movielover11 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I thought a Brando discussion would be interesting. Brando was often called the "Greatest American Actor". Do you agree? What are your favorite films of Brando's? Has anyone read Brando's autobiography "Songs My Mother Taught Me" or any of the other numerous biographies out there? He certainly was "unique" and quite a character..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieMadness Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Things like this are so subjective, for me he had some early great movies and later great movies, and a lot of fluff at other times. BTW they just showed his version of *Mutiny on the Bounty* and he was over the top in that movie. He wore the pants in its production and took over the set apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I'm a Brando fan. As you might guess from my handle, *The Fugitive Kind* is my favorite Brando film, and I think, one of his best. I'm actually not a fan of *Streetcar Named Desire*. It is well-acted, but I dislike all of the characters. If you haven't seen it already, you should check out the one film he directed - *One-Eyed Jacks*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike00 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Will it or has it ever aired on TCM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 *The Fugitive Kind* has aired on TCM several times. I don't think that *One-Eyed Jacks* has, but I'm not certain. I wish it would! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike00 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I wish One-Eyed-Jacks would air on tcm too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movielover11 Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 I've seen One-Eyed Jacks. One of the best films Brando has done. Also shows his versatility as this was a western movie. As for Mutiny on the Bounty - he was over the top in that film. I had read he split about 50-60 pairs of pants in that film....he was gaining weight and couldn't fit into the pants...so I guess he did "wear the pants" in that film. :^0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I thought your handle meant that you were in love with your alma mater, Xavier University. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I really enjoyed Brando in "The Missouri Breaks" and I've been watching for One Eyed Jacks for quite a while. TCM Programmers seem to like his early scratch and mumble stuff...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE was on TCM recently. Better than it's supposed to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthemoviefan Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 A letterboxed One-Eyed Jacks aired on TCM several years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OHMSS69 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 One only has to watch "On the Waterfront" to see what an acting GENIUS Brando was. The "I could have been a contender" scene with Rod Steiger is so powerful that I have almost cried watching it. Lately I have been enjoying my "Apocalypse Now" Blu-ray with Brando saying all these strange and telling horrible stories in the shadows. Again, a GENIUS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Valentine, I don't know if *The Fugitive Kind* is one of his BEST, but it IS one of my favorite Brando films, too. It, along with *The Wild One* propelled me to become a Brando fan in my youth. And in spite of everyone else's dislike of it, including Brando himself, I still enjoy *Teahouse of The August Moon* . Other Brando films I like are: ON THE WATERFRONT THE MEN SAYONARA ONE-EYED JACKS THE UGLY AMERICAN VIVA ZAPATA THE CHASE THE GODFATHER THE MISSOURI BREAKS In his autobio, Brando liked to mention that while filming TEAHOUSE, he noticed all the tricks Glenn Ford would use to upstage and scene steal. They annoyed him greatly, so to cheer himself up, he'd pull the same cheap stunts as Ford in response. Drove both Ford and the director crazy. Which, of course, amused Brando. Whether you think he was the "greatest" or not, he WAS a unique individual. Every "shortcoming" you could point out Brando himself had already admitted to. When the gun control "issue" was in it's infancy in the mid 1960's, I saw Brando on THE TONITE SHOW with Johnny Carson. While gun control was being discussed, and Carson was saying something about it, Brando pulled out the biggest handgun I'd ever seen! Carson jumped two feet in his chair, and looked kind of scared. Brando went on, saying, "You see? That's how easy it is to get a guy. Now, this gun isn't loaded, and I'm leaving it on your desk. You can have whatever authority do whatever they wish to do with it, but I don't want it anymore." You gotta kinda LIKE a guy like that! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Brando was so great as Don Corleone in "The Godfather" that I now watch his scenes just for his reactions and mannerisms. My favorite moment is when Sonny (James Caan) asks for his response to the controversial drug proposal of Virgil "The Turk" Solozzo (Al Lettieri). The don doesn't answer, but he sort of shrugs! It's brilliant! Edited by: jakeem on Dec 19, 2012 2:38 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 The most obvious omission from your list is A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike00 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I'd like to see a Brando movie month like they do with others, where they would air Apocalypse Now, The Men, The Missouri Breaks, One-Eyed Jacks, and Last Tango in Paris. That would be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movielover11 Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 I haven't seen Desiree yet. I have seen Viva Zapata - couldn't get past how much Brando looked like the Frito Bandido man in that. I thought he did well in Julius Caesar. Another film that is pretty good is Young Lions - not many people ever mention that film. The worst film he made was Last Tango in Paris - I know a lot of people liked the film - but I found it very distasteful....the other film I didn't like was Countess of Hong Kong. One thing about Brando, he was the most versatile actor, he tried comedy, Shakespeare, musical, drama, western....he was phenomenal. For me, had Brando done just Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront, he would have sealed it as "greatest actor". I think his performances in these 2 films are amongst the best I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 > {quote:title=darkblue wrote: > }{quote} > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Speaking of cameo appearances - there was a mini-series in the late 70's called 'Roots: The Next Generation' in which he played white supremacist George Lincoln Rockwell and it was the best scene in the entire series. > > > Brando won his only Primetime Emmy Award for this performance. He received the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special for the 1978-1979 season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Your last sentence is confusing to me. If Brando's performances in Streetcar and Waterfront are only 'amongst the best' you have ever seen, how would those two performances alone qualify Brando as the greatest ever? i.e. wouldn't the greatest actor ever be the actor that was the best you have ever seen instead of just amongst the best you have ever seen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movielover11 Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Hi there. I like Streetcar and Waterfront best of all - and the performances by Brando in those films was so phenomenal that I thought even if he made just those two films, he would have been the greatest actor of all time. Of course he made many other good films too...and a few clunkers along the way...but even the films that weren't too good, were made better just by Brando being in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike00 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 You can't call someone who would star in only two movies the greatest actor of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I agree that Brando's performance in those two films are some of the best of all time, but Brando made too many really bad movies for me to rank him as the greatest actor of all time. Yes, he was versatile as far as the type of movies he made but I don't think he was very good playing a lot of those characters. i.e. he was only OK at comedy and period films in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike00 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Brando was in comedies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movielover11 Posted December 19, 2012 Author Share Posted December 19, 2012 Yes - Countess of Hong Kong, Bedtime Story and Teahouse of the August Moon were supposed to be comedies.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike00 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I've never seen them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts