"A 'Going My Way' With Substance: John M. Corridan, S.J. and the Making
of 'On The Waterfront'"
by James T. Fisher
Wednesday, April 3
4:30 p.m.
Gasson Hall 305
The Academy Award winning 1954 film 'On the Waterfront' was inspired by
the work of Jesuit labor priest John M. Corridan, associate director of
the Xavier Labor School in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood.
Corridan helped investigative reporter Malcolm Johnson craft a series
of articles for the New York Sun on waterfront corruption that won
Johnson a Pulitzer Prize in 1949. When novelist Budd Schulberg was
commissioned to write a screenplay based on Johnson's expose, Corridan
tutored Schulberg on the moral and political economy of the New
York/New Jersey waterfront and enlisted him in a crusade to topple the
leadership of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). 'On
the Waterfront' was designed in part to win public support for a
fledgling alternative union ardently supported by Corridan, who was
portrayed in the film by actor Karl Malden. While the film succeeded in
effectively dramatizing Corridan's apostolate, the insurgent union
failed to displace the ILA on the waterfront of history.
This talk, drawn from a book in progress, challenges the standard "allegorical"
interpretation of "On the Waterfront" by focusing on John M. Corridan's
gift for enlisting collaborators in an American Jesuit campaign for
social justice on the waterfront.
James T. Fisher is the author of a distinguished body of work in
American Studies and Catholic cultural history, including Dr. America:
The Lives of Thomas A. Dooley, Catholics in America, The Catholic Counterculture
in America, and numerous articles for publications ranging from
scholarly journals to Commonweal. His forthcoming books are The
Transformation of American Culture, 1920-1980 and Covering the
Waterfront: Labor Priests and Longshoremen in the Port of New York,
1945-1955.
Further information please contact Asst. Prof. Carlo Rotella (English) or call 617 552-3191.
