A View from the Bridge is set in New York, but the alleged political undesirability of playwright Arthur Miller dictated that this film be lensed in France. Director Sidney Lumet shot the film in both English and French, with the English version sounding more recited than acted at times. Raf Vallone plays Eddie Carbone, a tough Italian-American longshoreman living in Brooklyn with his wife Beatrice Carbone (Maureen Stapleton), and her comely niece, Catherine (Carol Lawrence) -- to whom he feels an overwhelming yet undeclared attraction. Then two illegal immigrants, Rodolpho and Marco (
Jean Sorel and Raymond Pellegrin), turn up, and rage builds in Eddie when he senses a burgeoning, mutual attraction between Rodolpho and Catherine. To divert suspicions of his own incestuous desires, he first declares Rodolpho a homosexual, then does everything in his power to ensure that Rodolpho and Marco are deported - thus setting the film up for a surprisingly grisly and shocking climax. The film is more commonly remembered today for a "shocking" set piece, in which Eddie kisses Rodolpho full on the lips to "prove" that the boy is gay.
