by the authorities as a deserter. Several other co-workers witnessed the fight, but they're all gutless and afraid of Jack Warden,
knowing that if anyone snitched on him they could end up losing their jobs if they couldn't prove that he actually did the nefarious deed. After much soul searching, Cassavetes finally confronts Warden in a fight to the finish with hooks. The both of them go at each other in a very vicious battle, with Cassavetes winning out with a nasty slice of his hook to the head of Warden who goes down for the last time. This is an extremely well acted and directed film noir, with brilliant editing by Sidney Myers and smoky black & white photography that gives the viewer a sense of unrelieved visual distress while watching it. This movie is best seen at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. in the morning because the lateness of the hour gives this picture a more intense viewing experience.
I recently saw this film on Turner Classic Movies... not bad, not bad. It suffers in comparison to "On the Waterfront," but it's enjoyable. Poitier overacts a bit, I think. Some bits of dialogue during that lunchtime-by-the-river scene made me cringe. But it had an appropriately downbeat noirish end with no syrupy romantic string background music (a well-known fault of noirs from the classic period), so I liked it. - Wes Clark
ReplyDeletep.s. Did you see that Naked City episode where Jack Warden plays the nutso WWII vet who starts shooting people? Pretty intense for 1961.