On the Waterfront / Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey

0:00 In 1954, director Elia Kazan and star Marlon Brando gave the world a poignant drama regarding the dangers of being a stoolie. In 2024 we try a whiskey that's meant for some higher ups. The film is on the waterfront. The whiskey is Gentleman Jack. More of you than both. This is the. Film and Whiskey podcast. Welcome to the Film and Whiskey podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob Book.

0:53 It could have been a contender. That was perfect. I'm so proud of you. You've been working on that for weeks, haven't you? I did it on the spot without. Watch Really. No. And this week we are looking at the 1954 film On the Waterfront. Brad, each week I start our episodes by saying that we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. And that's always true in the general sense. Certainly true about the whiskey. I say it's definitely whiskey we're drinking. But you know, sometimes we kind of stretch the definition of a classic. And, you know, we've done whole seasons where we've just looked at modern films and it's really nice revisiting these Season 1 films, especially when you land on a movie like On the Waterfront, which is as highly regarded as an American movie can possibly be.

1:42 This is in the conversation for one of the 10 most lauded American films ever made. It is the one that you hear actors, you know, jizz all over themselves about when they talk about Marlon Brando. Like it's just, I mean, let's be. Honest here dude. Raunchy here, my friend. If you hear any actor from 1954 to now talk about Marlon Brando, this performance is going to come up and it's going to be, oh, this was the thing that got me into acting. It's all about on the waterfront. And so this movie carries a lot of cachet with it, is all I'm trying to say. Yeah, no, I this is number 19 on the AFI top 100.

2:22 And would you say that it would be higher on the list if not for the Kazan reputation being attached to it? Good question. Yeah, it's funny because I think when the very first AFI list came out in 1998, it was number 8. And so when they revisited it 10 years later, it had dropped to #19. Now I think part of that is just we're getting farther away from this movie coming on the scene in 1954. It's now 70 years old, and I think that as as people get older, like the idea of the method, acting, the Actor's Studio influence, it's been a little bit inflated. And it certainly was among the boomer generation and now younger generations just don't gravitate toward that as much.

3:08 But I also think you've hit the nail on the head pretty early, man, because I don't know if it was just when we were all in lockdown in the pandemic, but people on Twitter started doing film history and found out some things about Elia Kazan and spoiler alert, they do not like him. No, you wouldn't say that. People on the left side of the political spectrum hate people who snitch on them. I mean, I feel like people on all sides of the political spectrum hate being snitched on. I think political affiliation has to do with, hey, man, don't rat me out. Maybe we should get this out of the way on the on the front, though, Brad, Like, I, I wanted it to be a point of conversation at some point today, but we've only done a couple Elia Kazan movies on the podcast, and I think we still haven't done one of his most famous ones, A Streetcar Named Desire.

3:58 So Kazan is a very famous director at this point. He's already won an Academy Award for Best picture with gentleman's Agreement in the late 1940s. He makes Streetcar in 1951. This was Brando's big arrival onto the scene. It was the the explosiveness of this new style of acting that he brought to the screen. And this is like their big follow up to that. Now, Brando had obviously made movies in between, but On the Waterfront was their return to form in 1954. And so Kazan has his place in movie history kind of cemented already at this point. And this is a hard movie to grapple with because two years prior to this movie coming out, Kazan was called before the House on American Activities Committee. He whack to name names, to say who, who are them commies out there in Hollywood.

4:47 And your boy Elia Kazan did did not keep his mouth shut. He named a whole bunch of names. To be specific, Bob, he named 8 names and According to him they were all names that were already known by the Hue Act. Yes, as communist. Correct. Yeah, that that is important context because I think depending on how you want to look at the situation, cuz then willingly talked about this years later. Cuz I think he did an interview at one point where they were like, hey, like, you know, I'm sorry to bring up sensitive history. And he was like, it's not sensitive history. I'd do it again. My guy was proud of doing this.

5:28 And so it gets a really hot topic even still in Hollywood. You know, if you watch, I mean, I, I say still the guy's not alive anymore, but you watch him collect his honorary Oscar for like a lifetime achievement later in life. There's a great video on YouTube of him coming out on the stage to collect this Oscar. And actors you and I know are in the audience and some of them stand up and clap for him. And some of them are sitting down on their hands and looking very, very angry at the man. So it's he has a very divisive legacy now. How does that reflect on the film? I think that's something we can get into. But Brad, coming into this revisit of On the Waterfront, I honestly can't remember if we talked about this in our first episode or not.

6:11 Were you aware of everything that surrounded Kazan? I think we talked about it a little bit during last episode. This time through, I did a bit more of a deep dive. I watched the video of him receiving his lifetime achievement award where half the audience is seated and not clapping. Even, you know, the likes of Steven Spielberg. I believe he's clapping but would not stand up. Like, like you have all of these mixed responses from the crowd. And that led me down a rabbit hole where I read a lot about the Hue Act and Hollywood. And it seems like the general consensus is that nobody blames McCarthy for being McCarthy in this instance.

6:58 Like, obviously they all hate his guts. But it's almost like if Donald Trump does something that liberals don't like, like, like they already hate him so much that it's like, yeah, Trump is going to do Trump thing. But it would be as if, I don't know a current, like, I don't know, like Nancy Pelosi came out and like, suddenly became a Trumpian. Like there's almost a deeper hate for her for turning on them right than for Trump. Well, I mean is. That is that a fair I was. Going to say, let's draw even more apartment comparison. It would be like Steven Spielberg becoming a tremor, you know what I mean? Sure. Yeah, yes. So how does this tie to the movie? I guess if you haven't seen this movie, you're very confused and you're wondering why we're talking about some director in Hollywood history.

7:45 Now, the plot of the movie, Brad, will break down in just a minute. But in broad strokes, it is about a guy who rats a bunch of people out and is presented as the hero for doing it. And if you just watch this movie on face value, Brad, this is an incredible movie that we have to eat some pie, some humble pie about our thoughts ten seasons ago. But it's weird because you can talk about the movie and we will on its own. You can also look at the movie from the lens of like Elia Kazan was absolutely embarrassed in Hollywood because of what he did and then doubled down and made a movie about a guy ratting people out and portrayed himself as the hero in that movie.

8:28 Which is either like either or both the most dickish and or the most ballsy thing anyone's ever done. I mean, honestly, I I think it's kind of awesome. Like whether whether or not he did the right thing, the dude stood by his actions. Oh, he had. Convictions for sure. Yeah, like he believed in what he did. It seems like in that those years and beyond, he very much so did not like the Communist Party in America. And so he just was like, hey, hey, by the way, I'm glad I did it.

