Rod Steiger completely took me out of the movie
People harp on how over-the-top Palance and Winters were, and they may have points, but my main beef here was Steiger.
If there was ever an obvious case of an actor trying desperately to emulate another, this one takes the take. Steiger wanted so bad to be Brando it was nauseating. The intonations, vocal inflections, body gestures...all there to achieve the Brando effect. Unfortunately, his blatant mimicry failed him.
I know that Steiger is a respected actor who was likely entranced by Brando after they filmed On the Waterfront together the previous year, so he was probably going through a transient stage of hopeless adoration. Yet, you know how when people talk about actors abusing Brando's techniques to the point of histrionics? This right here is one of the worst instances of it.
"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino