MovieChat Forums > The Fugitive Kind (1960) Discussion > Anna Magnani Was Terrible

Anna Magnani Was Terrible

posted 16 years ago by jonchopwood
12 replies | jump to latest

Not only did she look old and used up (you cannot feel that a man of Brando's physical beauty would bed this old bag let alone fall in love with her), but she was INCOMPREHENSIBLE. Her dialogue frequently was gibberish. Then there were the times she would repeat a word she had mispronounced twice .... such as "boids" and then she would repeat the line fragment and say "birds." It was unbelievable! How could they leave this in? Lady Torrance wasn't an immigrant -- she born in Mississippi!

Sophia Loren should have been cast in the role, and then maybe Brando would have come alive and not walked through the part. Then again, he was terrible with Loren as his co-star in Chaplin's A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG, but that was a comedy and he can't do comedy.

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"Why do people always laugh in the wrong places?"
--Samuel Beckett

[–] Xcalat3 16 years ago

I have to agree, she was bad for the part and acted very poorly

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] seeingdouble007 16 years ago

I think everyone in this movie was ridiculous. And usually I love everyone in this movie! Brando was ludicrous, Magnani was like a frenzied and evil bulldog (although she is GREAT in The Rose Tattoo), and Woodward is downright embarrasing. I love Tennessee Williams, and Orpheus Descending, upon which this was based (and on a short story and earlier play treatment called The Fugitive Kind) is a great play...but this bizarre and plagued version is just excrement. AND BORING.

[–] onepotato2 14 years ago

I seem to recall Victor Jory shrieking like a nitwit/ham from his deathbed.

[–] singjohn 13 years ago

Brando's performance reminds me of someone doing a Brando impersonation. The mumbling, the odd eye rolling, the meandering walk; it's all here. He seems disconnected from the material.

Anna Magnani was a great actress, but here she is horribly miscast. We need to feel a sexual tension between Val and Lady and it just ain't there! Her chemistry with Brando is zilch! Their sexy scenes are awkward.

Maureen Stapleton is great! Much more restrained than usual. Her character is very endearing.

Joanne Woodward was amazing. I think she took the character as far as she could.

[–] yo_adrian2 12 years ago

i thought anna magnani was hopelessly miscast in this movie. shes not a bad actress though, she was good in the rose tattoo.

[–] lizcarlo87 12 years ago

Marlon Brando had a crush on Anna Magnani.

[–] ElKabong1940 (323) 5 years ago

I heard that she had the hots for Brando, but he turned her down.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Her sometimes difficult to understand English aside (the reason for which was the fact that she didn´t speak the language, uttering her lines phonetically) I thought Magnani was fine. Better than anyone else in the film, in fact.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] EliotTempleton 10 years ago

Terrible? Of the three stars, she's the only one who doesn't give a sloppy, slovenly performance.

[–] sirjeremy 9 years ago

Well, Williams wrote the part for her, and I did feel she did a lot with the role, but at times her struggle with the words was obvious. I can't really blame her, though, as this was only her third English-speaking role, plus she didn't get on well with Brando and the director. It was a difficult shoot for everyone involved, from what I've read.

[–] hedgehogged 9 years ago

OP: Lady Torrance wasn't an immigrant -- she born in Mississippi!

Wrong. In the original play on which this film is based, Orpheus Descending, Lady Torrance is written as an Italian immigrant. As she explains in the play, she was born in Sicily. Tennessee Williams wrote the part for Anna Magnani (for whom he also wrote The Rose Tattoo several years earlier). Maureen Stapleton starred in both The Rose Tattoo and Orpheus Descending in their original Broadway productions (with thick Italian accent). Magnani starred in the movie versions.

Here's a clip of Vanessa Redgrave (!) playing Lady Torrance as written — Italian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLQxhoqcttY

Opinions on Magnani's performance are fine. Facts are facts.