193 thoughts on “Marlon Brando Movies”

1. COPIED FROM HIRSCH’S OWN PAGE

   I had always presumed that Joel Hirschhorn’s attacks on Brando’s movie earnings were part of the general demonisation that Hollywood unleased on Brando for a couple of decades in retaliation for his shenanigans at the 1973 Oscars.

   Indeed page 57 of Joel’s 1983 book mentions the severe criticism that Brando had received from many quarters in the preceding decade so that reference illustrates clearly that Joel was fully aware the Tinsel Town had declared what Pauline Kael the film critic called “Open Season” on attacking Marlon.

   However after watching a rerun of an episode of the sitcom Frasier last night it occurred to me that -whilst Joel’s frothing at the mouth about The Great Mumbler and his earnings might to an extent have been Hirsch wanting to show the Top Brass in Hollywood that he was what Richard Nixon used to call a ”Team Player – there might have been an additional reason for Joel’s animosity: Brando’s “freedom”. Part 2 of this post explains what I mean.

   Reply

2. ADDED CONTEMPORARY MATERIAL: RANKING THE MOVIE STARS by Joel Hirschhorn

   This book was published in 1983 at the height of the further “ feeding frenzy” referred to in Part One and here are some quotes from page 57 of the book which is mostly a good reference source and therefore fair value for money but seems to have gone a bit over-the-top in some of its negative analysis of Brando’s career, and certainly is unnecessarily sarcastic at times, as if the author was bearing in mind that the Hollywood Overlords had again declared the kind of “open season” on Brando that M-s Kael mentions and expected the “faithful” in the film community to play their part in the demonisation of Marlon.

   Within that context it is indeed instructive that the decade that Mr Hirschhorn mentions in the quotes below was the one that started with Brando’s ‘sins’ at the 1973 Oscars ceremony and that Brando’s earnings are again singled out for derision as if the numerous other rich MEGA movie stars of his time were not also getting paid fantastic sums by normal yardsticks. Steve McQueen for example reportedly asked his agents to ensure his financial deals were at least equal to what Brando was being paid.

   In slighting Brando’s money-earning capacity as he does Mr Hirschhorn does not qualify his put-down by mentioning that Brando made 6 movies in the decade concerned and that 4 of them were blockbusters which according to Wikipedia had [when adjusted for inflation]a combined worldwide gross of $4.480-$4.755 billion in today’s money against an overall budget of [again when adjusted for inflation] $420 million- an average per movie of at least $1.12 billion against a budget of $105 million per movie.

   Accordingly some of what he says at times does not give the full picture and therefore lacks balance which might prevent Mr Hirschhorn’s readers from making up their own minds about the justification for his attacks on Brando. Mr Hirschhorn has in fact complained in seemingly “bitching” terms elsewhere about Brando’s wealth. It is indeed disappointing that in Brando’s case Mr Hirschhorn, who shows such keen and telling observation elsewhere throughout his book [and was in fact a fine opera critic during his lifetime] cannot restrict himself to some degree of proportion when giving his opinions on Brando’s work and career but instead seemed to want to paint Marlon as some kind of ‘monster’. Perhaps though as I indicate above M-s Kael’s article explains why.
   _____________________________________________
   ‘Nobody cared about Desiree or Brando’s portrayal of Napoleon and he was a liability to the over-produced Guys and Dolls – Frank Sinatra was justified in referring to him derisively as “mumbles”.

   Marlon Brando seems to have retired after enduring a barrage of criticism in the last decade. Either the Great Method Actor has run out of method, or he’s made enough money.’
   ________________________________________________________________

   Reply

3. MARLON BRANDO: AN AMERICAN HERO by Pauline Kael

   Pauline [1919-2001] was the revered New Yorker film critic from 1968 – 1991 and this is an extract from her much longer article under the above heading first written in 1966 and later updated.
   _____________________________________________________________

   It is one of the uglier traditions of movie business that frequently when a star gets big enough to want big money and artistic selection or control of his productions, the studios launch large-scale campaigns designed to cut him down to an easier-to-deal-with size or to supplant him with younger, cheaper talent.

   The gossip columnists serve as the shock troops with all those little items about how so-and-so is getting a big head, how he isn’t taking the advice of the studio executives who know best, and so forth; and the professional critics in the pay of -or wishing to ingratiate themselves with – the status quo look for every opportunity to savage his work.

   It happened in their day to Lilliam Gish and Monroe in one fashion or another. What was unusual in Brando’s case though was the sort of people who joined in the attack when Hollywood declared open season on Marlon. Truman Capote was one of the prime examples.

   There were also many lesser mortals who attacked Brando for such mundane things as wanting to actually make money in the much-heralded America: the land of opportunity!; and he was roasted as well when some movies that he made were not classics whereas many other actors were tolerated and even praised in routine fare.

   And naturally after his shenanigans at the 1973 Oscar ceremony when he gave the Hollywood establishment the two fingers because of his perception of how unfairly they depicted on screen the cause of the American Indians, the knives were out again for a couple of decades and the “usual suspects” of critics, journalists and other hangers-on who wanted to please their Tinsel Town Masters joined in a feeding-frenzy on what they hoped would ultimately be the professional corpse of the man who had changed American acting forever and therefore most antagonised the Old Guard.

   Fortunately whilst most of THEM are now has-been or “never weres”, thanks to the adulation of more modern generations of movie people and other types of entertainers such as Barbra Streisand and Ophra Winfrey Brando’s legacy is now one that is revered and he makes the Top 10 of virtually every ranking list of Great Actors/Stars being published these days.

   _______________________________________________________________

   ADDED QUOTES to further substantiate the preceding paragraph of M-s Kael

   “He gave us our freedom. Anyone who does not recognise Brando as America’s greatest ever actor knows nothing about acting.” Jack Nicholson.

   “The Don Quixote of actors [always tilting at windmills]. He dared so that we might see what could work.” Louis Jourdan

   “In school plays, Frasier, they said I was a great actor with the charm of Danny Kaye, the range of Laurence Olivier and the magnetism of Marlon Brando.” Niles Crane in an episode about acting in the TV sitcom Frasier. [“Ham Radio” aired 22 April 1997]

   INTERVIEWER:
   “Who in your opinion is America’s greatest-ever actor?”
   HENRY FONDA
   “Marlon – when he WANTS to be!”

   “HE is the marker. There is before Brando and there is after Brando. -That’s IT!” – Martin Scorsese who along with Steven Spielberg spend a few years and some of his own money restoring 1961’s One Eyed Jacks which starred Marlon and was the only movie he ever directed.

   Reply

4. After years of suffering comments from guys like Joel Hirschhorn I always knew Bob that someday someone like you would come along!

   Reply

5. Finally the dual Marlon Brando movie is finally gone. It took an update that lasted 14 hours to get rid of it. But it is gone now. Life is good again.

   Reply

   1. bravo. there is only one UMR and only one Brando .

      Reply

   2. At last TheWork Horse devotes 14 hours to something valuable! Marlon’s a hard guy to get rid of in ANY situation. Even barbs from guys like Joel Hirschhorn couldn’t achieve it.

      “The great ones make their own rules!” Martin Crane in the TV sitcom Frasier [1993-2004]

      Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.