IslandGuru Who payed the critics

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

HotToastyRag In Edge of the City, John Cassavetes is a drifter and clearly on the run. He telephones his parents at the start of the film, but as his mother Ruth White begs her son to speak to her or tell her where he is, he puts his hand over the receiver and gives her silence. It's a very heartbreaking scene because he does talk to her, but she isn't able to hear him through the muted mouthpiece. He gets a job on the docks, but his boss Jack Warden is mean and unfair. All the fellow workers have learned to look the other way, even when he race-baits Sidney Poitier, the only man who befriends John.Sidney Poitier is extremely nice, tolerant, and forgiving of his new friend, and he and his wife Ruby Dee go out of their way to help John fit in. They even set him up with their classy friend Kathleen Maguire, who is clearly out of his league. As I watched the first half of the film, I felt a little frustrated. John Cassavetes wasn't nearly as likable as Sidney Poitier, yet he was the protagonist. Why wasn't the entire movie about Sidney? I didn't care what happened to John at all! Then I realized that Robert Alan Arthur had written his script that way on purpose, and I watched the second half of the film in full enjoyment.Arthur wrote and directed a very powerful film, one that evokes a range of emotion from its viewers. Once you realize and accept that John isn't likable and Sidney is, you'll get swept away in the plot and growth of the characters. Even though you don't really care about John, since Sidney cares so much about him, he convinces you to slowly start rooting for him. The shift is slight and steady, but it's a very rare and fantastic quality. Usually, when watching a film, you're aware of the beginning, middle, and end, but in Edge of the City, the beginning drags, the middle is immersive, and the end comes too soon. Depending on how drained you feel you might want to watch it again, but there are some heavy and emotional elements to the story.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to some violence I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Mary Ann Sidney Poitier is famous for his serious roles as an outstanding person in unfortunate circumstances, often dealing with people who are horrible to him. Being a black leading man in a time when there weren't many black leading men, many of his movies also deal with race. So it was kind of nice to see this movie, because this one is quite different.In "Edge of the City", Poitier plays Tommy Tyler, a freight car loader who finds Axel "North" (John Cassavetes) looking for a job where he works. Tommy offers to give a recommendation for Axel, but Axel insists that his friend Charlie Malik (Jack Warden) will get the job for him. Charlie becomes a bit too controlling of Axel though, so Tommy gets him switched from Charlie's crew to his. Charlie is not exactly a great guy, so this causes some serious issues. There's lots of fun along the way though, with Sidney Poitier playing one of the sweetest movie characters in the history of film. We get to see him dance, too, so that is definitely a plus. I mean, how often are you going to have the opportunity to watch Sidney Poitier dance? I will warn you that the happiness doesn't last, but I suppose that is not very hard to guess anyway.One thing that I love about this movie, and I would guess that Poitier appreciated it too, is that the movie doesn't really focus on his race. They don't play up the fact that he is black like they often did, he and his wife and son are just regular, wonderful people. It's nice to see a movie from that time period where the actors are not black actors and white actors, they are just actors.I know I have been talking about Sidney Poitier a lot, but John Cassavetes is very good in this too. He is great as the troubled Axel who has a dark past that we don't really learn about until well into the movie. His character, along with the overall look of the movie, seems a bit "On the Waterfront"-esque to me, which I found quite interesting. It is shot in the same style of black-and-white-after-black-and-white-wasn't-really-being-used filming and some aspects of the plot are kind of similar.All in all, "Edge of the City" is a really great, well-acted movie that I enjoyed a lot and would definitely recommend.

dougdoepke Axel Nordman (Cassavetes) shows up on the New York dockyards looking for a job, but with a hidden past. He gets one on condition that he pay a kick back to surly crew boss Jack Warden. While there, he strikes up a friendship with black man Sydney Poitier that unfortunately leads to a gut-wrenching moral dilemma for a man who, we learn, typically runs from his problems.The movie looks like Oscar winner On the Waterfront, feels like On the Waterfront, and most importantly, plays much like that 1954 Kazan production. However, its racial theme is ground-breaking for the time. The black Poitier and the white Cassavetes are treated as equals in every respect. It might even be called the first of the black-white "buddy" pictures that would later dominate so many action films.It helps that the two leads play so well off each other. Nonetheless, the movie's central flaw is failing to indicate why crew-boss Poitier pushes a friendship with the dour Cassavetes in the first place. He really goes out of his way to befriend the newcomer. But why he would cross racial barriers to do so is never really suggested. One possible explanation is that Poitier wants to use Cassavetes as a pawn in his rivalry with other crew-boss Warden, but then comes to genuinely like the guy. There's a hint of that in some of Cassavetes's suspicious reactions, but beyond that, the relationship appears unmotivated.If there's a single stage shot in the entire movie, I couldn't spot it. Everything is done on seedy New York location, without the usual movie extras. In that sense, it's an anti-Hollywood production, carefully deglamorized even down to the night club scene which itself looks like a real after-hours crowd. I suppose sociologists would dub this rather raw slice-of-life "a glimpse of the working poor".Yet, for all its virtues, which are many, the film remains too close to the Brando-Kazan movie for comfort. Here, a fine unknown actress Kathleen Maguire gets the role of the redemptive girl friend, Warden the role of the corrupt labor boss, while Cassavetes, like Brando, must suffer a bloody beating before regaining his moral standing and doing the right thing. Still and all, despite the derivative nature, the gritty urban drama retains enough of the original force to merit a look-see.

grasshopper54 I cry at a lot of movies. Call me sentimental. Call me one of those viewers who always likes to see a happy ending. This movie, though it has a sad ending, was great! Of all of the actors that I would love to have lunch with, it would be Sidney Poitier. His acting, along with John Cassavetes and Jack Warden (of 12 Angry Men fame)is stellar. His character, who befriends a man on the run (Cassavetes) and helps him out in every way possible is incredible.This is another one of those forgotten noirs made during the end of the noirish era. It is well done, has a superb cast, extremely talented acting, and great cinematography. It is a film worth watching over and over again. I highly recommend this one! This is just another truly great film done by Mr. Poitier and should be sold on DVD. Even though I cried, kudos to such great art!