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CONSIDERING BRANDO PATRICIA
BOSWORTHS BRANDO AND BRANDOS SONGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME
In deciding to review Patricia Bosworths
recent biography of Marlon Brando, I thought it worthwhile to read Brandos
autobiography, BRANDO, Songs My Mother Taught Me, published in 94.
Bosworths Brando is a very focused story, part of the Penguin Series
of short biographies. The autobiography runs nearly 500 pages, dating
from his birth in 24 in Omaha, Nebraska, to becoming a recluse in
Tahiti at the age of 70, when he attempts to review his life objectively.
These two books made quite a contrast.
The autobiography reveals a man born
with a wild sense of humor set off by not only a wicked imagination, but
a revengeful character as a young child which only stopped short of killing
to satisfy his explosive urges. He acknowledges having had a hair-trigger
temper until middle age. Quick-witted and clever, he liked fooling people
about who he was and where he came from. In a large sense, he was interested
in disguise, in masking himself.
As for his chosen occupation, he constantly questioned his abilities to
be an actor and was highly conflicted about it as a worthwhile activity.
He repeatedly claimed he worked only to make money and Hollywood was the
only place where he could make money. As for mentors, Paul Muni was his
favorite actor and he adored Stella Adler of the Actors Studio as
a teacher, supporter, and longtime friend. Although he worked with many
film directors, his favorite was Elia Kazan.
Early on, he thinks he could have had
a lot of different careersa minister, a musician, for instance,
but not included was being a writer, and the autobiography suggests this
possibility. It offers the chance to fictionalize as well as tell the
facts and Brando is acutely skillful about doing this. The co-author,
Robert Lindsay tells us his contribution to the book, which depended upon
years of conversations and tape recordings along with some of Brandos
own writings, resulted in a candid account of Brandos reflections
and experiences filtered through the prism of Lindsays perceptions.
Brando edited and revised it. One of the achievements of the autobiography
is that from start to finish the reader hears and reads Brandos
voice with no awareness of anyone else participating.
Brando revealed a strong intuition and
consciousness of details at a young agehe talks about the of smell
of flowers, his mothers sweet breath, the earth under his feet,
the change of the wind. Sensitive about his mothers drinking, he
often felt abandoned, had little self-esteem, and always blamed himself
for his unhappy predicament. He was happy only when challenging authority
(particularly cops). At the same time he has a fear of loud noises. He
was decidedly neurotic as an adolescent, although with some intellectual
control. He loved animals and nature which he got from his mother. Born
handsome, he was sexually seductive, and had outstanding physical presence.
He was described as having a weightlifters arms and a poets
face, gentle and angelic.
The autobiography discusses the films
from Brandos point of view. It focuses on how the cast related to
their parts and Brando to them and to the directors. He feels that most
directors dont have the vaguest idea of how to realize a character.
Improvising was Brandos answer to that problem. He didnt see
himself as a rebelhe was only against the columnists who created
myths. The more successful the portrayal of a character, the more people
mythologized him.
Between films he became a Political
Activist, devoting himself to numerous causes. First, when he came to
New York and studied at the New School, he became familiar with the scholarly
Jewish refugees and fell in love with the Jewish cause. He became a zealous
advocate for Israel. Second, he became attached to the Civil Rights Movement,
went to the South with Paul Newman to join the Freedom marches. In Washington,
he was close to Martin Luther King and was deeply moved. Then he came
close to the Black Panthers to learn what it was like to be black. Nevertheless,
as Separatists, they forced him to remain an outsider. Third and most
intense was his sympathy for the American Indian. He got to know how Indians
were maltreated unlawfully and supported them in every way possible in
the 60s and 70s. He concludes that no other people were treated
worse than Native Americans. All of these pursuits fed Brandos interest
in how different societies treat one another. His extensive research reveals,
as it did in his films, a desire for knowledgehis own form of education.
By 56, in middle age, his career
was sinkinghe was directing films and losing money. He went to Tahiti
and fell in love with it. He finally bought Tetiaroa, which he called
his happy island. The next 200 pages of his autobiography
are devoted to his experiences and his thoughts while in Tahiti. In between,
he made movies but few are worth discussing until The Godfather. In the
nine years that he didnt make a movie, he devoted himself to the
simple life and to his children. He wanted to become part of the Polynesian
culture. But again, against his desire, he was forced to remain an outsider.
Patricia Bosworths Brando is concise
and pared down, a great deal of it gleaned from Brandos autobiography
as well as quotes from other writers of Brando, friends, and critics.
Bosworth didnt know Brando, her biography draws from other sources.
It is formulaicfollowing a pattern of discussing significant points
about leading films that Brando made, followed by a summary of personal
and political events that dated from that time. His life consisted of
accumulations of close male friends, brief affairs with many women who
were always available, mostly non-Caucasians, none of which lasted long.
His love life was unconventional, non-committal, and prolific until middle
age when he married a few times.
Brando made over 40 films from 50
to the present. Bosworths condensed introduction highlights his
parents, both alcoholics, and his early life until he came to New York.
