On the Waterfront is a 1954 American movie about mob violence among longshoremen (people who unload ships) in New Jersey. Directed by Elia Kazan, it stars Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint and Karl Malden.
The movie won eight Academy Awards: for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando), Best Supporting Actress (Saint), Best Art Direction, Best Director (Kazan), Best Cinematography (Boris Kaufman), Best Film Editing (Gene Milford) and Best Original Screenpaly (Budd Schulberg). The catchphrase, "I could've been a contender", is said by Terry Malloy. In 2005, it ranked third on AFI's list of the one hundred most famous quotes in movie history . Five years earlier, it was the eighth most popular movie on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list.