On the Waterfront came perilously close to never being produced because as Darryl Zanuck put it when he rejected the script, 'Who's going to care about a lot of sweaty longshoremen?'
Zanuck could not see that On the Waterfront was a natural sequel to The Grapes of Wrath and How Green Was My Valley. His rejection of the script sent Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg on a seemingly hopeless quest for a producer to make their film.
Both Kazan and Schulberg had been bitten by the waterfront bug, Kazan having aborted a project he had begun with Arthur Miller, and Schulberg having a possible dramatization of Malcolm Johnson's Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles, Crime on the Waterfront, fail to materialize. With their decision, Schulberg went down on the docks to research the more than 750 miles of shoreline containing 1,800 piers.
Over a year of research had gone into the script Schulberg and Kazan carried from studio, to studio, to studio. Their despair was made whole when the Hollywood Reporter reported their grim odyssey in a gossip column. They retreated to their hotel room, and Schulberg booked an early flight East. At this point Sam Spiegel dropped in to invite them to a party in his room across the hall and learned of their plight. A story session in Spiegel's room at seven in the morning with Spiegel in bed, sheet and blanket drawn up under his chin, wrested a murmured, 'I'll do it. We'll make the picture.'
Zanuck could not see that On the Waterfront was a natural sequel to The Grapes of Wrath and How Green Was My Valley. His rejection of the script sent Elia Kazan and Budd Schulberg on a seemingly hopeless quest for a producer to make their film.
Both Kazan and Schulberg had been bitten by the waterfront bug, Kazan having aborted a project he had begun with Arthur Miller, and Schulberg having a possible dramatization of Malcolm Johnson's Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles, Crime on the Waterfront, fail to materialize. With their decision, Schulberg went down on the docks to research the more than 750 miles of shoreline containing 1,800 piers.
Over a year of research had gone into the script Schulberg and Kazan carried from studio, to studio, to studio. Their despair was made whole when the Hollywood Reporter reported their grim odyssey in a gossip column. They retreated to their hotel room, and Schulberg booked an early flight East. At this point Sam Spiegel dropped in to invite them to a party in his room across the hall and learned of their plight. A story session in Spiegel's room at seven in the morning with Spiegel in bed, sheet and blanket drawn up under his chin, wrested a murmured, 'I'll do it. We'll make the picture.'
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Used availability for Budd Schulberg's On the Waterfront
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
May 2001 : Hardback
| Title: On the Waterfront: The Play (Plays for Performance Series) Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 1-56663-367-2 / 9781566633673 (USA edition) Publisher: Ivan R Dee Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
1988 : Hardback
| Title: On the Waterfront Author(s): BuddSchulberg Publisher: ALLISON & BUSBY Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
December 1985 : Hardback
| Title: On the Waterfront: A Screenplay Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-8044-2799-2 / 978-0-8044-2799-9 (USA edition) Publisher: Ungar Pub Co Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 1980 : Hardback
| Title: ON THE WATERFRONT. Author(s): Budd. SCHULBERG Publisher: Unknown Availability: Amazon More details... |
1980 : Hardback
| Title: On the Waterfront: A Screenplay (Screenplay library) Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-8093-0956-4 / 978-0-8093-0956-6 (USA edition) Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Paperback Editions
January 2010 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 1-56663-841-0 / 9781566638418 (USA edition) Publisher: Ivan R Dee Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
2005 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront Author(s): Budd Schulberg Publisher: Faber & Faber Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
January 1998 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront: (the Play) (Plays for performance) Author(s): Budd Schulberg, Stan Silverman ISBN: 1-56663-368-0 / 9781566633680 (USA edition) Publisher: Ivan R Dee, Inc Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
September 1992 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-7490-0185-2 / 978-0-7490-0185-8 (UK edition) Publisher: Allison & Busby Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
November 1991 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront: Screenplay Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-571-16120-0 / 978-0-571-16120-1 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber and Faber Availability: Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
October 1988 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront: The Final Shooting Script Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-573-60696-X / 978-0-573-60696-0 (USA edition) Publisher: Samuel French Trade Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
February 1988 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-85031-740-1 / 978-0-85031-740-4 (UK edition) Publisher: Allison & Busby Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 1987 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront Author(s): Schulberg Budd. Publisher: Allison & Busby, London, United Kingdom Availability: Amazon More details... |
September 1985 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront: A Screenplay Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-8093-0957-2 / 978-0-8093-0957-3 (USA edition) Publisher: Southern Illinois Univ Pr (Trd) Availability: Amazon More details... |
January 1973 : Paperback
| Title: Geld op de Bank Author(s): PG Wodehouse Publisher: Prisma Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
July 1971 : Paperback
| Title: On the Waterfront Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-7221-7660-0 / 978-0-7221-7660-3 (UK edition) Publisher: Sphere Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 1962 : Paperback
| Title: On The Waterfront. Author(s): Schulberg Budd. Publisher: Corgi. . Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
January 1959 : Paperback
| Title: On The Waterfront Author(s): Schulberg Budd Publisher: Corgi Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
Audio Editions
May 2004 : Audio CD
| Title: On the Waterfront (BBC Radio Collection) Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-563-49428-X / 978-0-563-49428-7 (UK edition) Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd Availability: Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
January 2003 : Audio CD
| Title: On the Waterfront (Library Edition Audio CDs) (L.A. Theatre Works Audio Theatre Collections) Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 1-58081-267-8 / 9781580812672 (USA edition) Publisher: L.A. Theatre Works Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
February 1998 : Audio Cassette
| Title: On the Waterfront Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 1-84007-004-8 / 9781840070040 (UK edition) Publisher: ABC Audio Availability: Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Other Editions
August 2009 : Unknown
| Title: On the Waterfront (Playaway Adult Fiction) Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 1-61545-940-5 / 9781615459407 (USA edition) Publisher: Playaway Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
1988 : Unknown
| Title: On the waterfront Author(s): Budd Schulberg ISBN: 0-85031-752-5 / 978-0-85031-752-7 (UK edition) Publisher: Allison & Busby Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
1959 : Unknown
| Title: On the Waterfront (Corgi books-no.689) Author(s): Budd Schulberg Publisher: Transworld Publishers Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
1954 : Unknown
| Title: On the waterfront: The golden warriors : an original screenplay Author(s): Budd Schulberg Publisher: Script Collectors Service [distributor] Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
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