Edge of the City
Encyclopedia
Edge of the City is a 1957 drama film
directed by Martin Ritt
, starring John Cassavetes
and Sidney Poitier
. It was Ritt's debut film as a director. Robert Alan Aurthur
's screenplay was expanded from his original script, staged as the final episode of Philco Television Playhouse, A Man Is Ten Feet Tall (1955), also featuring Poitier.
The film was considered unusual for its time because of its portrayal of an interracial friendship, and was praised by representatives of the NAACP, Urban League, American Jewish Committee
and Interfaith Council because of its portrayal of racial brotherhood.
s headed by Charlie Malik (Jack Warden) a vicious bully, and is befriended by Tommy Tyler (Poitier), who also supervises a stevedore gang. Malik resents blacks in positions of authority, and is antagonized when Axel goes to work for Tommy.
Axel moves into Tommy's neighborhood and becomes friends with Tommy's wife Lucy (Ruby Dee) and becomes romantically involved with her friend Ellen (Kathleen Maguire). Tommy serves as a mentor to Axel, urging him to stand up to Malik, and that if he does he will be "ten feet tall." It is apparent from the start that Axel is hiding something, and it emerges that he is a deserter from the United States Army. Malik is aware of that, and is extorting money from him.
Malik frequently tries to provoke Tommy and Axel into fights, with Tommy coming to Axel's aid. Malik finally provokes Tommy into a fight, with both men using their baling hooks. Tommy at one point disarms Malik and implores him to stop, but Malik seizes the hook and kills him. The police investigation is stymied by lack of cooperation from the longshoremen, including Axel. But after meeting with the distraught Lucy, who accuses him of never being Tommy's friend, Axel finally decides to cooperate. He goes to Malik to tell him that. They get into a fight, and in the end, though beaten, Axel strangles Malik unconscious and drags him away.
budgeted only $500,000 for the film because its racial content was believed to limit its marketability in the south. Poitier was paid $15,000 for the role and received his first co-star billing, though it was considered small by movie industry standards. Ritt, who had been blacklisted, was paid only $10,000. The film was shot on location at a railroad yard in Manhattan and on St. Nicholas Terrace in New York's Harlem
.
MGM delayed release of the film because it was uneasy with the racial theme. However, the film was released after receiving rave reviews from preview audiences.
The film was not a commercial success because it did not play in the South, and was refused by many theater managers because of its depiction of an interracial relationship.
Poitier was the only actor remaining from the TV version, in which the Jack Warden character was played by Martin Balsam
and the Cassavetes character was played by Don Murray
. The TV version was directed by Robert Mulligan
. The script was completely rewritten for the film.
The opening title sequence and theatrical release poster were designed by Saul Bass
.
, helped establish him as "one of Hollywood's few established representatives for black Americans."
The Cassavetes character was notable for its hint of homosexuality, which was uncommon for the time. The Motion Picture Production Code Administration allowed the innuendo, but recommended "extremely careful handling to avoid planting the suspicion that he may be homosexual."
said the film was "a milestone in the history of screen in its presentation of an American Negro." The London Sunday Times said the film was "splendidly directed" by Ritt.
Cassavetes also won acclaim for his portrayal, which resembled that of Marlon Brando
in On the Waterfront
(1954).
New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther
called Edge of the City an "ambitious little film" that "at times close to some sort of fair articulation of the complexities of racial brotherhood." In one scene in which they have lunch at the river, "the attitudes of the young fellows—the white man with terrors in his mind and the Negro with cordial disposition to be as generous with his friendship as with food—are swiftly and trenchantly established in this little scene and the pattern of deep devotion in their subsequent comradeship is prepared." At those times, Crowther said, Edge of the City was a "sharp and searching film." But more often, he said, Aurthur and Ritt "have let their drama fall too patly into the pattern and the lingo of an imitative television show—a television show imitating the film On the Waterfront."
.
The first release of portions of the score was on MGM Records on LP at the time of the release of the film. This recording re-issued on cd in 2003, on Film Score Monthly
records.
critic Dennis Lim, writing in 2009, described Edge of the City and Something of Value
(1957) as "variations on an early Poitier specialty, the black-white buddy movie, the most vivid example of which is perhaps Stanley Kramer
's The Defiant Ones
(1958)," in which Poitier and Tony Curtis
played escaped convicts shackled to each other.
One history of African-Americans in film, originally published by author Donald Bogle in 1973, was critical of Poitier's portrayal, referring to him as portraying a "colorless black" with "little ethnic juice in his blood." His death scene is described as being in the tradition of "the dying slave content that he has served the massa." Bogle writes that Poitier's "loyalty to the white Cassavetes destroys him just as much as the old slave's steadfastness kept him in shackles."
