Brando & the Greats...

Marlon Brando has in his career been in movies where he has had great talent acting opposite him. Some classic examples are:

Leigh in Streetcar
Quinn in Zapata
Mason & Geilgud in Caesar
Malden in Waterfront
Sinatra in Guys & Dolls
...the list is endless

Monty and he were in the same movie, without sharing a scene, Pacino and he were in godfather, but Pacino had to still have the reputation of being a great actor at that time. Deniro and he were in The Score. Taylor and he were in Reflections...

In all the times he was working with great talent, Brando was always in top form and made the other actors seem as if they were always flying on Brando's coattails. I am not saying that the other actors gave bad performances, not at all, they gave some of the best acts of their careers, but somehow Brando was always more memorable, better etc.

How & why...are the questions...
Maybe the answer lies in the fact that Brando was not afraid to make a fool of himself in front of the camera, not afraid to try out things which were as far away as it could be from a cliché. Spontaneity, madness, risk taking ability and the sheer genius to make magic out of nothing. Also the fact that Brando has such an amazing personality and when he is on screen, that all else pales in comparison. One is always seeing Brando, no matter who else is in the frame with him. The best example is the movie Score, with Deniro...a solid heist film, not classic cinema but a good thriller and the scene where Brando and Deniro are doing their improvisations, one can clearly see that Brando is always surprising Deniro with something new...brilliant

A force of nature, according to me both Brando and Garbo can qualify as sheer forces of nature, they just tower over everything else...imagine the screen with both of them together, that would have been a match.