It's an unsaid rule that try and avoid acting with children and animals, as they will walk all over you - the adult actor. they will be better than you, more memorable and hell just plain cuter than you can ever be...

so where does the man who is - the ACTOR, Marlon Brando stand when he has had the opportunity to work with either children or animals - well to put it succintly he has created magic out of those instances, magic which no other actor could even try and attempt.

the proof of the pudding is in the eating - so here goes. a list of those scenes where MB did his magic with children and animals.

Lets start with the animals

On the Waterfront …animals?? Well remember the pigeons, they were a huge part in showcasing the fact that this ex boxer and now dockworker, has a sensitive side to him and can be capable of tenderness, which he also proceeds to shower on his love interest. But the scenes with the pigeons, showcase the fact that this man was actually acting with them and using whatever they gave back to him to convey the essence of the scene at hand and also present the character of his character to the public.

From pigeons lets move to the CAT. Godfather, opening scene, remember the pussy on his lap (pun unintended). That scene is now mandatory viewing for any wannabe actor. The cat becomes such an integral part of showcasing DON VITO’s character, that its magical when on realizes that it was unscripted moment. Pure genius. Watch it and relive the excitement.

How about romancing a horse – Missouri Breaks. MB weaves his magic and literally shares a carrot kiss with the horse. the lips of Salome and the eyes of Cleopatra. Wow – what a scene and so totally in character of an eccentric crazed regulator. This is one of the highpoints of MB’s acting.

KIDS;

VITO DIES with his grandson in the garden….one of the finest scenes in motion pic history…all brando….

There are others, like his interaction with kids, in nightcomers, apocalypse now redux etc…see them and learn how to act.

The best role of Marlon Brando in each decade of work:

Brando had a movie career which spanned from 1950 till 2001. Even though he came in Superman Returns, but that will not be counted. In this period he worked non stop from 1950 till 1972 and then had gaps for a couple of years and then he vanished for nearly a decade etc.

The idea is to mention his greatest performance in each decade with clips from the movies and not the famous scenes from the mentioned film, but lesser known scenes... here goes...

1950-1959

Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront. The most influential performance of all time. The greatest performance of all time are just some of the superlatives that have been used to describe this act. It was a culmination of the revolution that Brando unleashed on cinema screens which cemented his reputation as the greatest actor of his generation and the king of film acting.

Even kissing can be acting ...see how

1960-1969

Sir William Walker in Burn. Brando's personal favourite act ever. The man who is a lackey of Imperialism, he detests it, but cant stop doing it and then comes to the realisation that the puppet he helped put in power turns out to be a far better and righteous man than Brando's Walker can ever hope to be. 

Myth making never sounded so glorious...

1970 - 79

Paul in Last Tango in Paris. A raw wound which just exploded on screen. the pain the anguish the agony of being a human being who is a walking talking scar. Only Brando could have conveyed that. 

Beating doors and how...

1980-1989

Ian McKenzie in A Dry White Season. an older heavier Brando back on the screen after 9 years as a lawyer who knows there is no point in fighting for racial equality in apartheid South Africa yet goes on to fight the case and how. Grand showstopping, larger than life and yet so very real.

Lozenges...

1990-1999

Carmine Sabitini in The Freshman. The Godfather Meets The Freshman for a comic masterpiece.

Brando cracking walnuts. Unfortunately there is no video on YouTube for the same. so you will have to take my word for it.

2000 - 2004

Max in The Score. Brando is the king and how. He dances circles around DeNiro and teaches him a thing or two about improvs. The only movie he appeared in the new millennium but it was a nice one. A film where cinematically his son and grandson were acting with him. There would be no DeNiro and Norton without the Fat OLD MAN, who was the original heavy weight of screen acting.

You're not smart enough to know where your dick is...

