Don't you know he is the one who started the era of the anti-heroes like James Dean, Montgomery Clift, and Paul Newman...
Brando initiated a certain vein of acting, but anti-heroic figures had preceded him, especially in the form of James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. Even in the Western, John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart had played darker figures before Brando became a big star. Moreover, Clift predated Brando by a few years.
I wouldn't say that Brando (or Clift, or Dean, or Newman in his younger years) specialized in playing anti-heroes, so much as tortured heroes. In
On the Waterfront, for example, the viewer sympathizes with and roots for the Brando character all the way. Even when he does wrong, he does so more because he has been misled and manipulated by the people and environment around him. Rather, Brando brought a certain level of human vulnerability, doubt, guilt, introspection, and despondency to the screen, reducing the mythic nature of performance to something more intimate and palpably realistic.
Full-fledged anti-heroism, in my opinion, did not emerge until the mid-1960s with Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Steve McQueen, and Lee Marvin (and sometimes a somewhat older, hardened Paul Newman). They acted with the classical confidence of heroes, but without the mores and manners.
reply
share
joekiddlouischama
11 years ago
As for Eva Marie Saint, one can sometimes tell in On the Waterfront that she is making her film debut, but her fresh-faced innocence and pale blonde looks effectively serve their purpose. She's more memorable than excellent, perhaps, but sometimes, being memorable is more important.
reply
share
thepooles-1
10 years ago
I too think her delicate beauty cinched her nomination and today anyone on IMDb knows that power politics within the Hollywood film industry often determines nominations and wins.
Today middle names in many fields are almost mandatory and Eva Marie Saint seemed an early progenitor. Orchestral conductors today are all now three name stars for mainly arch reasons.
reply
share