9:08 You and him and John Wayne would have all gotten along real well back in the day. Brett, I'm sure we would have, man. All right, let's start talking about the movie in earnest. And in order to do that, we need to get to our first segment of the day, which we call, Brad explains. Brad's going to give us the movie plots with only 60 seconds taken on the clock, so let's go ahead and do your take with this little segment that we call, Brad explains. Brad Explains is the part of the show where Brad breaks down the plot of the movie that he has just seen, often for the first time. This is at least Brad's second time seeing On the Waterfront. Did you have any exposure to the movie Brad in the intervening years? From 2019 to now, no.

9:48 OK, not at all. So you came into this essentially cold off of a, you know, 5. Year. Gap Yeah, I really like that because as I've said, I have many thoughts. But like my chief thought is, man, we were really off in our initial assessment of this movie. And I'm, I'm very excited to give this movie The flowers that we did not give it the first time around. But that also means this is your first time explaining the movie because you didn't do it in season 1. So, Brad, you get 60 seconds to break down the plot of the film. Folks, if you have not seen On the Waterfront, I highly recommend you hit pause here. Go back and watch it and then return to this episode and join us, Brad. And I will say, Bob, an hour and 45 minutes.

10:31 Yeah, it's a tight. It's a tight movie. Not quite a 90 minute film, but close enough that you can hit pause here and not miss too much. Yeah, and never boring, I will say. Like just just short enough to never be boring. Brad 60 seconds and go. On the Waterfront is a film about a young man named Terry Malloy, played by the famous Marlon Brando, who is in a difficult position Bob. He is used as a setup man in the death of a young man on the Waterfront, and the rest of the film follows him as he tries to follow his conscience and figure out what he ought to do in the face of brutal a brutal, murderous man.

11:22 I My brain is just not working well today, Bob. You want to tag me in here? Yeah, tag in Bob, finish it off on the. Waterfront is a film about Marlon Brando. Marlon Brando plays a washed up X boxer named Terry Malloy. Terry and his brother both work for the local mob boss who is essentially a a a union local leader. This union is corrupt through and through. It's the longshoreman who unload all of the ships that come into the dock and they rule with an iron fist. The movie starts with a young man getting thrown to his death, and like Brad said, Terry was the setup guy for this whole thing. Terry gets a tinge of conscience after his actions, starts wondering if this is all worth it, and sees the route that he might go down if he keeps following this boss, Johnny Friendly. There is a priest in the neighborhood who decides that it's time to roll up his sleeves and do what Jesus would have done and stand up for what's right. At the same time, Terry meets the sister of the young man who was killed.

12:19 They start to fall in love, and he is wracked with guilt about what to do with the rest of his life. He gets a subpoena from the cops, and he has to decide if he's going to rat everybody out or if he's going to be D&D deaf and dumb like everybody else on the waterfront. Boom, Bob explains. Nailed it. That felt good. I've never done that before. Isn't it nice when you just nail it? It sure is, Brad. All right, Brad, let's start talking about this movie. Where do you want to start? I mean, we could, I, I think when we reviewed it the first time, we complained a lot about the script. We said that it was kind of hokey. It didn't hold up very well. I, I don't know if I agree with that anymore, but I think we'll get around to hitting all of our gripes and revising them in the course of this episode.

13:06 So where should we begin? Man, I, I think that the place to begin is what everybody sees most directly. I I think we should talk about the performances here, Bob, because they are incredible. Yeah, man, top to bottom. And I, I think one of the things that as I watched it this time, in the intervening years, from the time we first watch it to now, you went on your own little self quest of discovery with movies. And I remember you, you called me up one day and said, guess what? I just watched. And I was like, I don't know, you know, freaking Marvel something or other. And you were like, no, dude, I watched The Bicycle Thieves, the Italian neorealist masterpiece from the 1940s.

13:48 And I was like, holy crap, The Bicycle Thieves. I never would have begged you for that dude. What a movie and if you know anything about Italian neorealism, and I'm sure everyone listening does, it was a movement that came out of the post war years in Italy when everything was rebuilding. It was a much grittier style of filmmaking and it was marked by the use of a lot of non professional actors and it really gave the movie a sense of realism. And that kind of gets carried over into what Kazan is doing here. He's using these actors from the Actors Studio in New York who are all method and really trying to tap into this naturalistic style. But then the way the movie's shot is really gritty and feels like a documentary sometimes. And you've got like your five big actors at the top of the movie, but then almost everybody else beneath them, You can't quite tell if they're just like a bit player actor or if they're just a guy that they grabbed off the docks in New York.

14:39 And I think that all of that blended together, the way it's shot, the way it's acted, it gives this movie this sense of, I want to say realism. But what I really mean is like foreignness. It feels so different to everything else that's coming out of this time period. Like, this is the same year that Rear Window comes out, Brad. And the styles of acting in these two movies and the way these movies are shot could not be any different. I don't know, Bob. I think it's basically the same movie. This this was actually directed by Alfred Hitchcock, if you couldn't tell. Oh, man, if this movie was directed by Hitchcock, I think, man, that I'm really glad you brought up Rear Window because this has such an incredible amount of realism compared to that specifically. And you and I have both proclaimed from the rooftops we love Rear Window.

15:32 Great, perfect name. Yeah. But this is so much different. And I, I, I think there are areas where this script struggles a little bit, but overall the acting performances feel so much different. I I'm thinking specifically of like Jimmy Stewart fumbling with his camera and like trying to like bulb flash the guy into submission and, and not necessarily Jimmy Stewart, but his attacker and like the way he like puts his hands up and like it just feels very artificial. And there is not a moment of acting in this movie that feels artificial. I mean, you have Brando and his brother who who plays his brother Bob. Oh, that's the actor Rod Steiger. Yeah, Rod Steiger.

16:21 Jeez Louise. The scene with the two of them in the back of the taxi cab is. It's the most famous scene in the movie. Yeah, I. Would say it's as highly regarded as it is for a reason because they are freaking destroying it in that scene. I think this movie really thrives it. It has great crowd scenes and it's good when when there's three or four people pinging off of each other. But this movie really thrives in those one to one moments, whether it's that first kind of sheepish meeting between Brando and Eve Marie St. where he's playing with her glove. That's a very famous moment in acting circles or you know, the the interactions that Karl Malden has with with Eva Marie St. with Brando, that moment with Rod Steiger in the back of the car. Like there's just so many great one-on-one scenes in this movie. And I think it goes to show again, like their theatrical background.

17:12 All these actors had a theatrical background, but their ability to read each other's expressions to let moments play out. You know, I'm thinking especially of the end of the film, which we'll get around to talking about the ending itself. But Brando has been beat to a pulp. And they convince him to stand up. And they don't even know if he'll be able to, like, keep his feet underneath him. And as you watch this movie, I finally got this. I like it. It finally dawned on me 30 seconds before the movie's over that Brando isn't really even acting at this point. Like he's he's behaving in a rhythm that is not made for movies. They stand him up and he takes like 10 seconds to study himself. And then somebody asks, you know, are you OK? And he says, am I standing?

