Maybe he feared, with good cause, that the compromises involved in filmmaking were even more grievous than those inflicted elsewhere. (“On the Town” and “West Side Story” sprang from the theatre and, for many listeners, lost a jolt of energy when they arrived onscreen.) In truth, given his influence on so many realms of American culture-as a composer, a conductor, a lecturer, a TV presenter, an author, a New Yorker, and an activist-it’s astonishing how faint a mark Bernstein left on cinema. It’s the only score that he wrote directly for the movies. The music, unobtrusive yet edged with romantic encouragement, is by Leonard Bernstein.
Brando chews gum, walks off, turns, and beckons, calling out, “Come on.” “I remembered you the first moment I saw you,” she says. He says, “You don’t remember me, do you?” Just before she replies, we hear music: woodwind solos, with the clarinet leading the way. After a while, she tugs the glove from his hand.
Marlon Brando picks it up and puts it on. Walking near the river, on a cold day, Eva Marie Saint drops a glove.
Among other things, “On the Waterfront” (1954) is a glove story.