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Martin Ritt
Martin Ritt
Martin Ritt was an American director, actor, and playwright who worked in both film and theater. He was born in New York City.-Early career and influences:...
, starring John Cassavetes
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
and Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
. It was Ritt's debut film as a director. Robert Alan Aurthur
Robert Alan Aurthur
Robert Alan Aurthur was an American screenwriter, director and TV producer.-Television:In the early years of television, he wrote for Studio One and then moved on to write episodes of Mister Peepers...
's screenplay was expanded from his original script, staged as the final episode of Philco Television Playhouse, A Man Is Ten Feet Tall (1955), also featuring Poitier.
The film was considered unusual for its time because of its portrayal of an interracial friendship, and was praised by representatives of the NAACP, Urban League, American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
and Interfaith Council because of its portrayal of racial brotherhood.
Cast
- John CassavetesJohn CassavetesJohn Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...
- Axel Nordmann - Sidney PoitierSidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
- Tommy Tyler - Jack WardenJack WardenJack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
- Charles Malik - Kathleen MaguireKathleen MaguireKathleen Maguire was an American actress who won an Obie Award in 1958 for her performance in the stage play, The Time of the Cuckoo...
- Ellen Wilson - Ruby DeeRuby DeeRuby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby...
- Lucy Tyler - Val AveryVal AveryVal Avery was an American character actor who appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows since the 1950s. In a career that spanned 50 years, Avery appeared in over 100 films and had appearances in over 300 television series.-Early life:Avery was born in Philadelphia...
- Brother - Robert F. SimonRobert F. SimonRobert F. Simon was an American character actor, often portraying military or authority figure roles. Though his face was recognized by audiences, he was mostly unknown by name...
- Mr. George Nordmann (as Robert Simon) - Ruth WhiteRuth White (actress)Ruth Patricia White was an American Emmy Award-winning and movie actress.-Early career:A lifelong resident of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, White graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Literature from Rutgers University in 1935. While pursuing her acting career in nearby New York City, she taught acting...
- Mrs. Nordmann - William A. Lee - Davis
- John Kellogg - Detective
- David ClarkeDavid Clarke (actor)David Clarke was an American Broadway and motion picture actor.A native of Chicago and graduate of Butler University, Clarke was most well known for his film noir roles as a character actor....
- Wallace (as David Clark) - Estelle HemsleyEstelle HemsleyEstelle Hemsley was a prominent early African American actress of stage and screen. She appeared in the stage and screen versions of Take a Giant Step, the latter of which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress...
- Lucy's Mother
Plot summary
Young drifter Axel Nordmann (John Cassavetes) arrives at the waterfront on the west side of Manhattan, seeking employment as a longshoreman, and giving his name as "Alex North." He goes to work in a gang of stevedoreStevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
s headed by Charlie Malik (Jack Warden) a vicious bully, and is befriended by Tommy Tyler (Poitier), who also supervises a stevedore gang. Malik resents blacks in positions of authority, and is antagonized when Axel goes to work for Tommy.
Axel moves into Tommy's neighborhood and becomes friends with Tommy's wife Lucy (Ruby Dee) and becomes romantically involved with her friend Ellen (Kathleen Maguire). Tommy serves as a mentor to Axel, urging him to stand up to Malik, and that if he does he will be "ten feet tall." It is apparent from the start that Axel is hiding something, and it emerges that he is a deserter from the United States Army. Malik is aware of that, and is extorting money from him.
Malik frequently tries to provoke Tommy and Axel into fights, with Tommy coming to Axel's aid. Malik finally provokes Tommy into a fight, with both men using their baling hooks. Tommy at one point disarms Malik and implores him to stop, but Malik seizes the hook and kills him. The police investigation is stymied by lack of cooperation from the longshoremen, including Axel. But after meeting with the distraught Lucy, who accuses him of never being Tommy's friend, Axel finally decides to cooperate. He goes to Malik to tell him that. They get into a fight, and in the end, though beaten, Axel strangles Malik unconscious and drags him away.
Production
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
budgeted only $500,000 for the film because its racial content was believed to limit its marketability in the south. Poitier was paid $15,000 for the role and received his first co-star billing, though it was considered small by movie industry standards. Ritt, who had been blacklisted, was paid only $10,000. The film was shot on location at a railroad yard in Manhattan and on St. Nicholas Terrace in New York's Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
.
MGM delayed release of the film because it was uneasy with the racial theme. However, the film was released after receiving rave reviews from preview audiences.
