I think it's depressing that someone would call Dean a phony and merely a Brando impersonator. He is PERCEIVED today, wrongly, as more of a symbol. He WAS much more of an actor. His legend is also grossly misunderstood, and I feel that it is his misunderstood persona that people relate so much to Brando.
I know the story from Brando's book. Jim wasn't being all "method." To tell it more accurately, Dean went in with an attitude and threw his jacket down on the floor instead of hanging it up. Marlon told him to hang his coat up, that he didn't have to do things like that to impress people. He told him to just act like a normal person, life is much easier that way.
Dean in real life did like to imitate Marlon's character in The Wild One because he was moved by that film. However, Dean's performances on film are honest portrayals and revelations of his true self: He was a lost child. This is what I see in all three of the characters he portrayed on screen, and I feel like this is where his legend gets confused because people think of him as this tough guy, macho rebel. Anyone who pays stiff attention to his on screen performances will know who Dean's characters really were. Marlon's style in his earlier characters were so much more masculine and in-your-face than what Dean was doing. Jim DID have a style, and it was different than Brando's. Their techniques might have been similar because they were both method actors to an extent. In my eye, Dean was expressing something different on a personal level than what Brando was at the time.
Regarding Dean's performance in Rebel, it is my least favorite. It's overacted as are the performances of Wood and Mineo. I blame this on the director. I've read somewhere that he had them overact to an extent on purpose, but I can't exactly remember why he wanted these theatrical performances. I think it's really unfortunate because as effective and relevant as the themes are in this movie, as well as the dialogue, I find that the performances make the movie feel slightly dated.
Anyway, in my opinion Jim was the most talented actor of his time after Brando. His performance in Giant is his best, I think. It is amazing how he makes the transition from young, lovable, and troubled to old, arrogant, and broken. I feel like had Jim lived on, he might have even become more influential than Brando. I really resent Brando's attitude about acting and movies later on in his career. He cared more about politics and said acting was a "bum's" job. He walked through roles. Who knows what Dean could have done.
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