It had class, it was a contender, and sixty years ago today, it all started when Elia Kazan‘s "On The Waterfront" opened in theatres across the country. The film about squandered ambition, love, corruption and basic human decency has gone down as one of the finest American dramas ever produced, winning eight Oscars (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress) and has, to this day, a single sequence that has some of the greatest screen acting you’ll ever see.
And so, with Comic-Con in the rearview, maybe it’s a good time for a palette cleanser. Below you can check out The Criterion Collection‘s visual essay on the aspect ratio of the film (it was presented in a couple of formats upon release as they’ll explain, and the boutique label offers a couple of options in their release of the movie). And after that, the scene that cemented Brando as one of the finest thespians of his generation and of all time.