So many secular taboos end up being devices for the protection of a corrupt status quo. Don't fight the union, girls should not get involved in a man's business, the Church should stick to saving souls. On The Waterfront has plenty for everyone. On the surface a tale of union corruption and mob control, this film really is about standing up for what one know's to be right, regardless of cost. Preserving one's soul at the risk of one's life to stand against what one know's to be wrong. Some say that this film is director Elia Kazan's statement of why he cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee, for which he was reviled for the rest of his life, but there is so much more. The cast is a pantheon of the first generation of Method actors, Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Lee J. Cobb, and Karl Malden. All give career high performances. The story of washed up boxer Terry Malloy and his quest to redeem a wasted life is story that is timeless. Malloy's struggle is a lesson to us all not torationalise or finesse our own conscience.