Films of Marlon Brando

by Tony Thomas

Book Overview

Large format hardcover covering "The Films of Marlon Brando" from Cadillac's Film Series This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806504811
• ISBN13: 9780806504810
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: Citadel Press
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.

Customer Reviews

THE MYSTERY THAT WAS MARLON BRANDO PARTIALLY UNCOVERED

Published in 1973, THE FILMS OF MARLON BRANDO covers his film career from his first film, "The Men," released in 1950, through "Last Tango In Paris" which was released in 1972. The book opens, after a short introduction by Pauline Kael, with a fairly detailed discussion of Brando and his career and continues with a chronological, movie by movie, discussion of the films he made during the 22 year scope of the book.Brando's reputation as a stage star was wholly due to his portrayal of the brutish Stanley Kowalski in "A Stretcar Named Desire." His fame as a film star came from his first six films. These were followed by many years of poor film choices and lackluster performances. His career was finally revived by his starring roles as Don Corleone in Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" and of Paul in "Last Tango in Paris."According to Thomas, Brando never fit into the Hollywood lifestyle and was very open in expressing his disdain for both the film industry in general, and for the people who made films.It was interesting to note that, because of Brando's many years of making unsuccessful movies and because of his reputation for "being difficult," when Francis Ford Coppola suggested to Paramount that they cast Brando as Don Corleone in "The Godfather," Coppola was told to forget that idea and to cast someone else in the part. Through subterfuge, Coppola finally got Paramount to accept Brando for the part, but they were unwilling to pay the large fee that he normally demanded., He agreed to a salary of only $100,000 but asked for, and received, a percentage of the gross. With the great success of the film, Brando eventually made millions from this contract.I'm afraid that I've never understood why his performance in "The Godfather" was so critically acclaimed, but I do agree with the book's evaluation of at least three of his early films. These were: "A Streetcar Named Desire" which was written by Tennessee Williams, "On the Waterfront" by Bud Schulberg, and "Viva Zapata" with a screenplay by John Steinbeck. I think that all three had writing that was superior to that found in most Hollywood scripts. This fact, along with Brando's best acting, contributed heavily to their success and, coincidentally, to my enjoyment of them. The reviews in THE FILMS OF MARLON BRANDO are all very well written and give credit to all those who contributed to the success of each film. On the reversie side of the coin, they pull no punches when discussing the mediocrity of many of Brando's films in the 60's.I can recommend this book both for its biographical material and for its discussions of Brando's films. Brando was a very private man who gave very few interviews, so it is really a bonus that this book uncovers a little of the mystery that was Marlon Brando.