Marlon Brando Dies

[filkertom]

Wow. This was unexpected. Legendary actor Marlon Brando has passed away at the age of eighty. (Here's the Associated Press story at Yahoo, and here's his filmography at IMDB.)

Say what you will about him -- his attitude, his self-indulgence, his monumental ego, his strange interpretations and occasionally just strange roles (Colonel Kurtz, Sakini in Teahouse of the August Moon, and the less said about Dr. Moreau the better) -- but when he was on, as he often was, he was as good an actor as you will ever see. He took chances, many of which worked, and he had a gritty power which he could've used to blow everything and everybody else off-screen but which instead just made the whole thing work better.

For Jor-El, for Fletcher Christian, for Johnny Strabler and Terry Malloy and George Lincoln Rockwell and Don Vito Corleone and Stanley Freakin Kowalski, thank you, sir, and farewell.

Comments

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

If you get a chance, go rent "The Freshman" with him and Matthew Broderick. It proves that he had a sense of humor about himself.

As my father is fond of saying "He got no change comin'!"

Acting will never be the same

[dbcooper.livejournal.com]

Brando created some amazing characters, and redefined others. He may have had his eccentricities, and his private life may have had some difficulties, but he gave us some amazing performances.

And Tom, your farewell was perfect.

Re: Acting will never be the same

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Gosh. Thanks.

Unexpected, not.

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

He has not been a well man for some time. A major biography came out just in the last day or so. You can't BUY that kind of marketing timing! An interesting ending to a colorful, if ultimately unhappy, life.

[batyatoon]

For Jor-El, for Fletcher Christian, for Johnny Strabler and Terry Malloy and George Lincoln Rockwell and Don Vito Corleone and Stanley Freakin Kowalski, thank you, sir, and farewell.

And for Sky Masterson. (Though I'm told I'm in the minority in appreciating that one.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Any problems I have with Sky Masterson could've been easily resolved by swapping the casting with Frank Sinatra's Nathan Detroit. What the hell they were thinking by having Sinatra play the ballsy tough guy in the same movie with Brando, and having Brando sing instead of Sinatra, I have no clue. (And I don't even like Sinatra.)

Ah HA! you touched on one of my knowledges there

[illusionmajik.livejournal.com]

Detroit had more than one singing number in the movie. They wanted someone with a good voice. If I recall there were like 3 or 4 singing parts for nathan detroit. I can't remember the exact number.

And they knew that more people would recoginze a voice over on brando so they only gave him one musical number in the film.

Hugggggles

I Bow Befoah The Mastah

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I honestly can't remember much about the movie, except there were nuns, Sinatra, Brando, and the only one who seemed comfortable was Stubby Kaye singing "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat".

Re: I Bow Befoah The Mastah

[illusionmajik.livejournal.com]

Now THAT was a good song!
Happy fourth of july!
Eat lots of yummy grilled stuff and then enjoy much ammounts of explody goodness