Marlon Brando may have been the most admired movie actor of his generation, but he was also one of the most oft-knocked and severely criticized. His fellow actors may have loved him and a few writers may have worshipped him — but lots of critics didn’t. Their reasons? For some, he was too scruffy, too threatening, too rebellious, too lower class, and his choice of scripts too political or too pretentious. He had a bad reputation for on-set laxness (lazy at learning lines). But, like Orson Welles, he was a great, enviable talent knocked too hard. Beyond Brando’s certified classics, there are others that deserve reassessment. Here are his 10 best — and 10 more that are better than their reputation.
“A Streetcar Named Desire”
(Elia Kazan, 1951) as Stanley Kowalski: This steamy, lyrical, heartfelt and shatteringly sad Kazan film of Tennessee Williams’ landmark drama of lust and dissolution in New Orleans offers scenes heart-rending or fiery and four great performances (the first three of which won Oscars). But the best part is Brando as the roaring, violently sexy, sometimes boyishly charming New Orleans stud, one villain whom the audience adored. The others, Karl Malden as mama’s boy Mitch, Kim Hunter as lusty housewife Stella, and even the great Vivien Leigh as fragile, tragic Blanche Du Bois, were swept up in the acting whirlwind of Brando’s brawling, roaring Adonis bullyboy Stanley.
“Viva Zapata!”
(Elia Kazan, 1952) as Emiliano Zapata: An idealized tale of the Mexican revolution, with Brando as the romantic rebel leader Emiliano and Anthony Quinn as his lusty, violent brother Eufemio. Once cited by Kazan as his personal favorite among all his films it’s in many ways a great western. Even more than Terry Malloy, who has to overcome his own flaws, this is Brando’s most purely heroic performance. He plays Zapata as the good-hearted, simple and brave man of the people he’d probably like to be — and we believe him.
“Julius Caesar”
(Joseph Mankiewicz, 1953) as Marc Antony: Brando, come to bury Caesar rather than praise him, crafts his most articulate, eloquent performance. He made better movies than Joseph Mankiewicz and John Houseman’s well-cast, sometimes stiff adaptation of the classic historical play. But since this is the one time he tackled Shakespeare on screen, and since he shines in a cast of heavyweights, it’s a mustsee for devotees of his acting. His most fervent admirers were right; he should have played Hamlet and probably Henry V, Macbeth, Iago and Coriolanus too.
“On the Waterfront”
(Elia Kazan, 1954) as Terry Malloy: The most influential dramatic performance by any American movie actor is Brando’s richly textured portrait of Terry Malloy, the washed up heavyweight boxer and tough dockworker whose murdered brother was mouthpiece for a crooked waterfront union, but who finds his heart and stands up to the mob. Just as much a fable of redemption, a romance of the lower depths and a stinging portrait of Eastern city (Hoboken, N.J.) life.
“One-Eyed Jacks”
(Marlon Brando, 1961) as Rio: It’s often called Brando’s Folly — and one wishes that the original director, Stanley Kubrick, had stayed on. But this moody psychological seaside Sonora western, for all its excesses, provides one of the richest glimpses into its star-producer-director’s psyche. It’s a Freudian retelling of the Billy the Kid legend, with Oedipal undertones.
“Reflections in a Golden Eye”
(John Huston, 1967) as Maj. Weldon Penderton: This film of the Carson McCullers’ novel of lust, voyeurism and death on a Southern army post gets my vote for the most underrated film in Brando’s canon. Brando is remarkable as Maj. Penderton, a fussy, closeted homosexual who falls in love with the soldier (Robert Forster) who spies nightly on the major’s beautiful, cruel wife (Elizabeth Taylor). Brando springs surprise after surprise, drawing a fascinating portrait of a man whose life and self-image crumble before passion.
“Burn! (Queimada)”
(Gillo Pontecorvo, 1969) as Sir William Walker: One of Brando’s favorite movies, and undoubtedly his most political, was this historical drama about imperialism, chicanery and slave rebellions in the Caribbean. It has the star playing sophisticated and evil aristocrat Sir William Walker, who’s been sent by the British to stir up the revolt and then crush it. Pauline Kael, who worshipped Brando, called this a “luxuriant, ecstatic epic,’ and she’s right. Brando, who obviously cared deeply about this project, gives his all.
“The Godfather”
(Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) as Don Vito Corleone: The acting, of course, is the picture’s heart and soul. Just as Don Vito passed his torch to Michael, Brando was probably both inspiration and big buddy for Al Pacino and the feisty young cast. Some of the best of their generation, they may have all idolized the star as the king of movie naturalism. Brando’s remarkable performance was partly modeled on recordings of raspy-voiced New York mob boss Frank Costello. But Brando went further, making Don Vito something we rarely see in movies: a tragicomic villain-hero, a vulnerable hood.
“Last Tango in Paris”
(Bernardo Bertolucci, 1973) as Paul: Perhaps his most unsparing, magnetic performance as a desperate, driven American in Paris involved in a torrid sexual affair with Maria Schneider in an apartment that turns into paradise and hell. Using his own past and memories with naked bravery, exposing himself as never before, Brando hit a peak few actors could reach.
“Apocalypse Now Redux”
(Francis Ford Coppola, 2001) as Colonel Walter E. Kurtz: Brando’s last masterpiece. Coppola’s monumental re-edit of his classic 1979 Vietnam War epic “Apocalypse Now” stars Brando as mad Colonel Kurtz, who must be “terminated with extreme prejudice.” Brooding, gently mad, looming in the darkness like a fleshy phantom, Kurtz is the darkness at the end of the tunnel, the heart of the maze. Grandly ambitious in both design and execution, this is not just one of the best films of the year or the decade — but of all time.
The rest of the best …
– “The Men” (Fred Zinnemann, 1950) as paraplegic veteran Ken Wilcheck: A strong debut.
– “The Wild One” (Laslo Benedek, 1954) as motorcycle gang chief Johnny Strabler: When asked “What are you rebelling against?” he says, “What have you got?”
– “Guys and Dolls” (Joseph Mankiewicz, 1955) as NYC gambler Sky Masterson: The Frank Loesser-Damon Runyon Broadway musical classic.
– “Sayonara” (Joshua Logan, 1957) as Maj. Lloyd Gruver: James Michener’s tale of interracial love in Japan.
– “The Fugitive Kind” (Sidney Lumet, 1959) as Val: Tennessee Williams’ “Orpheus Descending.”
– “Mutiny on the Bounty” (Lewis Milestone-Carol Reed, 1962) as Fletcher Christian: Better-than-its-rep remake of the ’35 classic.
– “The Chase” (Arthur Penn, 1966) as Sheriff Calder: Folksy man facing Southern lynch hysteria.
– “The Countess From Hong Kong” (Charles Chaplin, 1967) as diplomat Ogden Mears: Wooing Sophia Loren.
– “The Missouri Breaks” (Arthur Penn, 1976) as Robert E. Lee Clayton: Hired gun hunts Jack Nicholson.
– “A Dry White Season” (Euzhan Palcy, 1989) as Ian McKenzie: Barrister fights South African apartheid case.