The film was not a commercial success because it did not play in the South, and was refused by many theater managers because of its depiction of an interracial relationship.
Poitier was the only actor remaining from the TV version, in which the Jack Warden character was played by Martin Balsam
Martin Balsam
Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
and the Cassavetes character was played by Don Murray
Don Murray (actor)
Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.-Early life and career:Murray was born in Hollywood, California on July 31, 1929, the only child of Dennis Aloisius, a Broadway dance director and stage manager and Ethel Murray, a former Ziegfeld performer...
. The TV version was directed by Robert Mulligan
Robert Mulligan
Robert Mulligan was an American film and television director best known as the director of humanistic American dramas, including To Kill A Mockingbird , Summer of '42 , The Other , Same Time, Next Year and The Man in the Moon...
. The script was completely rewritten for the film.
The opening title sequence and theatrical release poster were designed by Saul Bass
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was a Jewish-American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences....
.
Cast notes
Poitier's performance received glowing reviews, and the film, along with Blackboard JungleBlackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.-Plot:...
, helped establish him as "one of Hollywood's few established representatives for black Americans."
The Cassavetes character was notable for its hint of homosexuality, which was uncommon for the time. The Motion Picture Production Code Administration allowed the innuendo, but recommended "extremely careful handling to avoid planting the suspicion that he may be homosexual."
Critical reaction
The film earned positive reviews, with critics praising the unusual multiracial relationship between the Poitier and Cassavetes characters. Up till then, whites were ordinarily shown in positions of authority. Time magazine noted that the Poitier character "is not only the white man's boss, but is his best friend, and is at all times his superior, possessing greater intelligence, courage, understanding, warmth and general adaptability." VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said the film was "a milestone in the history of screen in its presentation of an American Negro." The London Sunday Times said the film was "splendidly directed" by Ritt.
Cassavetes also won acclaim for his portrayal, which resembled that of Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
in On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront
On the Waterfront is a 1954 American drama film about union violence and corruption among longshoremen. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb and Karl Malden. The soundtrack score was composed by Leonard...
(1954).
New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
called Edge of the City an "ambitious little film" that "at times close to some sort of fair articulation of the complexities of racial brotherhood." In one scene in which they have lunch at the river, "the attitudes of the young fellows—the white man with terrors in his mind and the Negro with cordial disposition to be as generous with his friendship as with food—are swiftly and trenchantly established in this little scene and the pattern of deep devotion in their subsequent comradeship is prepared." At those times, Crowther said, Edge of the City was a "sharp and searching film." But more often, he said, Aurthur and Ritt "have let their drama fall too patly into the pattern and the lingo of an imitative television show—a television show imitating the film On the Waterfront."
Music
The score was composed, conducted and orchestrated by Leonard RosenmanLeonard Rosenman
Leonard Rosenman was an American film, television and concert composer.-Life and career:Leonard Rosenman was born in Brooklyn, New York. After service in the Pacific with the Army Air Forces in World War II, he earned a bachelor's degree in music from the University of California, Berkeley...
.
The first release of portions of the score was on MGM Records on LP at the time of the release of the film. This recording re-issued on cd in 2003, on Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly is an online magazine founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 as The Soundtrack Correspondence List...
records.
Legacy
Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
critic Dennis Lim, writing in 2009, described Edge of the City and Something of Value
Something of Value
Something Of Value is a 1957 drama directed by Richard Brooks and starring Rock Hudson, Dana Wynter and Sidney Poitier.-Plot:The movie, based on the book of the same name by Robert Ruark, portrays the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. It shows the colonial and native African conflict caused by colonialism...
(1957) as "variations on an early Poitier specialty, the black-white buddy movie, the most vivid example of which is perhaps Stanley Kramer
Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer was an American film director and producer. Kramer was responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous "message" movies...
's The Defiant Ones
The Defiant Ones
The Defiant Ones is a 1958 drama film which tells the story of two escaped prisoners, one white and one black, who are shackled together and who must co-operate in order to survive. It stars Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Cara Williams, Charles McGraw, and Lon Chaney, Jr...
(1958)," in which Poitier and Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
played escaped convicts shackled to each other.
One history of African-Americans in film, originally published by author Donald Bogle in 1973, was critical of Poitier's portrayal, referring to him as portraying a "colorless black" with "little ethnic juice in his blood." His death scene is described as being in the tradition of "the dying slave content that he has served the massa." Bogle writes that Poitier's "loyalty to the white Cassavetes destroys him just as much as the old slave's steadfastness kept him in shackles."