People say about Brando, Monty Clift and a few select others that they were in a class all by themselves.
I don't see it. I see them as very good actors, but I also see many others in the profession as very good actors.
If a private venture fails it's closed down. If a government venture fails it's expanded. M Friedman
I am by no means a film historian but in my eyes Brando is in a class all by himself. Simply because if you look at all the great actors before and during his time they all had a certain style. Cagney was Cagney, Bogart was Bogart, Tracy was Tracy, Cooper was Cooper, etc.. and this is not a criticism but just an observation. Marlon is the first film actor to disappear into roles. He was different each time he played a character and he did it effortlessly. Look at Streetcar, Waterfront, Godfather, Apocalypse, Wild One etc... He is almost unrecognizable going from one role to the other! Olivier did this to some degree as well but Marlon was a master at it. Some current actors who have this quality are Daniel Day Lewis, Gary Oldman, even Johnny Depp to some degree. One actress who also has this ability is Cate Blanchett
shareThanks for your reply. We're going to have to agree to disagree.
John Garfield in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
James Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Burt Lancaster in From Here To Eternity (1953)
Henry Fonda in Twelve Angry Men (1957)
I randomly chose 4 performances by well-known actors in well-known movies from roughly the same time. In all honestly, I don't see that Brando did anything that they didn't do.
As to Brando being different in every film, you could easily say the same about at least one of the actors you mentioned: Bogart in Casablanca is very different from Bogart in The Treasure of The Sierra Madre and Bogart in The Caine Mutiny.
If a private venture fails it's closed down. If a government venture fails it's expanded. M Friedman
when your the measuring stick of success that other actors use to measure their own success by then yes you are in a class of your own.Every gets compared to brando its never the other way around even now
Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have something to say "
There were many great, naturalistic actors before Brando. And Brando never "disappeared into a role" any more than anybody else before or after. He was no chameleon; everything he did was a "Marlon Brando" role.
shareHe has always been my favorite actor, along with Robert De Niro.
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