A brave longshoreman lingers on after being gunned down by 3 racketeers, as a determined assistant D.A. searches hard for fearful witnesses against the men.
Based on fact, and hewing closely to a book co-authored by the central character Keating, this movie is based on more or less the real people portrayed in On the Waterfront -- there's even a priest-- only without Brando and without the romance. Egan as Keating is a bit of a stiff. I think the real Keating was more of a rebel. Great title music, an old Rodgers & Hart tune first used in "On Your Toes" for a comic dance number. Still, not much Slaughter and not much Tenth Avenue either. (The real life incident at the beginning took place on Grove Street in Greenwich Village, but "Slaughter on Grove Street" wouldn't sound right, I guess.)
Check out our gallery of the 2021 Golden Globe nominees in the leading and supporting acting categories, as the characters they so brilliantly played and in real life.