 Martin Scorsese (qv) was worried about the  _On the Waterfront (1954)_ (qv) recitation because he knew hed be  inviting critical comparison between the scene in this film and the  original films scene. Robert De Niro (qv) read it in various  ways. Scorsese chose the take in which the recitation is extremely  flat specifically to mute the comparison, and to suggest that it is  simply a recitation and not indicative of how Jake LaMotta (qv)  felt about his brother.