What 1954 film starring Marlon Brando is about union corruption on the docks?

The 1954 film starring Marlon Brando about union corruption on the docks is On the Waterfront.

Directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg, the film follows Terry Malloy, a former prizefighter who works as a longshoreman in Hoboken, New Jersey. The waterfront is controlled by a corrupt union boss whose organization uses intimidation, extortion, and violence to silence workers.

The story was inspired by Malcolm Johnson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper articles about organized crime on the New York and New Jersey waterfronts. Brando’s performance as Terry became one of the defining achievements of method acting, especially in the famous scene with his brother Charley in the back of a taxi.

The film is sometimes confused with Brando’s other celebrated movies, including The Wild One and A Streetcar Named Desire. On the Waterfront is the one centered on dockworkers, labor corruption, and the decision to testify against a criminal union machine. It won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor.