I'm sorry, but Karl Malden was just so much better than Marlon Brando in this film, particularly in Malden's monologue. The fact that Malden was snubbed of an Oscar, while Brando's performance is often found in a handful of "Best Performances Ever" lists bewilders me.
shareI don't know who's performance was better (Brando or Malden). To me they were both equally brilliant in this. One without the other easily weakens the movie overall. They both fed off each other in the scenes they were in together. It was a great dance between them two.
And furthermore with Karl Malden. He truly deserved his nomination and I believe this was a better performance than the academy award winning performance he did in Streetcar. And vice versa with Brando in Streetcar to this movie. I believe he had the better performance in Streetcar and should have won and academy for that movie as well.
Just read what other well-known actors and directors had to say about Marlon Brando in this film. If anyone knows about acting, they do. They're virtually unanimous in calling this one of the great performances in film history.
shareThe OP as y'all like to call it is truly vacuous and living in a vacuum of insensitivity but that's normal these days
Everyone is allowed an opinion so whatever
I remember the first time I saw "On the Waterfront" on a big screen in an art house movie theatre on a rainy evening in Los Angeles
Brando's legendary performance is stunning His hand gestures are beautiful The way he looks out the window The way he looks at the birds The glove scene
There were technical issues in those days that are so different than what's available to the selfie generation I won't bother go into all the details. The weather, shooting outdoors, no digital manipulation in post-production Need I say more
Sure...Brando was acting. It's a movie.
Let's see-- who's out there now? Little Leo? Hemsworth brothers? Matt Damon? Sad, sad, sad.
I personally don't enjoy watching Citizen Kane, although directors repeatedly assure that it is one of the best movies ever made. Bogdanovitch said that the non-linear storytelling was revolutionary for its time. Maybe, we, the audience, can't fully appreciate how a movie comes together with actor availability, script re-writes, actor ad libs, and editing to become the final cut that it is, and how different a film was from others of its time. It's easy to criticize the final copy and through our own social customs.
I found Brando's mumbling off-putting at first, but the subtle naturalness of his performance seems like a spark of genius. Prescient of acting realism. Even his colleagues hold his ability in high regard. Jack Nicholson famously said, "When he goes [Brando dies], the rest of us move up one place" and "Martin Scorsese believes that acting has to be divided into 'before Brando' and 'after Brando.'" Not that Brando couldn't be lazy and inconsistent.
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/04/marlon-brando-audio-tapes-reveal--listen-to-me-marlon-miko-rebecca-stevan-riley
It's fine if Brando's acting is not something you appreciate.
A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent.
-Johann Goethe, Torquato Tasso
First, congratulations on posting a topic that will be revisited forever- because as long as there are people of taste out there- someone will be logging in to contest your opinion. Listen, Brando was in two of the best acted films of all time (OTW and The Godfather)and despite the brilliant performances by powerful actors surrounding him- he clearly owns both films.
shareI still can't believe there is a thread about Brando's performance in 'On The Waterfront', like did the OP and I watched the same movie? Brando was amazing in this! Without Brando this movie would be nothing, just like without Daniel Day Lewis there wouldn't be a masterpiece called 'There Will Be Blood'.
shareBrando was great in this movie, easily his greatest performance. Malden was great too, and probably better than Cobb and Steiger though Brando owns this movie!
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