17:58 And they say you're standing? And he takes another 10 seconds to study himself. And he goes, OK, OK. And it is the most believable looking thing because he is his internal clock that he's counting the seconds of OK, this is how long till I'm not woozy anymore. It mimics real life. It doesn't mimic movie acting. And I think that that's like one of the most startling things about this movie is how fresh and vibrant, but how true to life. Every moment feels still. And the camera work in that scene is so good, like as he's slowly stumbling towards the the dock area of the the warehouse area that they're working in, like the camera goes from showing him stumbling to like his first person view.

18:45 And they do such an incredible job of matching. Like you see his head kind of roll back a little bit and then it's a first person of the camera, like slowly getting blurry as it looks up towards the sky and then it snaps back down and then it flips back to showing him his head falls forward and he looks. It's incredible camera work, Bob. Yeah, yeah. And this movie is such a great blend of, like I said, you know, it's called like cinema verite. It's this idea of, like, filming the truth. And it looks like gritty and realistic. And there's also moments, there's this great moment in this movie where a guy who has decided to kind of rat, they set him up to get killed by dropping like a whole pallet of cargo onto him when he's like, you know. Not just cargo, Bob.

19:33 Whiskey. Irish whiskey, yes, he gets crushed to death by whiskey. That seems like it's something that is looming over us both, Brad. I feel like that should be the the film and whiskey drinking game. Any any time we're watching a movie and they reference whiskey like that, that's when we start drinking. Yeah. So they're showing like an on location version in some shots like Karl Malden rides the lift back up afterwards. You can tell it's like this is a real place. This is not recreated in the studio somewhere. But then they have a few shots like inside of that ship where Ava Marie St. is there for some reason with the priest. They just let her wander into this crime scene and she's looking at Brando and Brando's in the foreground and she's in the background and there's like. You know, pallets and pallets of whiskey behind them in the background and it's lit like the most perfect Hollywood thing ever.

20:26 And so you can tell that's like on a set somewhere. But they do such a good job of marrying traditional Hollywood style filming with like shaky Cam documentary style. There's moments of like film noir when he's walking down that alleyway when the truck is chasing them. The lighting is this really harsh, like not realistic lighting at all, but it's like Moody. And I think that all these things taken together, it's, it's a very realistic movie, but it also does all the things you love best about what Hollywood can do in a movie. 100% I think the biggest thing that shifted for me this time around was the pacing of the movie. I I feel like before it came across as really slow and it allowed the script errors to shine through and for whatever reason this time the this movie just felt like it moved at such a nice pace and the slow moments of the movie allowed you to live and breathe with the characters.

21:28 There's a lot of stories about Brando, especially as he got older. I mean, he took advantage of his stature in a lot of ways. Like he would never memorize his lines. And so by the time he got to the Godfather, you know, if there was somebody in the scene with him that was facing away from the camera, they would like tape cue cards to that person's chest so he could just read his lines off the person's chest. And he would, you know, he was known for kind of like, taking a very indulgent look at the ceiling in the middle of the scene because there'd be cue cards taped up at the ceiling. And he would always play it off. But it was a very, like, it's an indulgent style of acting. You know you have to make these grand gestures. To I don't know, man. I mean, wasn't Marilyn Monroe doing that in? In something like a hot The Line, Where's that bourbon? Yes.

22:12 So it's a tough line. It really is, man. So Brando's known for doing stuff like that. And I, I think that what really struck me this time around is that the movie is paced so well that it gives all the actors enough room to breathe with their performances that nothing ever really feels rushed. But it never feels indulgent either. And I think that that's like sometimes with method acting, that's the thing that can really strike me as like it, it Dings it a little bit. Honestly. We talked about this with There Will Be Blood. As good as that performance by DDL is like there are moments where it feels like the scene is going on a little too long because we're just letting we're letting the guy cook. You know, I don't feel that way with Brando in this movie. I don't feel that way with anybody in this movie. And I think that it's a really like, it's a huge credit to Kazan and the editors that it doesn't feel shaggy and it doesn't feel like they're just indulging this kind of prima Donna actor at the lead.

23:08 I think it's also because you have Karl Malden opposite of Brando, and he has such a calm, forceful, moving personality like that. He's never allowing the movie to slow down. And I don't say that in the sense that he's frenetic in any way. He just has this really magnetic, driving personality that keeps the story moving forward in a really powerful way. Molden was also with Brando and Kazan in Streetcar Named Desire, and he might have won the Oscar for Best supporting actor for that movie, but you know, he's used to working with Brando at this point.

23:51 And that kind of dance you have to do with him when you're in a scene with him. And his character in this movie could not be any more different from his character in Streetcar. And because in that movie he was really kind of like, I don't know what's the term, a cock. He's just a a real beta in that movie. Man Bob, the sexual references are coming fast this this episode. Well, you know, we mentioned Hitchcock, so I feel like I have to represent that old pervert spirit of Hitchcock. Just got to force it in there. And I think when you get to this movie, they have that familiarity with each other. But if we can talk about Malden for a minute, I think his role and his performance among the main actors is probably the most classically Hollywood style of acting.

24:34 Like it feels like he could have been playing opposite Bogart instead of Brando and it would have been the same performance. It doesn't feel as methody quote UN quote, but I feel like the movie needs that too because he also represents such a different way of living from what Terry is currently experiencing. And he has his literal getting up on a soapbox speech moments in this movie. But they all work so well because Carl Malden has this very trustworthy puppy dog kind of persona that you buy that he is a man of conviction. He's a man of principle. And he really reminds me of like his generations, John C Reilly kind of, you know what I mean? Like I can see that so much if they remade this movie today but Malden absolutely knocks it out of the park dude and I think it was one of the keys for me to re appreciating this movie.

25:27 Yeah, the the scene of him giving his speech is just incredible. Like, the First off, the bravery to just, like, invoke the name of Jesus in a movie feels rare. Like, I don't know, we just don't see that anymore. Bob, you've often talked about the reality that Hollywood never takes religious thoughts seriously anymore. And so it almost feels refreshing to see a movie where the priest is treated like a hero of the film, like somebody who's actually has the best interests of these longshoremen at heart, that this is his parish, these are the people he needs to care for, and he's going to do it in such a way that might not be fitting for a priest who is living out in the countryside. Yeah, yeah, we had a conversation about like the Tom Joe to speech at the end of Grapes of Wrath. And I feel like in a lesser movie, this, this that the speech in this movie is just that it's a very like Hollywood liberals idea of what a priest should be. And I feel like at its worst, it almost tips into that. But they do such a good job of, I don't want to say pulling back, but making him walk the walk, right? It's not just about ideals.

