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Edge of the City

Edge of the City

Drama · Crime · Romance · 1957

A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms they must face the oppressive and morally decaying city they live in.

Movie details

Edge of the City

“Tense drama of frightened men!”

1957 Drama · Crime · Romance 1h 25m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.2 / 10

3.7K votes

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms they must face the oppressive and morally decaying city they live in.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Edge of the City?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Manhattan Melodrama

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The Wild One

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Flesh and the Devil

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When lifelong best friends Leo and Ulrich return home after completing their military training, Leo meets the stunning Felicitas at a railway station and is mesmerized by her beauty. A scandal follows, for which Leo is sent away. Returning home three years later, he discovers that much has changed.

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Framed

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Kid Galahad

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Martin Ritt

Written by

Robert Alan Aurthur

John Cassavetes

John Cassavetes

Axel Nordmann

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier

Tommy Tyler

Jack Warden

Jack Warden

Charles Malik

Kathleen Maguire

Kathleen Maguire

Ellen Wilson

Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee

Lucy Tyler

Val Avery

Val Avery

Brother

Robert F. Simon

Robert F. Simon

George Nordmann

Court is in session

Put Edge of the City on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.