Waterfront (1950 film)
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] The screenplay concerns a sailor who 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]
| Waterfront | |
|---|---|
| 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 date | 26 July 1950 (London) (UK) |
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
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 as Peter McCabe
- Kathleen Harrison as Mrs McCabe
- Avis Scott as Nora McCabe
- Susan Shaw as Connie McCabe
- Robin Netscher as George Alexander McCabe
- Richard Burton as Ben Satterthwaite
- Kenneth Griffith as Maurice Bruno
- Olive Sloane as Mrs Gibson
- James Hayter as Ship's captain
- Charles Victor as Bill, the tea and refreshments seller
- Michael Brennan as Engineer
- Allan Jeayes as Prison officer
- Hattie Jacques as 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]
References
External links
- Waterfront on IMDb