26:49 It's not just about like this is what I think a priest should be. And so I'm going to write this ideal character that way. You know, they let him smoke and they let him drink a beer and he's a flawed person. But beyond that man, when he he has that speech after Dugan gets killed where he's standing next to Dugan's body talking about like, I told him I would go with him to the end of the line here. So I'm going to take my stand now. And he has that speech about Christ is with you on the waterfront. And it's the first time in the movie that the words on the waterfront are actually uttered in order like that. And I like to think it's where the title of the movie comes from. I know they say it a couple more times as the movie progresses, but when he says Christ is with you on the waterfront, Christ is here kneeling beside Duguid.

27:34 Like I got emotional, man. It was it was like this true. Not just a wish fulfillment of what the church could be, but but like a depiction of doing the nitty gritty dirty work that it requires to actually bring hope and also change to a community of people that you are serving. It's like it's just such a beautiful picture of what the church can and should be. And that's just like, that's completely beside how good the performance itself is. Yeah, I mean, there's a scholar named Eugene Peterson who wrote a translation of the Bible. Well, an interpretation of.

28:16 The Bible, yeah, don't call it call translation. You'll get the Bible Bros coming after. You I know all the Bible Bros that listen to our our podcast Derek Derek human's going to come after me. I know he wrote this thing called the message and it is a interpretation of the Bible. And in John 1, he takes a very famous passage about how Jesus is the word and it came to live with us. And he talks about it, that it's Jesus with clothes on who came into the neighborhood to live next to us. And I, I feel like this movie captures that idea of a Jesus who just lives in the neighborhood, who's one of us. That speech captures it better than almost any other Hollywood film I've ever seen.

29:08 All right, Brad, I want to talk a little bit about the other main performers in this movie. And I don't want to get too much farther without bringing up Ava Marie St. who at the time of recording is still alive. She is 100 years old. So keep keep going, sis. I want this to let's go to still be true when this episode actually comes out. But I love Ava Marie St. We've only ever talked about her outside of this film in her performance in North by Northwest Hitchcock again. And once again, those two performances could not be any more different from each other. In that movie, she plays this really sultry, sexy spy. In this movie, she's playing, I don't know what you would call her, a vulnerable, grieving, bereaved sister who is also, like, filled with rage and confused about why the system works the way it does. I just think that the way she and Brando play off each other, they bring out these moments of almost like childlike innocence in each other and and purity in each other. And you start to see those cracks in Terry's facade because of what Ava Marie Saints character is doing. But more than that, it's the way these two actors are like, there's this sense of like almost naked vulnerability between them.

30:20 And if we're a movie that's 70 years old, it feels so intimate to watch these two in a scene together. I don't know man. I think. I think the weakest part of this film for me is still the romance between Terry and Edie. Like I, I just. Weakest in terms of how it's played or in terms of like how it's written? Because I I still have some issues with how rushed the timeline of this movie is. Sure. You know what I mean? Like from the time her brother dies, the time she's like making out with this boxer, like 3 days, yes. That is 100% a part of it. I I mean, there are moments where it is portrayed extraordinarily well.

31:04 I think my favorite moment of their relationship is when they're having the confession where Terry is confessing to Edie that he was the one who set up her brother, even though he didn't realize he was doing it. And they they play it with the the scream of a ship whistle blowing in the background. And it it's just incredible filmmaking. Like we can't choose what's going on in our environments when we're fighting. Well, in the way they're underscoring that emotional turbulence with this, like, horrific sound. I do think it's funny that you're like, my favorite moment is the moment where you can't hear either one of them talking. Yep, and and there's just so many moments where I I think that both Brando and Eve Marie St. are are doing great jobs. I just don't know if they click together. Oh, interesting.

32:03 I will say this time, the thing that really overwhelmed me about this movie and I got emotional at a few points of this movie, is this like pervading sense of sadness in this movie. Like it is an incredibly sad film. It's just, I don't call it depressing movie, but like they do such a good job of placing you in the hopelessness and almost like inevitability of these people's lives. And I've always had an issue with, like, OK, the first moments of the movie is night one Joey there that, you know, the brother dies. And then like, morning #2 they're all on the waterfront, like on the docks again. And as if nothing happened. And like, the guy's dad is there and he's like, well, my son shouldn't have got himself mixed up. But I'm like, dude, what?

32:47 How are you so callous about this? And it's, it's always struck me as like a weakness of the movie. I still don't think it's perfect. But watching their reaction to their friend Dugan get killed this time. And when that comes almost at the midpoint of the movie and they react almost exactly the same. And they're like watching his dead body laying there under these crates of whiskey. And he's like, you know, you don't, he doesn't need a a doctor. He needs a priest or whatever. And it's just like the callousness with which these people have learned to have to deal with this in their lives. There's this moment where they're they're trying to bait Terry out onto the street because they they've killed his brother. And they're like, we've got your brother down here. And he goes off and Eva Marie Street is chasing him like down the fire escape.

33:31 And her neighbor says that's exactly the way they called my Andy before they killed him. Andy's not even the person we've ever heard of in this movie to this point. And it just like, again, it it it underlines and underscores this cycle of violence and just like oppression that these people have made a part of their lives. And I think watching the intimate moments of Eva Marie St. and Marlon Brando, you don't. I didn't really get the sense so much this time that they're like falling head over heels in like a Romeo and Juliet way. It's not like West Side Story where the world's falling down around them, but they're in love. It just seems like two people who feel like they've lost hope and they're just like finding each other in this moment of emotional turbulence. I don't know, I thought it was much more beautiful this time because it didn't strike me as like a standard romance. It struck me as like 2 grieving people kind of using each other in that moment of grief.

34:27 And they might love each other and they might not. But like you're, you're watching these kind of like freight trains of emotion wrecking into each other. And it's it's most perfectly identified by Brando's character. When when Terry says, like, you're the first good thing that's ever walked into my life. And I think that that is a really touching moment where it shows the importance of beauty in the life of a human soul. That when we live in a world that has no beauty, no goodness, nothing, no nothing dignifying in the world around them, even just a spark of that can bring up something in that person that they never knew that they had. That this, this woman who has come into his life, who has shown him a little bit of goodness, is sparking the conscience that they continually reference throughout the movie. All right, I think we've talked about Brando, we've talked a little bit about Rod Steiger, we've talked about Karl Malden and Ava Marie St.

35:36 And that really just leaves Lee J Cobb as Johnny Friendly, who is the big bad. My guy knew how to scream, you know, and he's one of the great all time screamers, but so physically imposing too. Like when he's fighting with Brando at the end of the movie, you can tell he's fighting dirty and he's out of shape, but you could tell that, like, this man could land some punches too. You know, he could beat the snot out of you if he really wanted to. And I think that Cobb has always been so good at kind of throwing around that physicality as a way of covering up for whatever's going on emotionally underneath. He did it so well in 12 Angry Men, and I think he does it equally well here in On the Waterfront, just without that added layer of vulnerability.

36:20 Like he just has to be the bad guy, and he does a really good job at being the bad guy. And he and he sets up the world of gangster films for like the prototypical mob boss that you see played over and over and over again throughout the years. I think that when you look at Jack Nicholson and The Departed that you see like a evolution of the Lee J Cobb character. I I think when you look at Robert De Niro in Goodfellas, like you're seeing an evolution of Lee J Cobb. And I don't know about you, Bob, but I saw the this felt like an origin story for all gangster movies to come in a lot of ways.

37:08 Yeah, it really did, man. And I think a lot of that comes down to, and Scorsese's talked about this too. Like this is one of the first times I saw people that I recognized on screen. And it's in the way that, you know, they dress the bartender in in that flannel shirt and just things details that you wouldn't get in a Hollywood movie before this. So, you know, for all the crap that we've talked on Elia Kazan, he, he at least got flannel shirts, right, You know? Couldn't keep keep his story straight in front of Congress, but man, those flannel shirts. Let's take a break here, man. Let's drink some whiskey. I'm excited to revisit Gentleman Jack. What do you say? Let's get to it.

37:53 All right, today we are checking out Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey. This comes from the Jack Daniels. Gentleman. This comes from the Jack Daniels distillery. It is like, I don't know, the second lowest on the rung of Jack Daniels in terms of like how fancy you can get. You get regular Jack, then one step up you get to become a gentleman and have gentleman Jack. That's right, Bob, have I ever told you that for a long time, when I was like 21 to 24, my best friend and I would would drink Jack Daniels all the time. You have told me this. We got the Frank Sinatra select and I wish I still had it because I'm very curious now what it tastes like.

38:38 Yeah, I wonder after drinking like 500 whiskeys if you'd be like, oh, this is super mediocre, but back then because I. I mean back then we bought this in 20/13/2014 and it was $150.00 back then. Wow dude, you got suckered by the marketing man. Oh, 100%. Dude, and all along you could have just been drinking Gentleman Jack. Now let me segue back into Gentleman Jack. So the difference between regular Jack Daniels and this and the difference between all Jack Daniels and bourbon is that Tennessee whiskey is bourbon, folks. People like to say that it's not. It is bourbon that has been put through an extra step in this process called charcoal filtration at the Jack Daniels distillery. What that means is that they run their bourbon through wood that has been soaked in high proof Jack Jack Daniels and then lit on fire to make charcoal.

39:29 They say that it purifies it and in the case of Gentleman Jack, they do that two times before entering the barrel. So Gentleman Jack is double charcoaled, Brad, and that's what I'm going to start saying when I burn the burgers on my grill, like it's not burnt, it's double charcoal charcoal. The mash bill on this is 80% corn, 12% barley and 8% rye, and it is 80 proof. Brad. Let us dive into Gentleman Jack. What are you picking up on the nose? This is a really pleasant nose Bob. The the first note that I got kind of overwhelmingly was like a really nice butterscotch. There's a lot of vanilla, there's some honey going on, and at the end of the day, this is Jack Daniels.

40:14 I am getting a nice pleasant waft of banana. This is a 7 1/2 for me. It's not incredible, but pretty good. I'm also at a 7 1/2, and let me say that we shouldn't just assume that Jack Daniels is synonymous with banana the way that like Jim Beam is with peanuts. Because Brad, I like it is so obvious to me that there's banana on the nose of Jack Daniels products. I don't see that nosing note a lot amongst other people. I think it might just be me and you that are out here, like preaching the gospel of Banana Jack. But like it. It smells like a banana laffy taffy to me. Like it's just slightly an artificial banana candy kind of thing. And that is on top of a really oaky, really spicy bourbon. This smells like it's going to be more prickly than an 80 proof whiskey usually is.

41:06 And I like that 'cause it smells mature in my glass and just with a waft of like banana candy to go with it. It's a 7 1/2 for me. Brad, what did you think of the taste? The taste came through with lots of banana. To me it was almost like, have you ever had a like a campfire fruit where you you, you like cut open the fruit? Usually people do with apples and bananas. It's like with an apple you would core out the middle. With a banana you you cut it down the middle like a banana split and you put toppings in it. You wrap it in tinfoil and you put it in the fire for like 3 or 4 minutes. Have you ever done that? No, I never have, but that sounds divine. Oh dude, you haven't been camping until you've done this. It kind of reminds me of like a slightly toasted smoked banana. There's some Maple syrup going on. I I think that those burnt notes almost turn into like a burnt toast flavor to me.

42:09 There's a little bit of wheatiness that not wheat like a weeded bourbon, more like like wheat bread. It's it's good, but it's not great. I think I'm sitting at a six out of 10. Yeah, I think that because I was expecting that banana to be there, I tasted it more than I might have if I just sipped it blind. But it it had a ton of like almost banana pudding for me on the front of my palate. And then it got pretty quickly that sort of sour oak that we get on toasted barrel products that really came out strong for me on the back of the palate. It's not bad. And I will say this is like way more interesting than 99% of the 80 proof bourbons we drink. I just don't think it's great.

42:57 Like it. I, I applaud it for being something different. It's but it's not knocking my socks off and it's not a super cohesive tasting experience. I'll also give it a 6 1/2. The finish is kind of in a weird spot too, because I get that toasted oak. It's a little bit bitter, It's a little bit sour. I almost have that kind of like pink bubble gum powderiness a little bit on on my palate after I swallow. It's nice and I I think this is a really good sipping whiskey for an 80 proof bourbon. I don't think this would hold up super well in a cocktail. It's a little too sweet and the oak isn't really like spicy so much as it is bitter and sour. But just just on its own, I think it's like a 7 on the finish. Oh, I the finish for me is where the proof stands out that it just comes across really watery.

43:50 There's not enough flavor, like you're just getting hints of the flavors you got on the palate and nothing sticks around for long enough to make an impression other than the sourness. So for me, it's a 5 1/2 on the fish. Wow. OK. And I, I think balance wise, this is just really all over the place of an experience. I'll I'll give it a six out of 10 here. Yeah, I think I'll give it a 6 1/2 because again, like I think sometimes distilleries proof things down to 80 proof as a way of kind of diluting out how drastic some of the flaws in something can be. And then it kind of like rounds those edges out. So I don't want to give the distillery too much credit here, but as an 80 proof whiskey, like the nose to the taste of the finish are a definite like downturn, but they're not drastic enough for me to merit like a really low balance score. So I'll give it a 6 1/2 on the value. This is interesting because I think when we first bought this back in 2019, it was running around $28.00 a bottle somewhere in there.

