Edge of the City

Edge of the City is a 1957 American film-noir drama film directed by Martin Ritt in his directorial debut, and starring John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier. Robert Alan Aurthur's screenplay was expanded from his original script, staged as the final episode of Philco Television Playhouse, A Man Is Ten Feet Tall (1955), also featuring Poitier. The film was considered unusual for its time because of its portrayal of an interracial friendship, and was praised by representatives of the NAACP, Urban League, American Jewish Committee and Interfaith Council because of its portrayal of racial brotherhood. Plot Young cowardly drifter Axel Nordmann (John Cassavetes) arrives at the waterfront on the west side of Manhattan, seeking employment as a longshoreman, and giving his name as "Axel North." He goes to work in a gang of stevedores headed by Charlie Malick (Jack Warden), a vicious bully, and is befriended by Tommy Tyler (Sidney Poitier), who also supervises a stevedore gang and has an engaging, charming sense of humor. Malick resents blacks and is antagonized when Axel goes to work for Tommy.