Marlon on a Wednesday: I'm on a boat!

Some vintage footage I found via YouTube I like:

Marlon on a Wednesday: Jazzy Paris

This isn't completely Marlon-focused. I love the score Gato Barbieri composed for Last Tango in Paris, and had to embed a bit here. When I first watched/listened to this via YouTube, I actually did not recognize the music. While I am sure the beginning sixty seconds or so do not make a splash in the film, once the sax kicks in, I feel all too familiar. It's like I am walking the Parisian streets with Marlon and Maria Schneider again (nerdy fantasy).

Marlon on a Wednesday: The Inventor

Did anyone else catch this NPR story over the weekend? I really kind of freaked out when I saw it. Even though the drum tuning invention is not "new" news to me, Marlon's drumming has always been one of my favorite things about him, and it is SO nice to read something positive about him.

Check it out:

Marlon Brando's Lost Musical Innovation

The article also features a video of Marlon playing the drums during an Edward R. Murrow interview.

Marlon on a Wednesday: "If I were a bell ..."

The fabulous that Marlon and Jean Simmons create in Guys and Dolls. Enjoy!

Marlon on a Wednesday: "What's a rhinestone?"

Last night I watched one of my favorite movies, A Streetcar Named Desire. I think Tennessee Williams' writing is brilliant, and Marlon plays one of my favorite characters ever. As Stanley Kowalski, he hardly portrays the gentle sort. He shouts, throws radios and dishes, and demeans his wife Stella and her sister, Blanche. At the same time, he slurs words together like a little kid, and daintily picks a stray thread from Stella's dress as he relates gossip. Stanley exhibits so many layers I always look forward to exploring.

While I would not want to know (and certainly not live with) someone like this, I find Marlon's performance spellbinding. I saw a theater production of Streetcar last fall, and while I enjoyed it, I do not think anyone else can play Stanley. He captures the turbulence and humor perfectly. Despite how unlikeable Stanley seems, Marlon also shows moments where I understand why Stella fell for him.

This scene, which I consider one of the more humorous, explores Stanley and Stella's relationship. Stanley digging through Blanche's dresses, describing his "acquaintances," and tossing snarky comments cracks me up. YouTube will not allow embedding, but follow the link to watch:

What's a rhinestone?

~F.

Marlon on a Wednesday

It is no secret I love Marlon Brando, and I am particularly shameless while blogging. However, once again, several months have passed without me watching a new film, or even his films I've loved for years. I miss Marlon, and want to bring him back, so I decided to try a new blog feature: Marlon on a Wednesday. It is just a post once a week, Marlon-related. I know many who read my posts also love him, so this should be fun!

So, for the first post, I decided to share this screen test I found on YouTube. In the early '50s, Marlon auditioned for the lead role in Rebel Without a Cause. Obviously, this did not get filmed, and James Dean made the more famous version later in the decade. However, since I am not a fan of Rebel, I always wondered what this earlier version may have been like.

I want Marlon to walk me home, too

Though I have watched Guys and Dolls dozens of times, it just clicked that Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons were not good singers. However, I do not think it matters. I believe I previously wrote I felt they had some of the best chemistry I have ever seen, and I still hold that opinion. While many probably do not remember Marlon and Jean as a great, legendary screen couple (they only made two films together), they probably could have been, and I consider them that anyway. I watch this musical again and again because their relationship seems so authentic to me. This cancels out any lack of ability the film may show.

Not to mention, in this scene, both actors do little, special things. For instance, it kills me every time Marlon offers her that flower in the can. Although, he often does quirky improvisations like that in his films.



Are there any actors you like watching together?

Let's Make Love (1960)

When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns an off-Broadway production plans to parody him in its new production, he ventures from his Manhattan skyscraper to a downtown theater to investigate the struggling company. Once there, he falls for Amanda Dell, as she sashays in a sheer body suit, and sings the coy "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." He then introduces himself to her as Alexander Dumas -- struggling actor. 

Thus, the familiar plots of romance and mistaken identity highlight the 1960 comedy Let's Make Love. Yves Montand, as Clement, and Marilyn Monroe, as Dell, seem an odd pairing, and though I enjoyed the movie overall, I think both likely experienced better chemistry in their careers. Still, Clement's sophistication and Dell's playfulness provide enough contrast, I never questioned my interest as their relationship developed. Sure, it's all expected, and it's not pure magic. However, that does not mean I have to dislike it.

As Clement's scheme proceeds, celebrity cameos abound. Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, and Gene Kelly all try their hands at making Clement a star, to no avail. Also, Frankie Vaughan co-stars as a struggling performer and romantic rival. However, Clement proves only himself, and shows Dell in the simplest way ... before seducing her in the elevator.

The musical numbers and costumes provide the most enjoyment for me. Dell performs in oversized sweaters and tights for "rehearsal," traipses around Manhattan in a trench coat and beret, and performs in a negligee elaborate enough to pass as an evening gown. Monroe, then, appears her most stylish to me. She combines artistic and sexy, like any musical comedy performer should.