45:01 Brad, what's it currently going for in the state of Ohio? 2999. OK. Inflation has not affected it too much. I don't think this is a $30 bottle of whiskey like 262728 maybe, but there's something about that, that two extra dollars that I've just like, absolutely not. I think this is like a six out of 10 on the value. There's other things you could get for around this price point that are better. There are some things you can get for way less that are significantly better than this, like a Rebel 100. I do think this is a good example of the Jack Daniels flavor profile, and it's a little bit better than regular Jack. So not a terrible value, but definitely not a great one.

45:44 Yeah, I'm, I'm at a 5 out of 10 on value. It's not horrible value at $30.00, but there there are just so many other things you can get like at the end of the day Bob, you can get a Cooper's craft bottled and bond for like 2 more dollars than this. And that is a far superior whiskey for sure to, to gentleman Jack for sure. So I, I, for me, this is only a 5 out of 10. I, I think that this had a solid start to it. It's a really interesting nose that just doesn't have enough oomph to push it over the finish line. I'm coming out to a 30 out of 50, Bob.

46:27 I'm at a 33 1/2, so I'm a little bit higher than you, but not significantly. That takes us to a 63.5 out of 100 or a 31.75 out of 50 on average. This is below where we would normally start recommending. I do think I will recommend like if you want to buy a bottle, you know, go ahead and do it with the caveat of like there's better stuff at this price point. I think if you wanted to try a pour that might be the way to go because I don't think this will be more than like 6-7 dollars a pour and it's an enjoyable pour especially if you like lower proof whiskeys. Yeah, I, oh, I think that if you want to try the Jack Daniels line and, you know, not the entire line, you just want to try a sample of it, I actually do think that Gentleman Jack is the place to go.

47:18 You know, regular Jack Daniels. If you like whiskey and have have tasted around the wheelhouse a little bit, you're probably not going to enjoy it. Gentleman Jack gives you an opportunity to see what they can do. And if it tempts you to go further, awesome, Go for it. But but this is this is probably a good starting point. All right, man, so we're we have cooled a little bit on Gentleman Jack, but it sounds like we've warmed up to On the Waterfront. What do you say we get back into talking about the movie? Let's get to it. All right, everybody. That was Jack Daniels gentleman version of their base whiskey, a whiskey that I I don't know if I would share with my gentleman kind of friends. Luckily I'm not friends with any gentleman so they will gladly. Accept this.

48:16 Well aware of that, Bob. You know what is the most attractive thing to a good gentleman, Bob? Is it 2 facts and a falsehood? It sure is. Brad is going to try to stump you. Bob to our right and what is wrong? 2 facts and a falsehood. 2 Facts and a Falsehood is the part of the show where Brad presents me with three items as fact about the making of this movie, one of which is a complete lie and I have to guess which one that is. I say this every week. It is super fun to do these on the Season 1 films because a lot of these are movies that are like, not just near and dear to my heart, but we're really formative in starting to understand what a classic movie could be.

49:02 And so to get facts about a movie as important as On the Waterfront, I don't know, it's just really cool. I also had to hold myself back from looking at the trivia page on IMDb. So, Brad, I come into this. I'm proud of you. Honestly, hit me with your two facts and a falsehood. Fact #1 Lee J Cobb refused to sport a black eye for the final scene of the film, as his contract specifically stated that his eyes would not be marred in any way. This led to Kazan's choice to have cuts completely surrounding his left eye. However, it left the eye itself untouched. Fact #2 The leading characters were based on real people. Terry Malloy was based on longshoreman and whistleblower Anthony Dave Vincenzo, Father Barry was based on waterfront priest John M Cordon, and Johnny Friendly was based on mobster Albert Anastasia. Fact #3 after the ill feelings harbored by Rod Steiger toward Marlon Brando.

50:00 After shooting their taxi scene, the two actors refused to speak to each other for many years after until the 1990s, when they got back in contact with one another and attempted to bury the hatchet. I will say I don't think I had heard that story before. It's #3 so that immediately throws up some suspicion for me. But I mean, who knows? Like all these guys had beef with each other at some point, so maybe they did. It's like Arby's, they've got the beef. #2 I'm going to assume it's true for the time being because this movie was based on true, a true story. I believe it was a series of articles that were written that won the Pulitzer, and so I don't know the names of the real people. So unless you made-up characters for half of that fact, I'm going to assume 2 is.

50:47 True. Was the real story a Pulitzer Prize winning story written in the paper, or was it just Elia Kazan's? The number one was a Remind me. It was about Lee J Cobb Doing what now? Yeah. That he would not have a black eye. That's right. Because I'm kind of, you know, cut his face up around the eye. I'm going to say 1 is the falsehood. I like it. Maybe not because that sounds like something stupid and diva ish that a actor would have in their contract. But Lee J Cobb, I just want to believe that he was not that, not that much of A prima Donna.

51:27 So I'm going to say #1 is false. Bob wants his villains to be a good guy, to be a. Good guy deep down, yeah. Yeah, he hopes that there's hope for him. And there is because Lee J Cobb was not a diva, and that was the false. All right, so Steiger and Brando really did have beef. They 100% did literally like 5 of the facts through the IMDb fact page were like riffs on the exact same thing. So essentially what I gathered was that Marlin had a very strict clause in his contract that he left the set at 4:00 PM every day because his mother had just died and he was seeing a therapist and he would go every day to see this therapist. And Steiger?

52:20 The close-ups of his of him were shot without Marlon in the taxi. Oh, interesting. Whereas when Marlon did his close-ups, Steiger stayed in the taxi to help him stay in character. And so, you know, Steiger just has some guy reading Marlon's lines and he's acting off of that and, and it he just kind of felt like. He got the shaft. Yeah, I get. It he got the shaft. Absolutely, yeah. I'm I'm Team Rod in that scenario. Honestly dude, the the more the more and more I hear about Marlin. Oh, he was a weird bird man. Yeah. I'm just kind of in that camp of like method acting beyond like, I don't know, like on a scale of 1 to 10 of method acting like if you get beyond like A5 or A6.

53:14 Like you're just. Kind of a Dick. Yeah, yeah, he, he had a really messed up psychology. I don't think people have still ever really figured out what was going on in his head. Like, he just seemed like a really tortured guy who acted out in some very weird manners. But we have this body of work of his that's like, how do you, Yes, like how do you say you can't say anything that hasn't been said about this specific role and performance? And Brad, we've done a couple Brando movies, like we've done Apocalypse Now, we've done The Godfather. I keep mentioning that we haven't done Streetcar. I think that would be kind of like one of his Mount Rushmore's for me. I have to assume.

