Writer Budd Schulberg was a Hollywood icon, albeit a controversial one, as well as an adopted son of Hoboken since his screenplay “On the Waterfront” was filmed on the city’s docks.
Schulberg passed away on Aug. 5 at age 95, a week after a live theater version of the movie was performed in Hoboken. And last week, his son Benn Schulberg was in town for a screening of the eight-time Academy Award-winning film at Pier A Park.
Before the showing in Pier A, Benn aired some footage from his film and reels of his father’s Academy Award acceptance speech in 1954.
Known mostly for the film, Schulberg was a journalist, and gifted writer of short stories, novels, and biographies, including the Hollywood sendup “What Makes Sammy Run?”
“Unfortunately we didn’t get it finished while he was still around.” – Benn Schulberg
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Hoboken’s adopted son
Budd Schulberg was born in New York City and died in his home in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., but he always had a soft spot for Hoboken.
His work with legendary writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and his novels “What Makes Sammy Run?” and “The Harder They Fall” predated his famous screenplay.
The movie delved into the moral dilemma of a New Jersey longshoreman weighing whether to inform on the mobsters controlling the waterfront unions.
“On the Waterfront,” the 1954 masterpiece directed by Elia Kazan and starring Marlon Brando and Eva Saint Marie, netted Schulberg the Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
Last week, Benn told the story of his father’s trip onto Washington Street with Brando in Hoboken during filming. On this particular trip, Benn said, Brando dressed in the workman role to see if anyone on the main strip would recognize the international star.
He and Schulberg hit the bars and not a single person recognized Brando, as the story goes.
Taking a stance
His father was vilified in some circles for apparently “naming names” during Communist-era Congressional hearings.
His son Benn isn’t avoiding any of the 1950s contentiousness in his upcoming documentary; he said his father was the same way in his dealings.
“When there’s a controversy, instead of hiding from it, he tells you how he feels,” Benn said of his father. “When he says something, he means it.”
Time didn’t heal all of the wounds from that tumultuous episode in Schulberg’s life.
“We interviewed people who still had a lot of anger toward my father’s stance,” Benn said. “It hadn’t subsided.”
“I didn’t want to make a celebratory film,” he said. “We talked about it. I said, ‘We’re going to get into some of the uncomfortable things.’ He said, ‘Fine.’ ”
“He did what he thought was right,” Benn said. “But people are going to decide for themselves. The point I really wanted to make was my father as a human being.”
He recalled the days when his father was a sports reporter covering the boxing beat, and said his father was a fighter like those in the ring. “It’s no coincidence that he was a big boxing fan,” he said. “He had the remarkable ability to fight through the hardships.”
Father footage
Benn got the idea for the documentary at college. Another student approached him with the idea of making a film about his father’s life without an offer for Benn to be a part of it. Who better to do a film about his father than him, Benn thought to himself at the time, so he co-opted the idea and began filming four years ago.
Since it was his first foray into film, the young Schulberg enlisted the expertise of Albert Maysles, the surviving member of the Maysles brother duo responsible for films such as “Gimme Shelter” and “Grey Gardens.”
They began shooting on Budd’s 91st birthday.
“He was up for anything,” Benn recalled. “He trusted that we would get good people involved…unfortunately we didn’t get it finished while he was still around.”
By the time they were done with various interviews and other filming, they had 150 hours of footage.
Now he’s getting the film ready for a possible showing at the Berlin Film Festival and possibly a small theatrical release. He’s also hoping a major network like HBO might pick it up afterward.
“I’ll definitely bring it to Hoboken and Tribeca,” he said. “He’s always had a close relationship with Hoboken.”
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.