"The horror. The horror. "
- The last words of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando - APOCALYPSE NOW 1979)
We here at film babble are very saddened by the passing of the great Marlon Brando. Causes are unknown at this moment but signs of illness plus rumours of financial ruin have been been all over this here internet. The actor well regarded as one of the finest of the 20th Century hadn't been in a film since THE SCORE in 2001 and only some vague news about a cartoon feature was in the works. Pretty dire news for the unique method man who ruled the screen in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, THE WILD ONE, and ON THE WATERFRONT (which he won his 1st Oscar for) to name a few of his defining '50's roles.
His comeback in the 70's with THE GODFATHER (2nd Oscar - BAM!) and LAST TANGO IN PARIS presented the public with an older fatter blustering Brando much parodied by the likes of Saturday Night Live and Mad Magazine. A classic '76 SNL had host Peter Boyle and John Belushi doing their best impressions in "Dueling Brandos" to (of course) the plucking banjo from DELIVERENCE. Brando's extremely expensive glorified cameos for SUPERMAN and APOCALYPSE NOW made headlines - millions for just minutes of work seemed to be the consensus. Especially since he was walking through these roles with no prior research or care. It seemed like he wanted to just live on a island somewhere. So that's what he did.
The 80's caricature of a morbidly obese Brando going crazy living on a tropical island somewhere are hard to shake off. Even after he started doing movies again (THE FRESHMAN, A DRY WHITE SEASON, DON JUAN DEMARKO) he seemed to be phoning it in - acting wasn't a serious craft anymore his screen presence broadcasted to even the cheap seats - it was an occasional buck. THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU seemed more sincere because of course it was about going crazy living on an island somewhere! This glib blog is no place to go into the darker areas of Mr. Brando's life - this is a scribbling about the silver screen site so for Marlon's sake we'll stick to babblin' bout just da movies :
10 KICK-ASS BRANDO QUOTES
(Actually 10 great movie moments as well as great performances *)
1. "You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley."
- Terry Malloy as written by Elia Kazan - ON THE WATERFRONT 1954
2. "I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life - I don't apologize - to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don't apologize - that's my life - but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Corleone; Governor Corleone. Well, it wasn't enough time, Michael."
- Don Vito Corleone written by Mario Puzo THE GODFATHER
1972
3. "What're you rebelling against, Johnny?"
- Girl
"Whaddya got?"
- Johnny Strabler written by John Paxton THE WILD ONE 1953
4. "I have seen the devil in my microscope, and I have chained him."
- Dr. Moreau written by Richard Stanley based on H.G.Wells novel
- THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU 1996
5. "It is forbidden for you to interfere in human destiny"
- Jor El written by Mario Puzo SUPERMAN : THE MOVIE 1979
6. "Hey STELLA!!!! STELLA !!!!"
- Stanley Kowalski written by Tennessee Williams - A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
7. "I was just thinking, sir, that our little errand for groceries might wind up in a page of naval history if we succeed in negotiating The Horn in the dead of winter."
- 1st Lt. Fletcher Christian (Brando)
"Why shouldn't we succeed? Admiral Anderson did."
- Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard)
"Yes, but of course he didn't choose to attempt it in a ninety-one-foot chamber pot. In any event, his was the only ship to do it and I believe he lost fifty percent of his crew." - 1st Lt. Fletcher Christian written by a cast of thousands (really like 6 people so who knows who came up of with this particular dialogue?)
- MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY 1962
8. "You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill."
- Colonel Walter E. Kurtz written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola - APOCALYPSE NOW 1979
9. "Even if a husband lives 200 hundred fucking years, he'll never discover his wife's true nature. I may be able to understand the secrets of the universe, but... I'll never understand the truth about you. Never."
- Paul - LAST TANGO IN PARIS 1972
10. "My God! Let me get a look at you. You know, you look like shit. What's your secret? "
- Max written by too many cooks in the pot to list - THE SCORE 2001
* Not all are truly great performances on #4 & #10 I believe he was just walking through.
10 DUELING BRANDOS
"Hey Honey come show the guys your Brando impression!"
- Roseanne on fatal things to say to your pregnant wife.
These actors have all done impersonations on either film or the stage but mostly on SNL :
1. John Belushi
2. Peter Boyle
A hilarious SNL sketch from '76 featured Belsuhi and Boyle both dressed in THE WILD ONE attire getting their Brando on! Helped "I couda been a contender" to be a standard of great movie lines.
3. Alec Baldwin (SNL)
4. John Travolta (SNL)
5. Val Kilmer - ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
6. Matthew Broderick - THE FRESHMAN
7. Dom Deluise - THE GODSON
8. Robin Williams (big surprise!)- On various talk shows, morning zoo radio appearances, supermarket openings, benefit concert appearances, CD release junkets, MTV movie awards shows, random TV and film cameos, etc. etc. ETC!
9. Julia Louis Dreyfuss (don't ya remember a delirious drugged up Elaine on SEINFELD yelling "Stella!" when meeting somebody with that name? I sure do.)
10. Frank Gorshin - go IMDb it yerself.
More later...
is the Green Art Nail
