Edge of the City

Dir. Martin Ritt. 1957, 85 mins. 35mm. With Sidney Poitier, John Cassavetes, Jack Warden, Ruby Dee. A searing tragedy of racism and racketeering plays out against the New York City waterfront in this noir-tinged drama. John Cassavetes stars as a drifter who takes a job on the Manhattan dockyards and whose friendship with an African-American coworker, played by Poitier (receiving co-star billing for the first time), makes them both a target for a racist supervisor (Jack Warden). Sensitively helmed by socially progressive director Martin Ritt (Hud, Norma Rae), Edge of the City is a starkly realistic, path-breaking depiction of interracial friendship and union corruption.