Edge of the City
| Edge of the City | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster designed by Saul Bass
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| Directed by | Martin Ritt |
| Produced by | Jim Di Gangi David Susskind |
| Screenplay by | Robert Alan Aurthur |
| Story by | Robert Alan Aurthur |
| Starring |
John Cassavetes Sidney Poitier Jack Warden |
| Music by | Leonard Rosenman |
| Cinematography | Joseph Brun |
| Edited by | Sidney Meyers |
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Production
company |
David Susskind Productions
Jonathan Productions |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $493,000 |
| Box office | $760,000 |
Edge of the City is a 1957 American drama film directed by Martin Ritt, starring John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier. It was Ritt's debut film as a director. Robert Alan Aurthur's screenplay was expanded from his original script, staged as the final episode of Philco Television Playhouse, A Man Is Ten Feet Tall (1955), also featuring Poitier.
The film was considered unusual for its time because of its portrayal of an interracial friendship, and was praised by representatives of the NAACP, Urban League, American Jewish Committee and Interfaith Council because of its portrayal of racial brotherhood.
Young drifter Axel Nordmann (John Cassavetes) arrives at the waterfront on the west side of Manhattan, seeking employment as a longshoreman, and giving his name as "Alex North." He goes to work in a gang of stevedores headed by Charlie Malick (Jack Warden) a vicious bully, and is befriended by Tommy Tyler (Sidney Poitier), who also supervises a stevedore gang. Malick resents blacks in positions of authority, and is antagonized when Axel goes to work for Tommy.
Axel moves into Tommy's neighborhood and becomes friends with Tommy's wife Lucy (Ruby Dee) and becomes romantically involved with her friend Ellen Wilson (Kathleen Maguire). Tommy serves as a mentor to Axel, urging him to stand up to Malick, and that if he does he will be "ten feet tall." It is apparent from the start that Axel is hiding something, and it emerges that he is a deserter from the United States Army. Malick is aware of that, and is extorting money from him.
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