Waterfront (1950 film)
| Waterfront | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by |
Michael Anderson Peter Ustinov |
| Produced by | Paul Soskin |
| Written by |
John Brophy Paul Soskin |
| Based on | novel by John Brophy |
| Starring |
Robert Newton Kathleen Harrison Susan Shaw |
| Music by | Muir Mathieson |
| Cinematography | Harry Waxman |
| Edited by | Michael C. Chorlton |
Production company |
Paul Soskin Productions (as Conqueror) |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors (UK) |
Release dates | 26 July 1950 (London) (UK) |
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Waterfront is a 1950 British black and white drama film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Robert Newton, Kathleen Harrison and Avis Scott.[1] [2] A sailor abandons his family, in the Liverpool slums. He returns years later causing family frictions. Adapted from the 1934 novel by Liverpool-born writer John Brophy, it was released in the U.S. as Waterfront Women.[3]
Plot
When ship’s fireman Peter McCabe walks out on his long-suffering wife, he leaves her impoverished, with two young daughters and a son born soon after his departure. Fourteen years later, McCabe returns, sacked and humiliated, trailing trouble in his wake. The eldest daughter, now a woman, is none too pleased at her father's reappearance.
Main cast
- Robert Newton - Peter McCabe
- Kathleen Harrison - Mrs McCabe
- Avis Scott - Nora McCabe
- Susan Shaw - Connie McCabe
- Robin Netscher - George Alexander McCabe
- Richard Burton - Ben Satterthwaite
- Kenneth Griffith - Maurice Bruno
- Olive Sloane - Mrs Gibson
- James Hayter - Ship's captain
- Charles Victor - Bill, the tea and refreshments seller
- Michael Brennan - Engineer
- Allan Jeayes - Prison officer
- Hattie Jacques - Music Hall Singer
Critical reception
Writing in the Radio Times, David Parkinson noted a "sobering and little-seen portrait of Liverpool in the Depression...the film is undeniably melodramatic, but it has a surprisingly raw naturalism that suggests the influence of both Italian neorealism and the proud British documentary tradition. As the seaman whose drunken binges mean misery for his family and trouble for his shipmates, Robert Newton reins in his tendency for excess, and he receives solid support from the ever-dependable Kathleen Harrison and a young Richard Burton, in only his third feature." [4]