She then moves to 50 and his first movie The Men. He went to California
where the film was set and immediately hated Hollywoodan attitude
that never changed. The film was about paraplegics and took place in the
amputees ward of Birmingham, Veterans Hospital. He established a
number of characteristics in this first film that remain with him throughout
his career. He did a great deal of research. He lived in the ward and
confined himself to a wheelchair. A second characteristic which became
more intensified as time went on, was that he couldnt remember his
lines. To compensate, he began placing cue cards all over the set. Bosworth
includes details of the making of the film, the directors role,
changes in the script, etc. Then the response of the critics. In The Men,
he received excellent reviews from Time Magazine, which praised his acting
as the real thing. But, while previewing the rushes, Brando
thought his acting was terrible, wooden. He would often disagree with
everybody. Bosworth concludes with a summary of eventscontact with
his mother, suffering from anxiety attacks and seeing an analyst.
His second film that was deservedly
given a lot of attention was A Streetcar Named DesireBrando had
already become a star on Broadway in the theatre production but he wasnt
happy about it. He didnt like Jessica Tandy as Blanche DuBois and
he was reluctant to repeat the role of Stanley Kowalski which he felt
he had exhausted. But he was attracted to Vivian Leigh and they worked
off each other. After a brilliant, melancholy, ad-libbed performance,
he would rush off to his analyst. He still resented actingdidnt
think he was good enough, and wanted to do something for the world. After
this film, he caught up on changes in his relationships with his mother
and father and winning Oscars.
Brando discovered a lot about his acting
in Streetcar. Costume played a big part where he wore T-shirt, a leather
jacket, and blue jeans that were tight as a glove outlining every muscle
in his thighs. He felt released emotionally. He said later, I found
Stanleys voice. Im an ear man, you know. He had heard
the voice in his head. He found vocal mannerisms in Tennessee Williams
scripted words to express the tensions of an inarticulate or ordinary
man. Mumbling was a favorite device. The critic Camille Paglia raved,
Brando brought American nature to American acting and brought the
American personality to the worldthe sexy rebel, all mute and surly
bad attitudeprefigures the 60s rock and roll. I might
add that this is one of Bosworths fullest and richest discussions
of a film. Around this time life events deeply affected him. His mother
died, he became unfocused and began to make some bad films. More analysis
helped.
As anti-heroes up from poverty, Brando,
as well as James Dean, were separated from the John Waynes of Hollywood.
Brando was the best as a rebel alienated and tormented. The Wild One exemplified
this where a band of rowdy motorcyclists wreck a small town in California.
Youthful rebels in search of excitement, Brando played the gang leader.
He saw himself as an alienated youth. There were a number of other radical
events that were taking place in the 50s: the popularity of Psychiatry,
speed coupled with a laissez-faire attitude toward commitment. These characteristics
were shared by a larger group known as the Beat Generation,
who were mostly poets and into Jazz. They were in awe of Brando but he
did not make contact with them. They shared an obsession with motorcycles.
On the Waterfront followed. Director
Elia Kazan pointed out that Brandos expressions of self-awareness
on the part of a male hero in the history of American film was unforgettable:
the contrast of the tough guy front and the extreme delicacy and
gentle cast of his behavior. This duality of role appeared in many
of his films and resurfaces years later in The Godfather.
Brando was famous, but by 61 his
career was definitely sinking. Bosworth tracks the details of his fading.
He was depressed, and gaining a lot of weight. He made one film during
this period, Reflections in a Golden Eye, playing the role of a repressed
homosexual of which he was proud, but the public was turned off. He started
disappearing to Tahiti. Last Tango in Paris was shown in 72. Its
content is a sexual affair that only lasts for three days. The two participants
know nothing about each other. The sensuality was unprecedentedfrontal
nudity, masturbation and sodomy. It caused a big sensation and was timely.
The sexual revolution had started and sex was no longer sacred. One critic
commented that the film is really about what it is like to be Marlon Brando.
Bosworth states that the focus of her
book is on Brandos work. And she covers many of the films, analyzing
Brandos role, making a point of the techniques he uses to reveal
the character, how he learns this process and applies it. Not only the
Method Acting processes that he learned at the Actors Studio but
additional ones that he discovered himself. He was particularly adept
at disguise and costumethe use of his body, the range of his voice,
his awareness of sexual appeal, his focus on gesture, his imagination.
However, Bosworths style is that of a journalist, objective, detached
like a good researcher.Her contribution lies in defining Brandos
discoveries and applications of bringing out character. Its typical
of our time when readers are in a hurrythe style is abbreviated,
snappy and trendy. It covers his career to the present, pointing out Brandos
followers such as Robert de Niro.
What reading the autobiography gave
me was Brandos continued search for himselfwhat his life was
all about and what he could do in order to fulfill it. He recognizes during
these late years of meditation and the simple life, that we all are capable
of love and hate, and that he cant solve the worlds problems.
He said, All my life Ive been a do-gooder. Perhaps the
only final solution is to alter man himself. At this moment, Brando is
prophetic. He has mellowed like most people his age, but he continues
to examine his life. In defense of his shift to a seclusive life he argues,
Im having fun . . . At 70, I finally feel free.
I found the autobiography a joy to read,
packed with feeling and a personality richer, more human and fuller than
is revealed in Patricia Bosworths writing about his films.
Jeanne Siegel
New York, New York
2001
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