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Re: Was he THAT good as an actor?

Posted by Gee LP (A) on July 2, 2004 at 16:11:31

In Reply to: Re: Was he THAT good as an actor? posted by patrickU on July 2, 2004 at 08:43:36:

Marlon was as good as they come. If the script was good enough ("A Streetcar Named Desire", "Julius Caesar", "Guys and Dolls") he stayed away from improvising and concentrated on the reality the words and actions in the script portrayed. When given the chance to improvise in a film where he already trusted the script ("On the Waterfront") he brought nuances to a character the screenwriter and director had not even thought of. When asked to improvise within a framework he was uncomfortable in, he could deliver a performance as great as the one in "Last Tango in Paris" or as bad as the one in "The Island of Lost Souls".

The Group Theatre brought a different kind of acting to the American stage in the early Thirties. Instead of worrying how handsome or glamorous you looked, the concern became: Does it look real? Is it real? Brando brought that kind of acting to the American screen and fathered two or three generations of actors with the same concern for realism: James Dean, Dennis Hopper, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Warren Beatty, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Harvey Keitel, Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson.

My mother told me once how shocked she was when she first saw "A Streetcar Named Desire"...she leaned over and whispered to my father, "I'm glad we're married---I would be so embarrassed watching this with just a date!" Brando was so vulgar and sweaty and....

In real life, he is said to have been quite cultivated, knew a lot about classical music and paintings, enough to laugh when anyone called a movie "art". He also knew his way around a great deal of Shakespeare, and could quote huge chucks of him on request. A shame we have so little of Brando doing Shakespeare on film, but that is Hollywood. Instead of "Hamlet", let's do "Desiree" or "Land of the Egyptians" (those who know Brando's bio will know the situation he was in during 1954).

Did he abuse his talent? Did he piss on other actors, directors, producers? No doubt about it. But from 1943-1949 on stage, and from 1950-1954 and 1967-1973 on screen, it is hard to find a greater, or braver, actor.

Playing The Mad Hapsburg in "Bed Time Story"
Putting on face cream in "Reflections of a Golden Eye"
The goofball pronouncments in "Candy"
His behavior in front of the children in "The Nightcomers"
His last scene in "The Godfather"
Telling Maria Schneider about his prom dance and going around the bars looking for his drunk mother in "Last Tango"

These moments mean as much to me as any on film. As much as seeing the sorrowful, resentful Brando screaming, "Hey, Stella! Stella Baby! Stella!"

I hope he finds a peace in death that I do not think he had in life.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Sonic Craft

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