While not the most original film, Let's Make Love does all the familiars right. I cannot dislike music, costumes, and happy endings, no matter how many times I see them.

Oh, and when I first got into Marlon Brando, I found this You Tube video of him and Marilyn. The song, "Let's Make Love" is from this film!

Farewell to a fashion icon

Maria Schneider, a French actor perhaps best-known for co-starring with Marlon Brando in the 1973 film, Last Tango in Paris recently passed away. Last Tango in Paris is one of my favorite films for many reasons, two of them being Schneider's character and wardrobe. She plays Jeanne, a Parisian hipster with the most amazing style. Her granny hats and coats, juxtaposed with mini-dresses, bellbottoms, and blazers, altered how I viewed '70s style. I saw it as not only wearable today, but within my taste.

Over the years I bought pieces here and there that hearkened Jeanne's style, and I like to think they celebrate a quirky, relatively forgotten fashionista. Though Schneider's film career seemingly faded as quickly Jeanne's style legacy, I feel happy for my own exposure and inspiration.

Here is Maria Schneider's New York Times obituary: Rest in peace.

Two Brando's

 I have been into Marlon Brando for almost five years now, and understandably, have viewed the majority of his films. There are very few I have yet to see. I used to swallow his films whole and dedicate entire weekends to them. Does anyone remember when TCM aired its original documentary Brando, with a marathon of his work? I was in heaven. However, in the past year or so, I have slowed down.  My interest has not waned, but two reasons now keep me from watching Marlon's films. First, several remain hard to come by, (and not even NetFlix carries them), or they just look horrible. Second,  it saddens me to think one day I will finish that last film. Sure, I can re-watch them, but I think there's something special about watching a movie with a favorite actor, director, etc. for the first time. Otherwise, it's not the same.

So, I surprised myself by watching two "new for me" Marlon movies within a week. Both are Westerns, but  still completely different films with two different performances from Marlon.

First, I finally saw One-Eyed Jacks in its entirety. I tried to watch it three times before, but always became distracted and never made it past the opening credits. Released in 1961 by Marlon's company, Pennebaker Productions, this film marks his only directing credit. It generally flopped, and sources paint it as an over-budgeted Brando ego-trip, but I wish he had done more. The cinematography in One-Eyed Jacks is so ... pretty. I can tell care was put in each scene, perhaps too much sometimes, yet it still avoids awkwardnes. Still, the sweeping deserts and Monterey Bay took me to more exciting, other-worldly place.

Marlon plays Rio, a bank robber abandoned and left to a prison sentence by his partner Dad Longworth, played by Karl Malden. A revenge plot follows: Rio escapes from prison, ventures to California where Dad stands as sheriff (after deciding being a criminal just wasn't for him, I guess), falls for his step-daughter, challenges his authority, and the two "duke it out," if you will, both mentally and physically. I love watching Marlon and Karl onscreen together. They have this unexpected chemistry that avoids the "bromance" seen with many male actors who work well together. The relationship between Rio and Longworth shifts from partnership, to awkward, to hatred, and it just seems authentic for the situation. Marlon's calm portrayal of Rio makes the relationship more suspenseful and creepy. He restricts his emotions so carefully, his character remains unreadable.


The Missouri Breaks (1976), on the other hand, shows Marlon as Lee Clayton, a hitman hired to foil the plans of a horse-thief band led by Tom Logan (Jack Nicholson). Directed by Arthur Penn, in some parts, it tries to hold on to the classic Western feeling ...

Okay.

I loved this film. For one, Marlon gives a hilarious performance. He portrays Clayton with a drifting Irish accent, affinity for horses, and women's clothes. It's so ridiculous, but like I said, I love it. Marlon just kind of did "whatever" on the set, and it works for him, and me as a viewer. On the film's IMDB message board, conversations drift about "getting" Marlon vs. "not getting" Marlon, and worshipping "anything" he does. Personally, I am not sure what is wrong with that. If someone just digs an actor's style, they automatically feel more open-minded than skeptical or unfamiliar viewers. Therefore, my arguably blind acceptance of this performance warrants little justification other than I like watching this man work.

 Other than that, the cinematography (beautiful, like in One-Eyed Jacks), and quirky music score made this one of the few Westerns I would like to watch again.

Well, two more down. And now I feel so fired up about Marlon, I want to watch more. This is depressing ...

~F.

Hey Stella

Leave it to me to start a new blog during possibly one of my busiest and most stressful weeks this semester! I am happy for this weekend, mostly because I will see a student production of  A Streetcar Named Desire at my university tomorrow.

If you followed my previous blog, you probably remember what a big fan of Streetcar and Marlon Brando I am. Naturally, I cannot wait to finally see the play live, in a theater! For one, it will use Tennessee Williams' original script, and not the censored screenplay, and also, I will finally see different actors play the characters. However, I still love the film performances, especially Marlon's. To me, Marlon just is Stanley Kowalski, so I am anxious to see what another actor does with the role. I actually hope their interpretation will be different. Nothing seems worse than a bad Brando interpretation.

Scene: Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire

~F.