Controversial, misunderstood and avant-garde, perfectionist Marlon Brando was quite simply the best actor in cinema history.
The Paramount Theatre is paying tribute to Brando tonight, continuing its Summer Film Series with 70 mm screenings of "On the Waterfront" and "A Streetcar Named Desire," at 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., respectively.
Diverse in his roles and parodied often, Brando has played a mumbling mobster, a longshoreman, a colonel and Julius Caesar, to name a few, and worked with some of the best actors and directors of all time. One of these actors was Brando's close friend Karl Malden, the Philip Seymour Hoffman of the 50s, who plays sidekick to Brando in both films, which Elia Kazan directed.
"On the Waterfront" portrays the struggles of New York City longshoremen under a corrupt mob boss, Johnny Friendly. Brando plays Terry Malloy, the younger brother of well-connected Charlie Malloy. Terry witnesses a murder that forces him to choose whether or not he will betray the mob boss. Malden's character Father Barry, along with the innocent love interest Edie, played by Eva Marie Saint, try to convince Terry to testify against Johnny Friendly to end the corruption and make life better for the other workers. "On the Waterfront" won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Brando's performance.
In Brando's first feature film "A Streetcar Named Desire," based on Tennessee Williams' play, he brought Stanley Kowalski to life in a way no one could have expected. The story is about the neurotic Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) who visits her sister Stella. Blanche cannot understand why Stella would pick a husband like Brando's Stanley, so unrefined and animalistic.
Brando introduced method acting to Hollywood. A turn from the traditional over-dramatic acting of the 40s and 50s, method actors focused on realism, the emphasis on a pure and believable interaction between two characters.
He often improvised, always paid attention to detail in his performances and made unsafe decisions with his acting. In "Waterfront," Brando plays with Edie's glove while he talks to her - he even puts it on without missing a beat, again giving versatility to a seemingly brutish oaf. In "Streetcar," he picks a piece of lint from his wife Stella's sweater as they share an intimate moment.
No one can forget the scene in the backseat of the car with Charlie, when Brando's Terry immortalized the phrase "I coulda been a contender." But the genius of Marlon Brando can be seen not only in his delivery of poignant lines, but also in the way he pushes Charlie's gun down. Instead of a normal reaction of fear, Brando makes even his reaction to betrayal new and engaging.
Brando was the only man who could be brutish and animalistic with grace and sincerity. His acting in "Last Tango in Paris," the first high-grossing film dealing explicitly with sexuality, earned him another Oscar nomination and critical acclaim. Brando's performance in "The Godfather" won him the Best Actor Oscar. He did not attend the ceremony in protest for his belief that Hollywood discriminated against Native Americans.
There is only one Marlon Brando, and although many critics will constantly try to find the next Brando, there will never be an actor with such range and heart as the No. 1 contender.
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