53:56 I mean, the Godfather's a great role, but like this is his best performance that we've watched. At least that would be my vote. Oh, 100%. Like, and for me, it comes down to when his brother pulls a gun on him. The way he looks at his brother, it's so mournful, it's so sad. And the way he pushes the gun away, there's like No Fear there. Like, Like Terry Malloy, Brando knows that his brother Charlie isn't pulling the gun out of a fear for Brando's life. It's out of a fear for his own life. Yeah, that that little disappointment is just like, it's so crushing.

54:44 It's it is incredibly crushing. And so it's like moments like that where I'm like, you don't quite get that in in Godfather. Brando's so good at acting with his back to the camera too. And just, like, watching his physique change as his, like, his posture changing to indicate his emotion when he stumbles upon his brother dead with four shots in his chest, hung by his hook in an alley. Like, first of all, a gruesome death. Yeah, absolutely. You know, you see it from Brando's perspective, and then you kind of see it from like, behind his back as he decides what to do. And and he first it sinks in what's happened and he's not facing the camera and and the first thing he does is just kind of like lean up against the wall and brace himself for a minute. And it's just, it's such a Brando thing to do. Like it's no one else in the world would have thought of. You know, someone else would have been a Tommy Wazzo about it.

55:38 And you know, you're tearing me apart, Lisa. He doesn't do that. You know, like he he has this internal thing going on and you only watch it by like looking at the muscles in his back contort a different way. And it says so much. And then you finally get the moment where he he lays him down on the ground and he tells Edie, like, for God's sakes, don't let them leave him out here too long. And his voice finally cracks. And it's the moment where it like, it gets me, you know what I mean? Like, because you haven't seen this guy crack the whole movie despite all the pressure. And when he finally starts to kind of cry a little bit there, it's just, it's just such a masterful performance, man. Yeah, we, we've spent so much of this movie talking about performances in general, lots about Marlon.

56:24 Is there anything else in this movie that you feel compelled to talk about before we wrap up shop here? I want to talk about the ending really quickly because the ending I think is the part of the movie that works the least for me. It's it's the most Hollywood like putting a bow on everything type ending to the point where like the actual mechanics of what's happening plot wise don't really make a lot of sense. So like Brando goes to confront Johnny and like all the longshoremen are hesitant about going to work anyway and they kind of are just sitting back watching. And then Brando starts getting his ass kicked and all the longshore men are like he's 1 of theirs anyway. And then somewhere in between him starting to get his ass kicked and having his ass fully kicked, they all change their tune and they're like, he's actually one of us now. And then they decide without consulting each other that if he walks in first, they'll walk in with him as a sign to demonstrate to the shippers who have just showed up that they're not taking orders from Johnny Friendly anymore. Now you don't see any of that interaction amongst themselves happening on screen.

57:31 It's a very elaborate plan that requires Brando to be like the symbolic person for them. And then you have Father Barry Karl Malden convincing him to do it and not allowing anyone to touch him. And there's literally no plot reason for no one to be allowed to touch him other than that it is a direct literal parallel to him talking about Christ being with them on the like. He's being the Jesus figure. He's being marched to his own kind of crucifixion as like the scapegoat for all these people. He is broken and bruised. He's holding his side at one point. Like it's a very obvious Christ metaphor. And but it doesn't make sense why. Like why can't two guys just kind of come under each of his arms and go in with it? Like it doesn't really have any reason for existing other than that and so.

58:17 Moses having his arms held up type of thing. Yeah, I just like when you think about it in the context of the world of the movie, like this doesn't make any sense. And so they actually, you know, Johnny Friendly this whole time is like, come on, you bums go to work and they won't listen to him. But then they go to work. They do exactly what Johnny Friendly told them to do. But they said, well, now that they saw that we weren't taking orders from him, but we came in on our own volition, they'll they'll never let Johnny Friendly give us orders again. That makes absolutely no sense. And like at the end of the movie, he's just standing there going, I'll be back. You just watch. But like, you still have the keys to the warehouse. Your office is still right there. Like, what do you mean it'll be back? No one kicked you out.

59:03 You are clearly not from on the waterfront. You don't understand how these men think. Brad, enlighten me. I know you grew up in some rough and tumble parts of Seven Hills. OH. Yes, it was it was a very rough time in Seven Hills. OH, I still remember I dated a girl from the Brecksville Broadview Heights area, which is like a little more affluent than Seven Hills Parma, but that crazy. So and we were at a dance the one time and her friends were asking me like, what's it like being at Normandy in in the hood? And I was like, I don't know if you guys understand that Parma is very, very similar to Brecksville, Broadview Heights. And I'm just over here in Barbara didn't like, OK, Seven Hills.

59:50 Exactly so. Let's talk about the ending, though. Like, I know I'm ranting and that it, I'm saying it doesn't make any sense. It still works emotionally. Like it's a great ending, but it did kind of pull me out, You know, it was like, oh, this movie's A-101010101010, maybe it's a nine and a half. And it it was the ending that did it for me. Yeah. I mean, I, I think that the from a story standpoint, there's an element of these longshoremen only respect brute power and strength, and that's the reason that they've stayed in line for so long. And so to watch somebody be on the receiving end of Johnny Friendly's raw power and still get up and walk in, like, to me, it felt like they were voting him in as the next Union Leader.

1:00:47 Like that's kind of the vibe that I got. Like, we'll follow him to work. We'll never follow Johnny Friendly into work anymore. So I like it. It worked for me. But but I'm with you. I think that's one of the weakest parts of the film as from a story standpoint, but from an emotional standpoint, like, I mean, it's, it's right up there with like passion of the Christ, like, like he's, he's dragging himself up there like like Jim Caviezel. That's that's the comparison I want to make on this podcast is like Marlon Brando clearly patterning himself after Jim Caviezel. Yes, obviously. All right.

1:01:29 One more point I want to make real quick. And it's it's the really famous scene in the taxi cab that we've mentioned a couple times and the famous line, you know, you don't understand. I could have had class. I could have been a contender. It's the number three quote of all time, according to the American Film Institute. It's taken out of context all the time, you know, when people are parodying Brando. But man, that scene is crushing in so many ways. And you talked about when Steiger pulls the gun and Brando's just disappointed more than anything. For me, it's the it's the it's hearing him confess out loud and owning the fact that he's a bum. It's like, ah, dude. Like even he accepts that he's a butt. The whole movie, people have been calling him a bum. And he's like, I'm not a bum.

1:02:14 Don't you call me a bum. And to get to this moment where everything he's been feeling, it's like he's clearly believed this about his brother making his life miserable for years and he's never said it. And to hear him confess out loud, not only have I finally given into seeing myself as a bum the way everybody else does, but it was you that made me this way is like, it's like a double gut punch in one line. And I, you know, I keep talking about how unbelievably sad this movie is. I'm sure I'm not inspiring anyone to go watch this movie, but it really taps into this undercurrents of not just the inevitability and the oppression, but kind of like failed dreams and, and losing out on who you're supposed to be because you've allowed yourself to be taken advantage of. And it really all culminates in that one moment. Not even just that whole scene, but just that one moment for me. And I I couldn't let us get out of here today without talking about it a little bit.

