Rod Steiger and Marlon Brando had done four or five takes of their famous final scene together before they finally got what they wanted. Kazan suggested they go off Budd Shulberg’s Oscar winning script and improvise it to see if they could find something. What emerged was one of the most famous lines in one of the most famous scenes in Hollywood history: “I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it. It was you, Charley.” Brando and Eva Marie Saint won for their performances and the prolific Elia Kazan and Sam Spiegel won for directing and producing, respectively. Steiger, Lee J. Cobb, and Malden were nominated for three out of the four best supporting actor slots, losing to Edmond O’Brien (The Barefoot Contessa). Aside from Brando, Malden, who passed away just over a year ago, gave my favorite performance of the film as the drinking, smoking, fighting waterfront priest Father Barry.
