MovieChat Forums > The Fugitive Kind (1960) Discussion > Brando Miscast -- Paul Newman Would Have...

Brando Miscast -- Paul Newman Would Have Been Better

posted 15 years ago by jonchopwood
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Marlon Brando as a blues singer/Orpheus reincarnation/Elvis Presely type was ridiculous casting. He is much too HEAVY, too WEIGHTY, too GRAVE for the role. Paul Newman would have been better, as he has a lighter touch, but can achieve true tragedy. Then again, he was in a better version of this very same play, SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, on Broadway when this stinker was being shot. Newman's Chance Wayne is the real evocation of Val Xavier, in that he was a reincarnation of the spirit of Orpheus.

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"Why do people always laugh in the wrong places?"
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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] joeparkson 15 years ago

I saw it recently and there was something wrong with the sound. I had a hard time understanding what Brando was saying.

[–] Loomis_Orange 15 years ago

That's because the miserable *beep* mumbled thru-out the entire picture! I woulda dug seeing Steve McQueen in it! McQueen actually played a guitar and he could sing too.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Loomis_Orange 15 years ago

He loved music tho. He used to regularily show up at the Palamino Club and the Whiskey in LA. He'd always end up back stage with the groups. He enjoyed the Byrds, Jon Phillips and Johnny Rivers. I did know that "Baby, The Rain Must Fall" was dubbed, don't know why tho, the guy could sing and play. The character in the film wasn't suppose to have that good of a voice, maybe Steve's real voice was too good for the film. I never heard him sing in anything. Do you know of any of his films in which he played a musician other than the one we're talking about? That would have been something nice he could have left behind... a song for us.

Didn't McQueen and Newman hit the big time around about the same time? I never read any bios on the guys, I don't usually read celebrity bios. I remember getting the information about him loving music and having been fans of the Byrds and Johnny Rivers in a magazine interview back in the early seventies. He had this primarily one-sided rivelry with Newman and was royally pissed when Newman got the lead in The Hustler and Somebody Up Ther Likes Me and Cool Hand Luke. He was a pissed off guy. I think his anger might have attributed to his early demise. I've always heard that inward warfare, hatred and stress cause cancer. he died of the same kind of cancer that Warren Zevon did. Caused by asbestos? ..

I just heard this stuff or read it somewhere. I have no idea of knowing whether or not it's all factual.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] ducdebrabant 14 years ago

McQueen would have been good in this part. Nice thought.

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. Gandhi.

[–] ducdebrabant 14 years ago

Newman would have been a better physical type (Brando does look a bit too blowzy), but Brando's acting in the part is terrific. Newman's might have equaled it, but I'm not even sure about that. Chance Wayne and Val Xavier are not the same part. Chance believes in the power of his own sexual charisma and isn't shy about using it. Val gives off powerful pheromones without trying to, and he's actually running away from his own conspicuous sexual magnetism. Newman could play dumber than himself (he did it several times), and he could resent somebody else's attraction to him (as Brick), but a deep spiritual conflict with other people's desire? Brando was a more expressive actor, with more nuance, range and mystery.

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. Gandhi.

[–] smokehill retrievers 14 years ago

I agree -- Newman would have done a much better job than Brando.

I often wonder, though, whether casting the bisexual Brando was intentional because of Ovid's description of Orpheus as embracing sodomy with young boys after the death of Eurydice.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Desertman84 12 years ago

Brando is a miscast in the sense that he was the only one who acted excellently while the others especially Magnani and Woodward were both hyper and over-the-top.LOL

[–] kidjay83 11 years ago

I think newman was originally going to be cast as the brando character.T.W had such a hard on for brando so i think it just never happened.Plus T.W wasnt very fond of newmans method of acting.

"If you want art, don't mess about with
movies. Buy a Picasso"

[–] lizcarlo87 11 years ago

Why was he not fond of Paul Newman method of acting?

[–] kidjay83 11 years ago

I read in one of brando's bio's that he was upset that T. williams cast paul newman in cat on a hot tin roof.He felt he was a way better actor and also understood homosexuality then a method actor like newman.

"If you want art, don't mess about with
movies. Buy a Picasso"

[–] lizcarlo87 11 years ago

I am fan of Paul Newman. He has a lot of good movies and was good at acting certain characters. Well no offense to him but Brando was slightly better actor. He had more range, versatility and raw quality.

[–] eddyhuxster 11 years ago

Brando was the way better actor than newman , i think as far as types go.They could of done well with paul newman .He wouldnt of been so preocupied trying to upstage his costar like brando did.He would be more focused on just doing the part as it was meant to be played.

"What's real? What's not? That's what I do in my act, test how other people deal with reality"

[–] cjbarrett 7 years ago

So KJ83,let me get this straight.
You're saying PN is too much of a "method actor" as opposed to MB.
MB being recognized as one of the first great method actors in America.
Newman was a Strasberg guy and Brando trained with Stella Adler. Just different schools of method acting.

[–] kidjay83 7 years ago

paul newman lacked tact MB made it look effortless PN you could see the gears at work MB you didn't see it . Brando had a way better technique than newman ,even newman admitted that he always idolized brando's technique and wished he was as good as brando.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

[–] cjbarrett 7 years ago

Oh my.
I must have touched a nerve. Nowhere did I suggest one being better than the other. At various times in their careers one or the other was more on top of their game. I'm sure Newman admired Brando. Almost every actor in that generation idolized Brando. Justifiably so, he was a pioneer as well as a genius. I'm reading a book by William Redfield, a friend of and actor who worked with Brando on stage. He states several times how the Brando we see on screen is nowhere near the actor he was live, when he choose. Amazing to imagine.
Brando himself often denigrated his own work. All I'm saying is nobody's perfect. Both actors had brilliant moments. And some not so brilliant.

[–] zappalover 10 years ago

Please watch Hud, Cool Hand Luke, and Butch Cassidy, then tell us Newman had no talent or charisma. Ridiculous!

Life is a state of mind.

[–] EliotTempleton 9 years ago

Anyone would have been better. I'd rather have seen Tallulah Bankhead play it than Brando.

[–] DracTarashV 9 years ago

Newman a better Xavier? Maybe, maybe not (McQueen is a more interesting choice in my view). But I know one thing: he would have been significantly louder than Brando in the role... and as a result, I can picture this film being one big over-acting spectacle.

In any case, Brando doesn't have any "shining" moments in the film, but he still gives a very good performance. He was subtle and natural.

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!

[–] XFiles25 8 years ago

Agreed

Unlike Brando, Paul Newman could act and would have had chemistry with real life wife Joanne Woodward