On the Waterfront | Blu-ray

Ask the right person on the right day and they will tell you that Marlon Brando invented acting on the set of On the Waterfront. His portrayal of former boxer-turned-longshoreman Terry Malloy won him an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954, but more importantly, it cemented Brando's immersive approach to characterization as a dominant school of thought for cinematic performance moving forward.

While the film is also notable for being one of Kazan's several dramatic masterpieces, a huge amount of the credit also has to go to writer Budd Schulberg. This was the first of two collaborations between Schulberg and Kazan (the second being A Face in the Crowd), and while based on a series of articles about organized crime in New York, the story was entirely of Schulberg's own creation.

An incredible script, an acting masterclass, and a wonderful piece of directing, On the Waterfront is truly one of classic Hollywood's greatest creations.