1:03:13 Yeah, I It taps into the very essence of what it means to be a human, that the moments that make us and break us until we're willing to lament what could have been and lament what happened in our lives and call out the truth of what our experience has been. Until we're willing to do that, we will live conflicted, disintegrated lives. And and you see that in the character of Terry Malloy. He he doesn't know who he is. He doesn't have a conscience. It, it, it, it is a broken, boring, sad life that even his brother says like, you know, you're like, you're coming up on 30 now, man. You got to make something out of your life. And and that's what leads to this conversation where Terry finally acknowledges who he is now, and he laments the events that led to him becoming who he is. And it's that choice to lament that choice to call a spade a spade, that leads to him being redeemed as a character. And I think that's the reason why I've swung around on this movie is because that message is so important for all humans to hear.

1:04:38 All right. On that note, it is time for us to get into our last segment of the day, which we call let's make it a double. We're near the end of the episodes of Things, listening to the film and Whiskey Show. Let's have another film with this one, even if it's struggling. It's the final segment of the day. Now let's make it a double. Let's Make It a double is the part of the show where we pick a movie to pair up with this one to make the perfect double feature? Brad, do you want to go first or should I go first? Yeah, I'll go first, Bob. I am going to pair this film because I, I think it fits thematically and I, I think that there's a similar vibe throughout the film. I'm actually going to pair this with Raging Bull. Now, I, I think I do want to interrupt you just for a second to say I texted you at one point today and I told you, hey, I was going to spring this on you later, but I want to know your thoughts now.

1:05:33 And I said, what did watching the Bicycle Thieves do for your appreciation of this movie? And your response was, damn it, Bob, I was going to make Bicycle Thieves my let's make it a double. So I want to publicly apologize for stepping on your Let's make it a double. That's OK, man. No, I, I think bicycle thieves would be a great let's make it a double. I, I think especially for the fact that they came out in, in similar, you know, chronological time, like, you know, raging Bulls 1980. The reason I went with Raging Bull is because that scene where he acknowledges who he is. I think if you juxtapose that with De Niro at the very end of Raging Bull and his inability to ever accept who he is and the actions that have brought him to where he is.

1:06:25 Like when you juxtapose those two characters and the ends of the film, like that scene with Pesci at the end of the movie. Is. Just still one of the most crushing moments I have ever seen in a movie. And so I, I think that thematically, if you, if you just go with the theme of like the importance of accepting the things that have happened in your life and naming them and, and, and lamenting what has gone on. And then you see one side of the coin and the other between On the Waterfront and Raging Bull. I I think it's a really poignant pairing. Yeah, I think we could honestly just put together a series of movies called Big Dumb Boxers and they could do these two and then you could throw a Rocky in there because I don't know if you've ever seen the original Rocky, Brad it like it is just on the waterfront, except like he stays a boxer and you love him.

1:07:24 You know what I mean? Like that's it. Like it's. Oh dude, I I literally couldn't stop thinking about Rocky when, when Brando breaks into the room and starts making out with her even though she's telling him not to, I'm like, Oh yeah, it's, it's Rocky all over again. Sylvester Stallone out here winning Oscars for his script that is literally just on the waterfront. Yeah, So I, I think you could do Rocky. I think I'm going to pair this movie up with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which is another movie about a guy that is like fighting corruption to a point where like 15 minutes before the movie's over, you're like, how the hell is this going? How is he ever going to win? This seems insurmountable.

1:08:07 And then the ending of each movie is a little bit of like a Deus Ex machina. It's a little bit of just like really tidy, puts a bow on things. Might be the weakest part of the movie, but God, I love them both and I and and damned if I don't feel inspired at the end of each of these movies. I really do think you could do a lot worse than pairing up on the Waterfront and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. That is an interesting pairing. I'm not going to lie that there's a lot different about those films, but I I think I see where you're coming from it. It would be a very entertaining evening to say the least. And you know, you Brad, as the anti commie crusader that you are. That's right.

1:08:48 You you definitely want to end with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington so you can hear all that patriotic music and, you know, salute the flag, dude. America, am I right? All right, let's give this movie some final scores. I think last time I gave this an 8, and that was really by virtue of the fact that I'd seen it many, many times and loved it. But then the watch that we specifically did for the podcast, I was like, oof, doesn't hold up for me. I don't know what I was drinking the night before we recorded that. Dude, this is a fantastic. I think that it does have some some slight flaws, but it's not enough to bring it any lower than a 9 1/2 for me. I believe that I was at a 7 out of 10 and I'm going to follow your pattern. I'll bump up a point and a half.

1:09:33 I'm going to give this an 8 1/2 Bob. I think it's an incredible film that has a few of the most important scenes in film history that everybody should watch. It just doesn't quite rise to that 9 out of 10 wildly impactful films for me. Right now, this is sitting at #199 on IMD BS top 250 at an 8.1. So Brad, would you say, I mean, obviously you gave it an 8 1/2, but thinking about the general population, does that seem about right or do you still think that's a little too low for where this movie should be? I think with the general population I'm a little bit surprised that it's 8 out of 8.1. I would almost guess people would be at a 7978 out of 10. So you think this is like the ceiling for where for where it could be in 2024?

1:10:24 I would say so. I think it's an old film and I think that people will struggle to connect with certain elements of it. I mean, one of the motivating factors of the film is that after he rats on the longshoreman's union, they kill all his pigeons. Bob. Oh no. That. Made me sad, man. The little kid crying the pigeon for that pigeon, Yeah. There was a few references throughout the film that I was like, Oh yeah, this is 100 percent 1954. I have no idea why that was an insult.

1:11:05 All right man, so that is on the waterfront, but we'd like to know what you folks think is an 8.1 on IMDb about where you would land. Are you closer to where me and Brad would be? You can find us on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube at Film Whiskey. Or you can jump onto the discord. We are having a conversation every single day about movies, whiskey, and a large variety of other things. So if you'd like to join the conversation, you can use the link at the end of every single one of our show notes. Next week, we will be talking about a film maker whose name we dropped earlier in this episode, Steven Spielberg looking at his 2002 drama comedy masterpiece. Catch Me If You Can.

1:11:48 I cannot wait to revisit that one, Brad. That's what, a fun movie. Oh dude, the scene when Leo is is at the window during Christmas time. Not fun, but a great scene. So good. All right, so join us for that next week. But until then, I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G. And we'll see you next time.