The work of Brando over the years, there are none of the iconic scenes which have become a part of our daily lives, everyone has seen them, but the videos above will give u an idea about the magic of Brando. My advice to you - go see the freshman and see how you cross your legs when he crushes the walnets.

happy new year people - here is looking to 2009, a wonderful year. Amen

Brando & Fugitive Kind - Finally saw it and wow. I cant imagine how this dint do well when it released in 1959. what a lovely film and what visceral performances by all. Brando simmers and Magnani is very good. Lumet directs it impressively and williams story is poignant.

The enduring image will Brando in a snakeskin jacket - he exudes charisma and raw sensuality. a potent combo.

This was the first film of Brando which failed at the boxoffice after 10 straight successes. I for the life of me cant figure why- it was a touching tale, but i think people expected it to be on the level of Streetcar, what with the Brando and Williams combo at play again. Idiots - the people i.e., nothing can be that level - Streetcar is the best ever, but Fugitive is very good.

For all those who have not seen it - watch this video and grab yourself  a DVD - fast. Marlon was the best by far.

Sorry for the delay, but life got in the middle of me and the blog. Saw dry white season finally and it was a good solid film and Brando was majestic in it. Dry caustic sarcastic cynical and absolutly in command of his craft. His weight added a lot to the character and it is to Brando's genius that he used his weight to such telling effect.

A gripping film and Brando with his 10 odd minutes made the court room come alive. I mean according to me a court room never looked more electric.

It baffles me that critics say he did not do anything great after Apocalypse Now. his Freshman and his turn in this film.

The story itslef is very poignant and Brando is the highlight and proves that even though he came out of retirement he had lost nothing of his genius.

till next time and hopefully soon

Dry White Season
this movie is one of the few movies of Brando i have not seen. It released in 1989 and was the first movie Brando did in 9 years, after the Formula. It got Brando a lot of rave reviews and an oscar nomination to boot as supporting actor, which he lost to Denzil for Glory. I will be viewing the movie soon and i cant wait to see Brando whip the courtroom into a frenzy. the only movie where brando appeared as a lawyer.
till we review the movie - be good

1960s and Brando - the man himself termed it his FuckU years, the critics termed it as waste of his talent and his audience deserted him, if u go by box office appeal. But was it as bad as we are led to believe. The answer to that in hindsight and having nearly 50 years of that is a big NO.

one Eyed Jacks - 1961: A bonafide classic now, was thought to be interesting but the critics dint go overboard on their acclaim when it released. Made decent money on the box office but was not termed as an outright hit. A classic in nearly every respect and it did present the people as grey and not black and white. Probably the most beautiful western ever shot. It deserves a great dvd version and i am praying and hoping for that. GREAT FILM

mutiny on the Bounty - 1962: how this film failed at the box office has always baffled me. It’s grand entertainment, it big screen film making at its best. People today forget that it was nominated for best picture oscar (though i don’t think the oscars always stand for quality). Yes it failed at the box office, but view it today ( a great dvd with nice features) and it seems absolutely staggering as to how they achieved that in 62. Brando gives a great performance and made the character a lot more multi dimensional than the heroic Gable. I love all the bounty films but as far as story telling goes this one was the best. And Brando's foppish sea man is greatly appreciated 40 years later by Depp as Jack Sparrow. GREAT FILM

the Ugly american - 1963: A political drama which has to be revisited with Brando playing an US ambassador in a county in Asia. This is Vietnam before there was Vietnam. A great mature performance from Brando. The film is not great, but it is also not trash, it has its moments and on the whole is an interesting watch. - AVERAGE FILM

bed Time Story -1964: A great comedy and far better than the dirty rotten scoundrels 25 years later. Brando is hilarious. Crashed at the box office. Maybe the critics’ didn’t want to see the great dramatic actor indulging in tomfoolery. But brando still went ahead and did it and we are glad for it. - GOOD NONSENSICAL COMEDY

