John Cassavetes plays Axel Nordmann who, AWOL from the U.S. Army, gets a job as a New York City dockworker. In short order he becomes friends with Tommy Tyler (Sidney Poitier), a foreman on the dock. Tommy is happily married to Lucy (Ruby Dee) and they have a cute young boy. Into this mix is put Charles Malik (Jack Warden), a corrupt and vindictive foreman, who has a contentious relationship with both Tommy and Axel.
I liked the black and white photography, but I found the characterizations to be too black and white. For a foreman having to deal with the frictions at the dock Tommy has an unrealistically sunny and cheerful disposition - life just couldn't be better for him. Sidney Poitier turns in a fine performance, but Tommy's character was just too irreproachably good for me. I found Cassavetes to be wooden in his portrayal of the confused Axel who has a problem with authority, stemming from his relationship with his father. Warden is fine as the consistently mean-spirited Malik and Dee shines in her few appearances.
I was bothered by many inconsistencies. In a phone conversation with his parents at the beginning of the movie Axel's father is so irritated with his son that he doesn't even want to talk with him and encourages his wife not to take the call. Then toward the end, his father falls all over himself begging his son to come home, telling him that he is all that he and his wife have. Tommy's wife tells Axel that she is so happy that he and Tommy are friends, since Tommy didn't have any friends. But if Tommy, as portrayed, was such an outgoing friendly guy, it is hard to imagine that he did not have any friends. The whole racism issue, central to the plot, comes out of nowhere toward the end. In his relationship with his love interest Ellen, Axel behaves like an awkward teenager - could he really be that naive? The scenes between him and Ellen are embarrassing. For the life of me I could not figure out what it was about Axel that Tommy and Ellen felt so immediately drawn to? The fight scene between Tommy and Malik was intense and riveting, but then the final fight scene I found to be staged and difficult to believe.
The music is overly dramatic.
One cannot see this movie without comparing it with "On the Waterfront," and judging it to be a derivative work. Credit must be given to "Edge of the City" for taking on the issue of racism in an era when that was being swept under the rug, and it does not shy from an ending that probably would not have played well with focus groups had such existed then. But "Waterfront" deals with corruption in more detail and is all round a vastly superior movie in my opinion.
I liked the black and white photography, but I found the characterizations to be too black and white. For a foreman having to deal with the frictions at the dock Tommy has an unrealistically sunny and cheerful disposition - life just couldn't be better for him. Sidney Poitier turns in a fine performance, but Tommy's character was just too irreproachably good for me. I found Cassavetes to be wooden in his portrayal of the confused Axel who has a problem with authority, stemming from his relationship with his father. Warden is fine as the consistently mean-spirited Malik and Dee shines in her few appearances.
I was bothered by many inconsistencies. In a phone conversation with his parents at the beginning of the movie Axel's father is so irritated with his son that he doesn't even want to talk with him and encourages his wife not to take the call. Then toward the end, his father falls all over himself begging his son to come home, telling him that he is all that he and his wife have. Tommy's wife tells Axel that she is so happy that he and Tommy are friends, since Tommy didn't have any friends. But if Tommy, as portrayed, was such an outgoing friendly guy, it is hard to imagine that he did not have any friends. The whole racism issue, central to the plot, comes out of nowhere toward the end. In his relationship with his love interest Ellen, Axel behaves like an awkward teenager - could he really be that naive? The scenes between him and Ellen are embarrassing. For the life of me I could not figure out what it was about Axel that Tommy and Ellen felt so immediately drawn to? The fight scene between Tommy and Malik was intense and riveting, but then the final fight scene I found to be staged and difficult to believe.
The music is overly dramatic.
One cannot see this movie without comparing it with "On the Waterfront," and judging it to be a derivative work. Credit must be given to "Edge of the City" for taking on the issue of racism in an era when that was being swept under the rug, and it does not shy from an ending that probably would not have played well with focus groups had such existed then. But "Waterfront" deals with corruption in more detail and is all round a vastly superior movie in my opinion.