It’s undoubtedly a testament to my lack of pop cultural upbringing, but Karl Malden is actually the celebrity whose recent death saddened me most. I don’t know a lot about him or most of his work, but he did preach  a beautiful, passionate sermon in the classic film On the Waterfront.

He plays a conflicted priest who finally finds the courage to stand against the corruption of the waterfront unions. In the clip below he gives the last rites to a man the union leaders killed because he was going to testify against them.

He takes the abuse of the union leaders with a call for truth:

You want to know what’s wrong with our waterfront? It’s the love of a lousy buck. It’s making the love of the lousy buck – the cushy job – more important than the love of man. It’s forgetting that every fellow down here is your brother in Christ. But remember, Christ is always with you – Christ is in the shape up. He’s in the hatch. He’s in the union hall. He’s kneeling right here beside Dugan. And He’s saying with all of you, if you do it to the least of mine, you do it to me!

I love the line where someone yells at him to go back to his church, and he bellows back, “This is my church!”

USA Today asks, “Do you think that kind of clear, moral passion be portrayed on screens today without a film being pigeon-holed in a “faith film” category?” I think movies like this are proof that the drama between good and evil, especially as played out in the souls of morally weakened men and women, can make the best kind of drama.