September 2018 Bar Bulletin
By Robert Walter M Zierman
“On the Waterfront” is a classic film about the “dark arts” employed by an ironically named union boss — Mr. Friendly — who uses strong-arm tactics to ensure that union members toe the line at morning shake-up, do their jobs for a pittance, and subscribe to the general sentiment that at all times one must remain “deaf and dumb” about union cruelty. Toward the end of the film, we glimpse a key clue demonstrating that the business owner was in cahoots with Mr. Friendly to squeeze profits from union members without getting his hands dirty.
This clue occurs by allowing the...