Ruth Leon recommends… Marlon Brando’s 10 Best Films
Ruth Leon recommendsMarlon Brando’s 10 Best Films
This week marks 20 years since the death of Marlon Brando. This American stage and film actor and director was one of the most important actors of the 20th century, and one of the most versatile.
Marlon Brando transformed Hollywood with his innovative method acting. With a career spanning more than 6 decades and 50 films, Brando left a lasting impact on cinema. He is a singular figure in cinema history, whose disdain for ‘stardom’ ironically redefined what it means to be one.
His signature seems to be on every frame of his movies from A Streetcar Named Desire to On the Waterfront, The Wild One, Viva Zapata! And, of course, Last Tango in Paris. With such a broad and varied career to celebrate, High On Cinema ranked his top 10 performances from his remarkable and diversified filmography. The Wild One, Viva Zapata! And, of course, Last Tango in Paris. With such a broad and varied career to celebrate, High On Cinema ranked his top 10 performances from his remarkable and diversified filmography.
“The Chase” and “Reflections in a Golden Eye” are missing big error.
One of several. I liked Don Juan de Marco as an exemplar of some of his later work. I did expect to see The Chase in there.
Found it strange that Streetcar was only an honourable mention — I expected it to be in the top three. I certainly did not anticipate the winner to be in that spot. I was not overly impressed by that film, except that I remember how good-looking he was in it. (Avoiding a spoiler).
For me it’s The Godfather, though I would not quarrel with those who preferred On the Waterfront or Streetcar. But I enjoyed the piece, and it has prompted me to pick out some Brando films for the weekend.
Anyway the best was On the waterfront but “The Chase” and “Reflections in a Golden Eye” were great films to see. Scorcese did a copy of one scene of Brando in “Reflections in a Golden Eye” for the famous scene “talking to me” ofTaxi Driver.
At least “Apocalypse Now” wasn’t on the list. He was terrible in that. On the other hand, in the number one pick, “On the Waterfront” he was terrific.
Other than his Godfather, my favorite Brando performance is actually his Fletcher Christian (to Trevor Howard’s Captain Bligh) in “Mutiny on the Bounty.”
I liked The Ugly American, too. And The Young Lions — I was so taken by that film, which I saw on TV as a teenager, that I raced off to read the book and went on to discover a lot of other postwar writing.
I think he’s the most overrated actor since Orson Welles, who could at least be heard. Brando’s best roles were late in his life, when he played a southern sheriff, and in a movie with Rip Torn as an oil executive.