Morituri - 1965: Brando, Brynner and no one has heard of this film. A black and white WW2 espionage thriller. This is great entertainment and has a nice holocaust angle to it. exquisitely shot and a cracker thriller. - GOOD FILM

the Chase - 1966: Brando as Sherriff in a Texas town, where everyone is hiding some skeleton in their closet. Brando leads a great cast - angie dickinson, jane fonda, robert redford, edward fox etc. I thought this is a great performance from Brando and the high point is his beating up which has to be the most brutal in film history ever and the way Brando acts out the scene. Arthur Penn directs it well and one just wishes that the studio had not taken over the film and ruined it in the editing room for this great tale on the society of the 1960s. - AVERAGE FILM

the Appaoloosa - 1966: a slow burn western, with a serious Brando, a great john saxon and not your usual climactic shoot out western, but one which ends with a single shot, without the parties involved facing off each other. Again not as bad as it is made out to be. - AVERAGE FILM

a Countess from hong kong - 1967: Brando and Chaplin, besides Welles are the only 3 cinematic geniuses that medium of cinema has produced according to me. So a great many things were expected from this outing and my god how it disappoints. This is A bad film. It has its moments which last a total of 10 minutes, when Brando is trying to hide Loren in his cabin, the joke runs thin and the film just does not take off. It would have been a big hit in the 1930s, but not 30 years later. - BAD FILM

reflections in a Golden eye - 1967: Brando, Taylor directed by john Huston in a great dark film. Brando as a repressed homosexual beats the pants out of the brokeback mountain lads. This is a great performance from Brando and how he dint win every award that there was baffles me. Its too dark a film for it to be successful at the box office but it is a great film. Watch it now. - GREAT FILM

candY - 1968: Brando's worst film ever. He hams his way thru this but yet again is the best thing in it and what a cast. But alas what a waste. - TRASH

the Night of the following day - 1968: Brando would never be this fit again as he was in this film. A kidnap drama which is raised a lot of notches from the performances all concerned. A great ending. again unfairly rejected by the critics of that time. - AVERAGE FILM

queiMada - 1969: Also called BURN. This is one of the great films of the 60s and the a film whose reputation has grown with each passing year. A great tale on colonialism, with Brando delivering a performance which is his top 5. Pontercorvo directs well. Brando's personal favourite film. CLASSIC FILM.

So the 60s report card is not as bad as it made out to be, with most of his films being in the plus column. Was it as good as his 50s film, the answer is no. but then whose films are. The 50s kind of films happen only once in an actors career, Brando's greatness is doubled coz in the 70s he matched the quality of the 50s films again. The reason I feel he get a bad rap for the 60s is that, he started deriding acting and lost the fun for it and started concentrating on worldly issues. He never cared two hoots about hollywood and critics and they got a chance to get back at him which they did.

But it is in no way - the lost decade and now that decade is being looked up again. AMEN and Happy Holidays. We shall go Brando worshipping in 2008.

actors normally steal scenes from their co stars. With Marlon Brando, it was different. He stole entire movies from his co stars. there are numerous examples which i have to offer. His on screen time is less compared to others, but you come out of movie remembering only Brando.

The most famous are:

A Streetcar Named Desire: It was a tale about Blanche - the protagonist but Brando as the antagonist (in a much smaller role as far as screen time was concerned), got the audiences attention and in fact so overpowering was his personality, that despite on of the all time great performances by Leigh as Blanche, the audiences were rooting for Brando.

The Godfather: He was Vito, but al pacino as michael had the longer role, but Brando with only 45 minutes of screen time makes his presence felt so vividly, that even when he is not on screen, you can feel his presence and him guiding the proceedings.

Apocalypse Now: Same reasoning as the Godfather, but here Brando with only 15 minutes of screen time so totally dominates the proceedings, that you feel his aura is pulling the boat to him. from his voice played on the recorder when sheen is getting his briefing, to the photographs that sheen has of Brando in his dossier. Everything is Brando.

Julius Caesar: He is Marc Antony, not the central figure but who delivers one of the greatest speeches ever written better than it has even been delivered. James Mason as Brutus has the longer role, but it's Brando all the way.

The Score: Brando in his last screen appearance, against Deniro and Norton, steals this utterly butterly deliciously...

How this man was able to so dominate the frame that his being off the screen would make the movie seem lesser and him being on screen would raise it to even greater heights.